Financial Planning for Women by Life Stage

As women, we have unique needs and challenges when it comes to managing our money. According to gender pay gap data released in 2022, a working woman earned only 82 cents for every dollar her male counterpart earned. Further, the median annual earnings for women were almost $10,000 less than for men. Because we typically earn less than our male counterparts, it’s even more important that we understand how to capitalize on our money’s potential to the best of our ability.

Having confidence in your financial situation as a woman will help you stress less and enjoy life more regardless of where life takes you. In this article, we’ll explore financial planning for women throughout the stages of life many of us or our friends may encounter over the course of a lifetime.

Financial Planning as a Single Woman in Your 20s

If you’re just starting out in your career, there are many ways to set yourself up for financial success in the future. The first building block to achieving financial success is setting up a budget or spending plan that fits your needs. There are several different budgeting methods.

Why budgeting? The great thing about learning to set up a budget early on in your career is that you will be more capable of setting and reaching short and long-term goals, staying out of consumer debt, and planning for an emergency. Once you have a budget set up, you can start setting money aside in an emergency fund, which is ideally 3-6 months’ worth of expenses (or more) in the event you were to lose your job or have a large unexpected expense come up.

Your Career & Financial Planning as a Woman

Once you start a job at a company that offers employee benefits, it’s time to learn more about what this means for your financial future. Many companies will offer health, dental, and life insurance but also have perks that you may not have realized, such as counseling, financial coaching, and health coaching. 

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