Although women and men suffer economic consequences, women suffer the most as a result of illness, aging, physical or mental disabilities, marriage dissolution, single parenting, death of a spouse, loss of employment, inflation, investment failures and property damage. Every woman, married or single, needs to plan ahead for personal and family security.
As women play a larger role in making financial decisions, two consistently overarching factors playing the most significant roles in affecting women’s financial situation and attitudes are their socio-economic status and life stage. While most women describe themselves as either comfortable with their financial situation (35%) or having enough to get by (39%), one-in-five struggles to make ends meet and half say it would be a challenge to deal with an unexpected $1,000 expense. In addition to struggling financially today, many women struggle preparing for the future. Only two-thirds of women use a savings account and over half (57%) do not pay off balances on their credit cards each month.
Women control over 60 percent of the nation’s wealth. Therefore, when it comes to money, planning is where it all begins. Everything you do with money requires a plan, whether you realize it or not. Without a thoughtful plan, you're destined to get lost or confused.
