Talking Careers and Finances With Trusted Peers Can Benefit Women: Here’s Why

Women continue to shine across different walks of life. As successful leaders, they have become role models for future generations. At the same time, women continue to face challenges, such as unequal pay, gender bias, and inflexibility in work. Further, they need to constantly juggle between their career, caregiving, and other forms of responsibilities.  

As part of the Morgan Stanley at Work’s Virtual Financial Wellness RetreatOpens a new window , Serida Fong, executive director, participant education solutions, Morgan Stanley at Work, and Kristen Yablonsky, financial advisor, Morgan Stanley, discussed how women could navigate the challenges related to finances, investments, and career with confidence.

Here are a few tips from the session.

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1. Save and invest early

When women start their careers, saving and investing early can be a huge advantage. Women have fewer responsibilities, and expenses are less complicated during the beginning of their careers. This is when they should plan their savings and investments. Doing this will allow the money to grow. 

According to recent researchOpens a new window , women tend to live longer than men. Hence, women will have to maintain funds for a longer retirement period from a financial planning perspective. They should start investing in their retirement plans early in their career. According to Yablonsky, a person who starts investing in their retirement plans at 30 has almost three times as much money as the person who waited till they were 50. That’s why saving early in anticipation of retirement or even unseen interruptions in life is a good decision.

1. Save and invest for caregiving and career breaks

Women have a huge responsibility when it comes to caregiving. Caregiving and other factors can cause career interruptions, reducing overall lifetime income. Then there are wage gaps, which vary widely across occupations, industry, race, and ethnicity. Women have to account for all these factors and plan their savings and investments accordingly. Yablonsky advises women to have an honest discussion with their partners and loved ones about how their financial picture may look in the future and what financial responsibilities each of them will take. This will help them plan their finances better.

1. Maintain professional contacts  

Women may have to take a break from their careers for various reasons. However, it helps to maintain professional contacts. This could be with the people they have worked with earlier or those they have good relationships with. Maintaining their connections can also help women grow in their careers or switch careers. Due to a break, they may miss out on a few opportunities, pay raises, and promotions. Sometimes, they may also lose self-confidence if forced to take an extended break. But, maintaining relationships and networks can help them gain their confidence back and get back on their feet when they want to come back from a break. These contacts may also help them grow in their careers or switch careers and roles if needed.

1. Get comfortable talking about career and personal finances  

There is often a belief that people should not openly talk about their finances or careers. However, women must stop hesitating and feel comfortable discussing these aspects, especially with the people they trust, whether a family member or a close friend. They should seek out someone they consider successful in their careers and finances and talk to them about it. 

Yablonsky says that money is an emotional subject, and women can take professional advice in such situations. She saysOpens a new window , “I think in most cases, the money you spend to get professional advice comes back to you and the value that’s provided, whether it’s from saving you from a big financial mistake or just helping you make good decisions. A professional can be objective. They don’t get emotional about decisions, and they don’t know all the people in your life. So, they can be more objective about financial decisions. So, I think it can be hard to talk about, but sometimes having a professional advisor can help that because it takes away the bias.” 

Talking about trusted people and professional advisors, Yablonsky also advises women to talk to someone they feel will listen to them with an open mind and provide an appropriate solution. 

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Stay Informed

Women often tend to overlook their finances and careers in their busy schedules. But they must spend some time with themselves to review these two aspects of their lives just like the other ones. This becomes more important if they have dependents like children, non-working partners, or elders. Women should also take extra care to review their beneficiaries in case of an unpleasant situation. Hence, creating an appointment with themselves or a professional advisor helps them identify their current position, responsibilities, and the following steps to take.

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