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Picture: David Sacks
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City Press published an article before Women’s Day (Aug 9, 2013) on why women stress about money. Linda was interviewed and featured in the fifth point, which follows below.
Women are becoming powerful in their own right, yet for some reason many are still reluctant to take control of their money. This Friday, while celebrating Women’s Day, spend some time reflecting on your attitudes towards money and how they affect your financial freedom
TAKING CONTROL
While our fears are not necessarily irrational, our reactions to them are. As the more financially vulnerable sex, we should be doing more to educate ourselves and take control of our finances.
Yet Visa’s International Barometer of Women’s Financial Literacy found that on average women have less emergency funds and are less likely to follow a budget than men.
We stress more about money,
but do not do enough to take control.
but do not do enough to take control.
Linda Smith, financial coach and publisher of the annual Linda’s Abundance Diary, says in some ways this is understandable as traditionally men were the breadwinners and took care of the finances. Now that women are doing it themselves, we need to develop the same level of confidence.
Taking control is the only way to overcome our fears and have true financial freedom. In the US survey, 67% of women reported that becoming more involved in managing their finances had made a real difference to their quality of life.
While women may be more wired to worry about the future and money, Veldtman says this can be lessened through education and financial clarity about how much we own and whether it will be enough. Veldtman says women also benefit from connecting with women’s groups and finding trusted financial advice.
Smith says women need to be talking more about their money. “Start by writing down your feelings and getting it on paper. Discuss these feelings with someone and find a way to deal with the issues,” says Smith, who suggests forming money clubs or finding a financial coach.
Smith says when talking about your money, you need to stop judging yourself and believing you “should have started earlier”, “should have saved more”, “should have spent less”.
“You are where you are now. Let go of the past and find a solution,” says Smith, who adds that the most important starting point is gratitude.
“Be grateful for what you already have.”
Here’s a wonderful comment from Christo of Secrets to Wealth that he left on the City Press site, thank you!!
“This is an exceptional article – well written with an abundance of facts. I have been studying “money” for more than 10 years now and have still learned something through this article. According to the book by Dr. Marianne Legato: “Why men never remember and women never forget”, men and women are physically, emotionally and even chemically completely different – which also explains why the approach to financial education should be different. I have learnt something valuable from this article and will be using it to adapt my content to better serve women in the future too. (Thanks Maya!) By the way, I have huge respect for Linda Smith and her Abundance Diary is truly fabulous. I have seen her in action at some of the workshops we have shared and she is right on the money – no pun intended. I would like to add that for women to be able to take better control of their finances, they should visit http://www.christovanzyl.com/ and spend extra time on the Values and Beliefs sections. I think it may address some of the “fear factors” addressed in this article. Thanks again for an excellent article! Best regards, Christo”