Woman has lower financial literacy?
posted in Financial Literacy, General Finance |Financial knowledge is the key to your financial freedom.Â
This was the major message that I got from Robert Kiyosaki’s book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. It is of this concern that there is a general lack of financial knowledge among the population that drove Robert Kiyosaki to write the book.Â
Between both gender, I suspect the rate of financial literacy is lower for the female gender. Why is this so?
A possible reasoning, which Erin Yoshimura described concisely on Denver Post blog:
But learning about investments is like learning to speak a new language which my brain is not wired to do.
Traditionally, women left the financial decisions to their husbands, mostly because they were the bread-winners in the family. Even though that dynamic has changed considerably today, many women still haven’t taken charge of their money for many valid reasons, or, as these authors point out — excuses. Not enough time, not smart enough, too busy taking care of family/parents, not enough money are some common reasons.
Erin then give reasons why women should not rely solely on their husband to handle their financials.Â
The sobering statistics show that:
- 50% of marriages end in divorce and the women are left to support themselves and their children
- A year after divorce, a woman’s standard of living drops 73%
- About 7 out of 10 women will at some time in their life live in poverty
- Married baby boomers can expect to outlive their spouses an average of 15 years and will need to support themselves during those years
- Of the elderly who live in poverty, 75% are women and 80% of these women were not poor when their husbands were alive
- Women earn about 74 cents to every dollar that a man makes
- 80% of women said that they’d rely on social security in retirement
- 2/3 of women haven’t talked to their husbands about life insurance and wills
There you have it, woman! Take charge of your financials if you want to become financial free. Educate yourself and accumulate your financial knowledge in small manageable steps. There are many examples of woman who started with little financial knowledge and little money and they are able to successfully build up their wealth. Stop finding excuses and start learning today.
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