Why Women Experience Money Malfunctions

I recently read some alarming statistics about women and money: 

More women file for bankruptcy than graduate from college.

• Only thirty-five percent of women have some sort of retirement account.
• The median debt for women has doubled in recent years.
• Forty percent of the average woman’s income goes to service mortgage debt.
• Up to ninety percent of women will be responsible for their own finances at some point.
• Average age of widowhood is fifty-six years.

Why are there so many women who don’t have their financial act together? Below are the top ten reasons women experience money malfunctions: 

1. Women are nurturers and caregivers—we take care of everyone but ourselves. We take care of our children, husbands, partners, grandchildren, and parents. I think it’s because we’ve been programmed to give to others first and wait to see if there’s anything left over for us. For years, I thought I was selfish if I did something for myself. It took forever to get past that feeling of selfishness. It didn’t change until I read this definition: Selfish is when you are not doing something someone else wants you to do. 
2. Insist on being perfect. This puts women behind the curve. By the time we realize there are resources out there to help and guide us, we’ve lost a lot of valuable time. And, this costs us financially.
3. Don’t think we’re smart enough. Women don’t think they are smart enough to get involved in making financial decisions. Studies show that women often make better investment decisions than men. We do a more thorough job of researching the possibilities before investing our money. We’re also slower to cash in or move our investments if they’re underperforming. We give them time to yield a good return.
4.  Fear of failure. We don’t make investments because we’re afraid we’ll lose our money. The reality is you probably have more to lose by not taking any action. I’ll talk more about this later. One of my favorite quotes is from Eleanor Roosevelt: “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”