Why Women Need to Take Control of Their Finances
- eoin396
- Jun 6
- 3 min read
We've come a long way, baby. When I started my career, there weren't a lot of women financial advisors. And very few women were engaged in conversations about money. I can't tell you how many times a woman would walk into my office and start by saying "If only I'd known…
…how risky our investments were, I wouldn't have allowed them."
…that I'd be single, I'd have started to save earlier."
…that my parents' healthcare would cost so much, I'd have prepared for it."
Planning gives you the opportunity to create choices for your future
When an "if only" happens to you? If you haven't prepared, you could be left with fewer choices. That's why it's so important for women to plan and take charge of their finances.
No matter if you're single, married, divorced, or widowed, there are many reasons women need to be involved in their finances.
Women generally make less money than men. Median weekly earnings for full-time salaried women are still just 83.6% percent of what men earn, according to a 2023 Bureau of Labor Statistics report(1).
When we take time off from our careers to raise kids, we can be hit by the "motherhood penalty," which could hold women's earning down by as much as 15% per child under five(2).
Caring for elderly parents can also affect our careers.
Women outlive men by an average of five years, according to the CDC(3).
Women can't afford not to be involved in their finances.
Take charge of your finances—take charge of your life
The good news is that today women are taking action—investing, saving for retirement, and managing their wealth. Nine in ten women said they're on track to reach their financial goals, according to the 2025 Schwab Women Investors Survey. And 91% said they feel empowered by the experience of managing their investments.
To me, stats like these aren't only encouraging, they can be a real motivation for women to step up and take control. But how? It starts by putting yourself first and making your own financial wellbeing a priority. Here's what I suggest.
Decide what you want. This takes some soul-searching. What are your needs, wants, and wishes? What goals are you trying to achieve, and when do you want to achieve them? How long will it take to reach your goals? And how will you measure your progress? Answering these questions and creating a realistic timeline can help you come up with a plan of action.
Think about your relationship to money. There can be a lot of emotion around money. Do you control it, or does it control you? A concrete way to find out is to track your spending. What comes in every month? What goes out?
Make your financial goals—especially retirement—a top priority. Retirement can be long, especially for women, so you need to save as much as you can as soon as you can. Take full advantage of a company retirement plan. Contribute at least up to the company match, and much more if possible. No company plan? Consider opening an IRA.
Don't just save—invest. Here is another motivating finding from the Schwab Women Investors Study: The top reason for women starting to invest was to grow their money and save for retirement.
Get some guidance. You don't have go it alone. You can find financial guidance from reliable sources online like at SchwabMoneywise.com. Talk to people you trust who are knowledgeable. Especially as your assets grow, consider working with a financial advisor. I think of a financial advisor sort of like a personal coach—someone to educate and guide you and keep you going when you might feel overwhelmed or tempted to call it quits. Don't be afraid to ask questions. A financial advisor can be there to help you look at the big picture, build a portfolio to match your goals and risk tolerance levels, and create a comprehensive financial plan. Working with a financial advisor who understands you can be a confidence builder and a source of peace of mind. How often you want to interact with an advisor is up to you—a one-time consultation or periodic check-ins.
Source: Susan Hirshman, Charles Schwab, June 4th 2025.