Nearly Half Of All Professional Women Make This Money Mistake
Nearly Half Of All Professional Women Make This Money Mistake — And It’s Easy To Fix
By CD Moriarty Oct. 7, 2020
How to stop deferring to a partner on financial matters
More than one married female friend has confided in me she leaves the “money stuff” to her husband. My professional self shakes her head — these women are giving their financial power away, jeopardizing their retirement and making themselves ill-prepared for the realities of daily life without a partner. Unfortunately, these friends are not alone; among well-educated professional women almost half defer to their partners on financial decisions. This is true across ages and professions, even 29% of those in financial services do this, according to a recent UBS study.
Though many enter marriage with the intention of sharing financial responsibility, they change course once married. This is true even for millennials, who defer to their spouses even more than Boomers (54% vs. 39%, according to the study). This issue goes beyond men and women, as 41% of women in same-sex relationships defer financial responsibility to their partner.
The reasons for this range from lack of confidence to complacency to entrenched roles or to keep the peace in their relationships. Most women believe their spouse knows more, according to UBS. In fact, a partner doesn’t always know what is best for the couple unless both speak up. Indeed, women often are better long-term investors.
Some discussion and disagreement are necessary to come to the best financial decision for you as a couple. Deferring to anyone to prevent difficult conversations starts you on the path to financial problems, not a solution. Compromise and communication may lead to healthy trade-offs, better intimacy and accomplishing joint goals like an earlier retirement.
One partner carrying all of the investment, financial and estate-planning decisions is a burden in a partnership. Even when the woman is the one who takes on all of this responsibility — 16% of the cases, according to UBS — they are not being fair to themselves or their partner.
In my 30 years of experience as a financial planner, I have heard the financial leader in the couple often say, “You do not need to know the details. If something happens to me, call our financial advisor.” That’s not a good answer, especially when eight of 10 women will be alone and financially responsible for themselves at some point.
Change Is A Step-By-Step Process.
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