Are you happy with the way you think about money? Are you in charge of your financial destiny? Do you have fun managing your money and setting goals?
Well if you said ‘No’ to any of the above, you may be hanging on to some money beliefs, habits or attitudes that are stopping you from having fun! Money is an emotionally volatile issue for most women. It’s probably the most complicated relationship we have – and the one that most controls our lives … if we let it!
Many of us hate organizing our financial lives but love dreaming about our futures. Our dreams are the fun part but planning to get there is hard, we need to be disciplined and have to go without for awhile — or so we believe.
This is why (according to a TD Investor poll) only 1/3 of women actually have a financial plan! Another third of the population are on the LRP (Lottery Retirement Plan), a strategy that will not help them reach their dreams! It probably doesn’t make sense that so many women are not ‘okay’ financially, when there are thousands of books, TV shows, workshops, and seminars available (and a lot for free!). Lack of information is not the problem.
Look at these eye-opening statistics about women and money:
- 47% of women over the age of 50 are single.
- Women’s retirement income will be lessened because on average a woman is away from the work force 14.7 years as compared to 1.6 years for men simply because women are typically the primary caretaker of the home.
- Approximately 7 out of 10 women will, at some time, live in poverty.
- 90% of all women have sole responsibility for their finances within their lifetime, yet 79% of all women have not planned for this.
- The No. 1 argument between couples involves the issue of money. 50% of marriages end in divorce, and in most cases women raise the children in their home. When married, there were two people supporting a family, income is reduced by half on the woman’s side and she still must provide and care for children half or more of the time.
- In the first year after a divorce, a woman’s standard of living drops 73%.
- 80% of widows now living in poverty were not poor prior to the death of their husband.
Yikes! You do not have to be one of these stats!
Here are 3 limiting beliefs we have developed over time about financial planning and it’s why we don’t pay enough attention to managing our money.
I don’t have time!
We all can feel time-starved at times. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. Managing our money is just another thing to wear us down and we think it will be too hard. Managing your money and knowing your numbers is easy and doesn’t take a lot of time once you get organized. Once you identify what you want, set some goals, and build an action plan to get there, it will cost you about 5-10 minutes a day! Yes, really, that’s all!
- I’m not good with money, I don’t know how!
I get that the world of financial planning can be a little intimidating depending on how you have been brought up with money. We don’t want to look stupid if we don’t know how stocks or mutual funds work or for that matter even how to budget! And if we think it is hard, we will come up with every excuse to avoid managing our money. Good news, it doesn’t matter what you know or what you have done so far, you can change your belief system and learn new tricks! The biggest thing that is stopping you is your money beliefs and when you learn how to manage your money and finances, you’ll be armed with the tools to take action to reach your goals and dreams.
- You have to work (too) hard to get ahead
You will not achieve your financial goals and dreams by just working hard. You will get ahead by doing the right things for you, and it all starts with looking at your mindset around money. What stories or excuses are you telling others and yourself… giving you permission to play small?
I’ll challenge you to find a good reason to procrastinate. Look in the mirror and face your resistance. See yourself as a strong, capable and smart woman, one who knows where she’s going and wants to make her own decision about how to get there.
Nobody cares as much about your dreams and your future as you do. And nobody can get you to your finish line …but you.
It’s time you took charge of your financial life. Why…Because you’re worth it, you deserve it and who wants to settle for a mediocre life anyway? Doesn’t sound like much fun to me!
Lots of love,
PS – Not everyone can do it by themselves…no shame in asking for help! No judgement from me…I’ve been there and done that and clawed my way out of the trenches.. Click here – let’s talk! ♥
