When it comes to finance, it’s often thought that women would rather talk about relationships over money. But I believe this is starting to change.
In 2015, the Fidelity Investments Money FIT Women Study told us that 56 per cent of women refrain from discussing finances because the subject was too personal.
Earlier this year, US wealth manager Sallie Krawcheck, who is the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, took that research a step further and cited a small survey which suggested that women are more comfortable talking about their sex lives than their savings account.
Sure I get that relationships tend to be more fun than your finances, but I think we’ve ascertained that the days of relying on Prince Charming to save us are done.
What we have is a communication and an engagement challenge when it comes to connecting with women on money matters.
Still I firmly believe that things are starting to change, particularly as the pool of women’s wealth increases along with financial independence thanks to rising workforce participation.
Indeed last week I witnessed about 300 women sit through a lengthy conference talk on money.
The hot topics of gender pay and superannuation gaps came up but so too did buying property, relationships/divorce and managing your way out of debt.
Usually I’d expect to see a few zoned-out faces but to my surprise the general audience seemed pretty into it. (No walkouts, and plenty of questions at the end).
As a person who writes about this area, the event was a sign to me that women are showing more of an interest in money conversations and they’re keen to hear from experts on what they can do themselves to improve their financial wellbeing.
The greatest challenge I see for financial advisers in the current environment is connecting with women on WHY money matters to them on a personal note, and WHAT strategies can be used to improve their financial wellbeing.
Start the conversation
There are many reasons why women may not feel all that comfortable talking about money, such as feeling embarrassed, not confident, not financially able or even cultural factors.
But the more we talk about these barriers, particularly advisers or money coaches with their female clients, the easier discussions will become.
Social media, mainstream press and events such as the conference I attended, are key channels where there is room to ramp up the conversations women are having on money, including personal stories, or simply topical issues.
There are two things that advisers can do to help their existing female clients feel more comfortable talking about money and they relate to the WHY and WHAT.
WHY – Key to connecting with people on money is understanding WHY it matters to them. This is ultimately all about relevance. People want information that is relevant to their lives. So get personal, and be genuine in your listening and understanding.
The next time you’re speaking with your female clients, think about the WHY this matters to them, and talk directly about it. This might be around the superannuation wealth gap, or it could be about investing to build wealth. Make it relevant so that it connects.
WHAT – This is all about educating women on the strategies that can be used for them to take action or for advisers to assist.
As a final point, last week the Commonwealth Bank also released its Women’s financial wellbeing guide, which is a booklet designed to give women more detailed information to improve financial literacy, independence and ultimately the actions taken.
What I particularly liked about it, were some of the soft skills around how to have good conversations on money. This included things like getting to know your own barriers around money, your emotions, and then looking at how you might take action on your plans, as well as knowing your rights – very important right now for clients and building trust.
Bianca Hartge-Hazelman writes on women’s money matters and is the founding author of the Financy Women’s Index.
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