Special Personal Financial Planning for Women - Does it Work?

Special Personal Financial Planning for Women - Does it Work?

Here's a question that's bound to get the conversation a little heated up at any party - are women less in tune with their finances than men are? That's the position actually, that a new book on personal financial planning is aimed at establishing. You know that this is a book that's a bit different, when you look at the hot pink the cover designers choose to bind it in. And then there is the name - Shoo, Jimmy Choo! Wouldn't they have thought that they would offend the independent pride that women have in their ability to be strong, to be their own person?

Apparently those publishers had the nerve to pull this stunt because they realize that women don't really argue otherwise of their financial self-knowledge. The thing is, women don't share the same kind of financial life that men do. For one thing, women still are paid less for the same quality and quantity of work as a man, they have to take breaks from work to take of their family and to take care of aging parents, and then they tend to live longer. Somehow, even as women are comfortable with saving more than men, they end up with smaller savings. Books like this, aim to devise a whole new personal financial planning strategy for women, because they claim women have entirely different personal situations.

I feel that personal financial planning "especially for women" is a gimmick that the publishers have come up with to sell us more stuff. Even if women are paid less than men are, they still face the same levels of opportunities and risks as men do for the most part. But there still is something to the argument. Somehow, as competent as women are at managing the household budget, taking care of the larger concern of managing investments and long-term finances seems to be a subject that women haven't somehow taken an interest in, or learned any competence at.

And this is true even of professional career women who manage important positions with large corporations, or run for political office, or who are scientists. It's not just women who belong to an earlier generation who are like this either; women in their late 20's today have had the benefit of a more open attitude growing up, still take a much shallower interest in understanding their financial lives. However, investment banks have always known that women make better decisions when they do take up the reins.

Women are less given to gambling on the investment markets. When women do not know enough about a subject, they have no problem admitting it to themselves, and then taking the safe option. Men are the complete opposite. Let's look at some personal financial planning resources that are out there, and are dedicated to women.

Citibank has a women's financial literacy program going called Women & Co. It's a program that's been in existence for a decade now, and they offer classes and seminars to help women understand the special challenges they face while deciding on their investments. And then there is Down-to-Earth finance in New York that runs seminars every month for women. It should probably cost you about $50 to take a class. And Women Investing in Security and Education, an organization in California picks up the slack on the West Coast. If you would rather learn from the comfort of your home, try signing up LearnVest.com that helps women understand finance, and uses plain language. And it spares you the girliness.