Today is IWD and financial feminism is a thing.
I just returned from giving a talk at KPMG for International Women's Day. In it I used the term financial feminism (#financialfeminism) which I attributed to Sallie Krawcheck. Sallie is a Warrior on Wall Street. She has recently launched an investing platform specifically for women because she became so disillusioned by the testosterone fueled industry in which she worked. For years she had resisted the idea that women needed anything different, because 'how dare anyone say we need something different?'. However, data clearly shows we do, because women still are not investing their cash. Sallie has recently coined two terms - the gender investing gap, and financial feminism.
According to Sallie, women in the US direct 80% of consumer spending, control $5 trillion of investable assets, jointly control $6 trillion of investable assets and represent half of the workforce. Yet we retire with 2/3 of the wealth of men. And we live, on average, five years longer. That is not a good combination of facts.
Today is a day for all women around to world to celebrate each other, our strengths, our accomplishments and to renew our commitment to promote women where they are being held back. I know for sure that financial worries and struggles are real, and that they hold women back. Without a solid financial foundation, we don't give ourselves choices and we don't give ourselves freedom. And that limits our progression and prevents us from achieving our highest purpose.
So, how about you do something for you today? How about you decide today to commit to take action to engage fully with your money. Commit to give yourself the freedom to stop working when you want to and to retire with the wealth that you deserve.
I have the perfect place for you to start. Next Thursday evening I am hosting "Your Life, Your Money", an event only for women. An event where you will start to understand the gender investing gap and why it exists, and where you will understand financial feminism. And you will walk away feeling engaged and inspired and ready to tackle that elephant in the room (your money) once and for all.
Click here for more details on the event and how to register.
And by the way - who doesn't LOVE State Street Advisors placing a statue of a young, defiant girl facing the Bull on Wall Street?
