Women:  Get Money Smart Every Day!

Suzanna De Baca -- Expert Business Source, 4/14/2008 7:07:00 AM

“A lot of women don’t realize that investing can be fun!” said one of the speakers at a Money Smart Week event in Iowa this weekend. She went on to repeat what I’ve written about a number of times: once women gain some experience and confidence in managing their finances, they begin to see that the process of investing can actually be empowering and enjoyable.

A number of states have started an annual Money Smart Week with the express goal of improving overall financial literacy among their citizens; often there are specific programs for women. In my home state of Iowa, over 200 free educational events were held in numerous cities over the past week, and I was pleased to be a speaker at the Money Smart Women Conference held on the Drake University Campus in Des Moines.

If the level of interest shown at this conference is any indication, Money Smart Week should be happening every day. The women who came to my talk on investing and the other programs on various financial topics sat at rapt attention in their chairs, many taking copious notes and asking intelligent questions. Despite the fact that financial literacy and financial confidence among women in general remain low, there does seem to be an urgent and genuine hunger for more knowledge and information.

While women now enjoy increased earning power than we have historically (although we have a long way to go before we reach pay equity with men) and our contributions to household income are now common-place. Unfortunately, our level of knowledge is still fairly weak as compared to our male counterparts’.

Women may be the ones who handle day to day household finances and bill-paying, but tend not to understand investing. Putting money in the stock market or other investments is intimidating, in part because we haven’t been doing it as much and as long as men. We have not traditionally been taught how to think about investment risk or to understand how to analyze various assets. But, as I’ve mentioned before in other Expert Business Source articles, research shows that once women start getting some practice under their belts, the entire field of money management and investing becomes less intimidating and can actually be enjoyable.

Being Money Smart doesn’t mean that you have to know it all now. It means that you’re on a path to financial literacy, one step at a time. Becoming Money Smart is a lifelong process of learning, practicing, applying, and adapting. We shouldn’t just be thinking about this one week out of a year; women (and men, too) would do well to integrate financial education into their lives regularly. If money, financial security, and acquiring wealth are really as important to Americans as popular culture indicates, then we could benefit from improving the skills it takes to achieve those goals.

Women: Get Money Smart! Read a book, attend a lecture, subscribe to a money or investing magazine, or find a few websites that help you build your base of knowledge. By doing a little every day, you’ll be on your way to understanding not only financial basics, but also the more advanced concepts that will allow you to take control of your financial future.

Disclosure: Suzanna de Baca is President of Private Capital Solutions Group, a financial and investment firm in Des Moines, Iowa. She is a Registered Representative and Financial Advisor of Park Avenue Securities LLC (PAS), 7 Hanover Square, New York, NY 10004, (888) 600-4667. Securities products/services and advisory services are offered through PAS, a registered broker/dealer and investment advisor. Private Capital Solutions Group is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS.

PAS is a member FINRA, SIPC.

Material discussed is meant for general illustration and/or informational purposes only and it is not to be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. Although the information has been gathered from sources believed reliable, please note that individual situations can vary, therefore the information should be relied upon when coordinated with individual professional advice.