Video: Three Important Financial Considerations for Women Breadwinners

Today, 24% of wives earn more than their husbands. That’s four times greater than in the 1960s (well done, ladies. Keep up the good work!).

But before we can wholly celebrate women’s financial and professional ascent, we need to overcome the potential challenges we face in our relationships, finances, child-rearing, and mindset.

Unfortunately, women with more economic power can often be seen as a threat to “gender norms", which can lead to higher stress levels. Although times are quickly changing, many women still face challenges as female breadwinners or the sole earners in their homes.

Watch Our Webinar Video on Women Breadwinner

I recently co-hosted a webinar to tackle the important topic of women breadwinners with Katie Burke and Bridget Grimes, two rockstar financial planners also helping women and families with their money.

In our lively panel discussion, we talked about why you should be proud to be a female breadwinner and discussed three specific questions we encounter in our practices:

• Should you have separate or joint accounts?
• How should you approach spending as a couple?
• How can you manage “invisible” work and the mental demands of multiple roles?

In addition, we put together this fantastic resource list of blogs, articles, books, and podcasts for our clients and guests.

Watch the webinar below, then be sure to scroll down for a bullet point overview of actionable ideas to immediately improve your health and wealth.

Should you have separate or joint accounts?

• Decide together how to handle the financial accounts.
• Consider some level of combining accounts as it can be a stimulus for communication about money.
• Pronouns matter! Talking about money as “ours” instead of “mine” and “yours”.
• A good place to start combining accounts a joint checking account to pay bills.
• You can have separate accounts, but you cannot have separate accounts and not talk about money.

How should you approach spending as a couple?

• Identifying joint goals can serve as a guide to make money decisions.
• Work together to fund joint goals.
• Create a budget that is visible to both partners.
• Set a “maximum price” for purchases that can be made without discussing with your partner.
• ind a way to track spending or engage a financial planner to help you.
• Evaluate the trade-offs of spending today vs. saving for the future.

How can you manage “invisible” work and the mental demands of multiple roles?

• If there’s too much on your plate, delegate!
• If it’s normal to delegate at work, it should be just as normal to do this at home.
• Make responsibilities and expectations explicit instead of making assumptions.
• If you have someone to help you, don’t micromanage them.
• Define and negotiate roles at home.

Embrace Your Success with Confidence

Remember to be proud of your role as breadwinner within your family. The key is to communicate with your spouse about their feelings and both of your financial goals and decisions. There is no need to mask your success or shrink yourself as a result.

Try your best to navigate jealousy by encouraging communication and assessing any deeper issues. Even though you are the breadwinner, you should work as a team with your financial goals and household responsibilities.You can have a healthy relationship and be a successful female breadwinner!

If you have any questions regarding the webinar, or would like to discuss ways to improve your financial health in more detail, then please get in touch.

Live a wealthy life, friends.