Sooner or later nearly all women, because of divorce or other lifestyle changes, come nose-to-nose with the financial area of our lives, this is a given. It's true - you do not want to learn how to handle money matters in a crisis; it's better to learn while you can be patient and reflective and embrace your financial well being.
But so many of us confront our cash concerns only at the worst moments in our lives-when we divorce, when our partners die, when we lose our jobs, or when we face a health crisis. When is a good time to start caring for our financial future?
Today! It doesn't take a course in economics to see that the longer we wait, the worse off we may be. The facts aren't always easy to face, but they are potent persuaders. They show the need to create a sound base for our future financial life now, whether you're married, single, widowed, divorced, or partnered. All women, working and non-working, need to provide for the years when our earning power has diminished or ended altogether. We wil need cash-just as Sophie Tucker said: "From birth to age 18, a girl needs good parents. From 18 to 35, she needs good looks. From 35 to 55, she needs a good personality. And from 55 on, a girl needs cash."
We all know this to be true, or we should, because we live in a time of extended longevity. According to the Centres of Disease Control (CDC), a fifty-five-year-old woman today has about 26.2 years left to live. Thus, she can anticipate living to the age of eighty-one. A man's life expectancy is a few years shorter-seventy-five. And the truth is that with good health, we can live well into our nineties.
Most women can expect to be on our own at some point in our lives. Many, of course, remain single. Others, by either choice or circumstance, become single. At least half of all first marriages end in divorce or separation, and so do more than half of all second marriages. Many women base their lifestyles on a two-income household, and women who work at home as mothers and homemakers choose to depend on their husbands or partners for financial support. Our longevity means that most of us will be living for a long time. So divorce and other life circumstances are likely to leave many of us women in charge of our financial lives, regardless of income, and whether we are ready or not.
Many men are providers for their wives and children and carefully plan for the time when their spouses-whether working or nonworking-will be on their own. Others, however, are less responsible, through either ignorance, carelessness, or unwillingness to face the harsh realities of life. In too many cases, this means that these men are leaving their wives and children to slide into poverty after they die.
If you've digested all this, then your stomach may be burning by now. Every single one of these contingencies is a serious challenge to us.
And these realities shed a very different light on the belief that many of us have- that saving and investing money is inconvenient and risky business. If you take these considerations very seriously, then you'll realise that spending your money as you earn it, without putting it to work, is the real risk you face, and it's a far greater risk than the chance that you'll lose money by having an agreement with yourself to regularly invest your money in a way that nurtures and benefits you. The real risk most women face is failing to invest actively.
And part of this life process is being patient and trusting the reality that your money needs time to grow. This is a reality that it's not going to sprout overnight like a flower. It's going to grow based on consistent investment action, and not based on hot tips, inside information, advice from a psychic hot line, or by chance. Believe it or not, your money can grow for you and substantially ease financial worry.
I am encouraging you to realise your superpower as a woman and accept what might seem a revolutionary concept: You can, you will, and you must have control over your financial life. Taking financial control is part of our natural evolution and the last step in our liberation as women. The freedom we enjoy today came in stages: from education to the vote, to control of our health to increased employment opportunities, to more power in our relationships.
Most of us have gone to work, and some of us have made a lot of money in these changing times; others have remained at home, working in alignment with a partner to raise families and run households. In either case, today's generation of women has greater freedom and opportunity than previous ones. But have we made this new freedom work for us? The truth is, regardless of age, occupation, marital status, or future promise, we must all go to the next level and actively develop our financial well-being - we must have 'financial legs'.
It's not that we consider our financial lives unimportant. Nor do we purposely shirk responsibility. But centuries of cultural biases, misconceptions, and fears conspire us to hold us back. We are not supposed to be interested or involved in money matters some think; in reality, many of us are unprepared to tackle the issue and we put it out of our minds. Certainly, like so many passages in life, taking charge of our financial life is a path to new challenges. (Plenty of men are intimidated about money matters, too-even if they're too macho to admit it.) But investing is also one of the most enjoyable things you'll ever do because it leads to your financial security.
Watching your money work for you is a singular treat, one that can give you pleasure as it raises the quality of your life. How can you envision financial opportunity? Begin by understanding and dumping the influences that keep you from this very important stage in the cycle of life.
At stake is a secure future for yourself and your family. The bottom line-for you and me and everyone-is that you will probably have to manage a large sum of money-perhaps millions-by the time you stop working if you hope to live as well as, if not better than, you did during your working years. So if you don't begin the process of investing now, you can't be certain of a healthy-and happy-financial future.
Anyone can successfully manage her money life. It doesn't matter whether you're young or old; married, partnered, or single; divorced or widowed; employed or unemployed; rich or poor. What is important is that you see yourself as a woman with cash and investments.
Now is the time to nurture yourself to develop strong, sensible money strategies, whether you're just starting out or have already made some headway with investments. Handling your money, you will realise, it is a fascinating journey towards emotional and personal wholeness.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Joan_Perry/216137 © 2021 EzineArticles
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