In a conversation with an attorney friend of mine, who happens to be a woman, she asked for some general financial guidance. During the course of the conversation it occurred to me that women need to save more than men. There are many reasons for this, here are a few:
The first and most obvious reason women need to save more than men is that they live longer -- often without the support of a significant other. Living longer and living alone cost more money.
Second of all, women still do not have complete earnings parity with men. Some of this has to do with job type and some with history. But nevertheless, we are not there yet. If there is a 15% disparity, then a woman is starting at a disadvantage whether saving for her retirement in the future or for buying a gallon of gas today. This can only be made up by saving more and investing more. This is a worthy goal except that with less resources the difficulty is exacerbated.
So now most women are able to join most country clubs and play all the golf they want. This has solved little unless they truly want to reduce their handicap. The truth is, they still have to get invited by those good 'ole boys to play, and for the most part, they don't get the invite. I also have to say that I personally think women just do not have the same interest in waking up early and shooting a few rounds of golf in the same numbers as men do. Nor do I think they enjoy fishing or battling on the trading floors. Women are not as aggressive -- of course, if they are they may be shunned for it.
Here's a third reason that women need to save more: Many jobs women hold are more dependent on their looks than a man's would be. This is a diminishing asset for all of us over time, but it affects women more. The most obvious field where this is true would be entertainment and advertising. But I know this to also be true in more corporate jobs, such as pharmaceutical sales. It's true in fields as disparate as prostitution and politics. Hillary Clinton's wardrobe was more topical than Barack Obama's and now that she has moved out of the picture the talk about Michelle Obama is as much about her fashion sense as her common sense.
The fact is, time works against women. While we can all continue to work towards improving society in the long run, I am not optimistic that complete economic equality is even possible. Therefore women need to start saving and investing sooner and more during the course of their lives. Start today, start now.
There were 12 women at the helm of Fortune 500 companies as of May 2008; here are six of them:
- Archer-Daniels-Midland (NYSE: ADM) Patrica A. Woertz
- Avon Products (NYSE: AVP) Andrea Jung
- Kraft Foods'A' (NYSE: KFT) Irene B. Rosenfeld
- PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) Nooyi K. Indra
- Sara Lee Corp (NYSE: SLE) Brenda C. Barnes
- Xerox Corp (NYSE: XRX) Anne M. Mulcahy
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money. Disclosure: I do not own shares of the companies mentioned.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2008 @ 8:10PM
ObamaFanna said...
And inflation affects women more than men, a guy can wear the same old suit or shoes without regard to season or style, women are expected to keep up with things.
And hair, don't get me started!!!!
We are very traditional & frugal with ourselves and yet i concede that she deserves more leeway in regard to personal expenses when these items are considered.
Great Post!!! Well thought out and delivered, consider professional journalism.