Women need to know and anticipate the unique financial obstacles she will meet and how best to outsmart it. Without this anticipation early in their life the issues will keep compounding and it will overwhelm them before they can even understand and untangle them. The sooner they foresee these key issues the better they would be able to strategize, moderate and compensate for the impact.

The issues are:

1. Greater Responsibility. It is a well-known truism that female matured faster than male. Their brain could develop ten years earlier than the boys and this tend to draw parents to load them with greater roles and responsibilities. This coupled with the higher emotional quotient in female translate to more care and help for their siblings at home and similarly for colleagues and corporation at the workplace. This often means fewer saving for the female as they spend and sacrifice for others. This snowballed into the next unique issue for women.

2. Career and Income Inequality. The greater responsibilities and contribution do not translate to equal career or income equality. This truism and stark reality occur even in developed nation across almost all industries. This translates to lesser income annually and significant financial shortfalls in retirement planning. In global survey in 2020, women make only $0.81 for every dollar a man makes. This disparity of around 20% annually would translate to titanic difference in the long term – especially with the potential of compounded interest on investment.

3. Shorter time in the Workforce. These dire situations for most women are inflated by their shorter total career time in the workforce. This is contributed by a few factors including maternity, stop work to take on the role of primary care giver, and sacrificing career and opportunities as spouse goes on promotion or transfer, among others. It has a ripple effect from the amount of superannuation at retirement and reduced opportunities for advancement. In short, they are highly short-changed financially and the impact will be felt greatly from decade to decade as they aged.

4. Living Longer. Across the globe men often die earlier than women. Men can expect to live between 74-78 while women life expectancy is between 80 to 85. The gap of around 10 years during this twilight years could mean greater depletion or even negative retirement fund, notwithstanding the increasing cost of living. Unfortunately, this mean the last to go would bear the burden. Do not rely on inheritance benefits as it may come with unexpected financial cost. Be thankful if there are no debts to settle. 

Now that we had clearly learnt, recognize and anticipate these persistent realities we have the head start to strategize and negotiate these challenges. Read our next articles for the strategies and solutions.