April was Financial Literacy month in the United States.
There are many studies and statistics about where we stand with our money – you’ve seen many of them and know it isn’t good news. Let me share just a few stats from an ELLEVEST Team article, 60+ Stats About Women and Money:
- Women hold 71% of their assets in cash (aka not investing to build wealth), vs 60% held by men.
- Women, on average, retire with two-thirds the money that men do.
- Women are 80% more likely to be impoverished in retirement.
- No wonder more women than men (65% vs. 52%) say money is their #1 source of stress!
Each month, women from around the world meet to discuss conversations that matter. We call ourselves the Global Women Story Circle (GWSC). Today’s discussion was about money and wealth. Our members were from the U.S., England and as far away as Oman.
We appreciated that very rarely do women have a safe space to speak about their financial journey and concerns. One member, who facilitated our gathering, told us about the bold and proactive pathways she took in her challenging journey. She navigated her way from being financially insecure to becoming a successful, highly placed educator in a prominent U.S. school system. Her life passion is also to help women and young adults develop healthy money management habits which lead to stability and freedom.
Laura, another GWSC member, shared her stories about what motivates her to guide women to become far more engaged in their finances. She challenged us with hard questions like: What is the true purpose for your money? What are your values around your money? And what is your money doing for you? She encouraged and advised us to have a long, hard look at what we do and why.
Money is a conversation that really matters — where do you stand?
