Some of us share a common experience. You're driving along when a police cruiser pulls up behind you with its lights flashing. You pull over, the officer gets out, and your heart drops.
“Are you aware the registration on your car has expired?”
You've experienced one of the costs of procrastination.
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You already know the importance of investing for your long-term financial picture. What you may not realize is that women face unique life situations that can make investing in their futures especially challenging. By understanding these issues, you can be better equipped to pursue the financial future of your dreams. We’re on the cusp of an extraordinary time in financial history. Over the next decade, a large amount of wealth will be transferred to the next generation. It’s estimated that as much as $30 trillion in financial assets could be in the hands of women by 2030.1 However, women investors may face life events that make financial literacy and advanced strategizing especially important. Life changes like outliving a partner, divorce, and becoming a primary caregiver for a loved one can all affect one’s financial earning and investment potential. This guide is designed to encourage you to take control of your financial life. By helping you prepare for potential challenges, your financial professional may be able to help you be better prepared for whatever lies ahead.
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Each month, you settle down to pay bills. You pay your mortgage lender. You pay the electric company. You pay the trash collector. But do you pay yourself? One of the most basic tenets of sound investing involves the simple habit of “paying yourself first” – in other words, making your first payment of each month a deposit into your savings account. The saving patterns of Americans vary widely. And too often, short-term economic trends can interrupt long-term savings programs. For example, the U.S. Personal Savings Rate jumped from 3.5% to nearly 8% in May 2008 during the housing and banking crisis. It then rose and fell sporadically as the economic environment appeared to stabilize. It peaked in December 2012 at 12%. As of 2021, the average rate has once again varied widely between about 15% to 28%, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.1
