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StitcherHIStorical misconceptions will tell you that women are only interested in shopping rather than handling their finances. Well? That’s not the case for HERstory. Women today hold a lot of wealth in the economy, and the number is still growing. Together with your favorite frugal ladies and Jean Chatzky, this episode deconstructs the misconceptions about women and money, talks about the new generation of women, and how to build, grow, and manage the wealth that empowers the woman in them.
It’s not how much money we have. It’s how much control we have over the money we have that makes us women happy.
Sponsors:
- Dads. Every woman has one. While this episode is not about men or for men, it would behoove men to listen to it because as dads with daughters, even if you don’t have daughters, you might have daughter-in-laws one day. It’s important to know that we’re going to be on a fast trajectory to running this economy. Now that we’ve outnumbered the number of CEOs named ‘John’, we are controlling more and more wealth. Also, if you’re listening to it on the day it releases, Father’s Day is just around the corner, so thank you, Dads! Listen up, Dads! And if you have a dad, bring this up on Father’s Day– the stuff you’re about to learn in this episode. But also if you have debt and you’re trying to pay it off and you want some inspirational stories, head to youtube.com/frugalfriends and listen to ALL 10 Debt Free Stories–one of them is from a dad, but every single debt-free story is from somebody who has a dad.
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Jean Chatzky is the founder and CEO of HerMoney.com and the coaching programs FinanceFixx and InvestingFixx. She is the host of the podcast HerMoney With Jean Chatzky and the co-host of the national radio show Everyday Wealth. Jean is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author, and a fierce advocate for financial literacy.
Beyond Traditional Stereotypes and Modern Women
Frustratingly, there are still many misconceptions plaguing women and money, such as being more risk-averse than men, not managing household finances, having terrible shopping habits, and more–all of which are false or, at least, being done by men too. Gen Z women know how to save money, see their own self-value, and have more trust in financial institutions than the generations that came before them. It’s not reversing everything, but this generation is the first generation who grew up with mothers in power positions.
Unseen Realities About Women And Money
Jean’s HerMoney Council, a home for women and money that hosts studies and happy hours, had an interesting finding in 2022. They found out that 93% of women drive financially alone or with a partner, and only 7% seek control from their partner. It just goes to say that women know the importance of their role when handling their finances. There should also be no shame when looking for a financial advisor as it is an important decision and something to do your due diligence to ensure their areas of expertise line up with the services you need.
Empowering Women’s Financial Well-Being
Jean started a financial coaching program called “Finance Fix” during the height of COVID-19, and one of the most important things we ask people in the program to do is “Getting Dirty with your Data” which is encouraging them to track their spending. You have to budget backwards–knowing where your money is going, and then you make changes about where you actually want your money to go. Everybody needs to start tracking their spending first, whether they’re preparing for retirement, trying to work their budget in their 30s, or jumping into their 20s–it’s the building block of everything else.
Navigating Ambiguity In Wealth Building Decisions
Save enough because if you do not, there’s not enough room for the wealth to grow–then put it to work in a diversified portfolio that is low-cost and tax efficient. You may want to invest the tax efficiently as possible by investing automatically. Jean can’t stress enough how important the automation piece is because human beings are really bad at saving money. When automatic enrollment was added to 401Ks, the participation in 401Ks jumped from 50% to 80-90% because of inertia. Also, you have to visit your savings account–give that affirmation that you’re doing a good job.
What's the most creative or unique way you've seen a woman manage her money?
- Jean: Discovered a lot of creativity on TikTok with cash stuffing, which reminded her of her grandmother’s old-fashioned method called The Envelope System.
- Jill: It may not be the best way to manage money, but Jill has seen some scrappy women throughout her life, and they all stash. She finds the creativity in where it gets stored.
- Jen: When Jen’s lovely friend, Jill tried to hide money in her winter coat and put it away in her closet until next winter–the friend admits that she loves hiding money and surprising herself with it!
Get more from Jean
Bill of The Week
Thank you Jean for sharing your bill about your new favorite bill – a gym!
Thanks so Much for Listening!
Thanks so much for listening. Many of you know we have a private community where we do monthly money challenges and offer accountability groups. We want to congratulate one of our members for a big win.
When I have clear financial goals, I'll simply tell my friends/family that I'm watching my spending so that I can pay off debt, and/or take a vacation or whatever the goal may be.
I then suggest something free or within my budget. Most of my friends and family know about my awesome spending plan/spreadsheet (that I'm super proud of), so I make the discussion about my goals instead of about saying "no".
That shift in perspective really helps, and I generally get a positive response when I frame the conversation in those terms.
Congrats! If you want to check out our monthly challenge community head to frugalfriendspodcast.com/club to see what challenge we have coming up next.
And keep leaving us reviews on iTunes or Stitcher, and sending the screenshot to reviews@frugalfriendspodcast.com. And don’t forget to share your favorite quote from the episode by using the hashtag #FrugalFriendsNote. 
