Over the past few years, there’s been a spotlight on female empowerment, however, women are still struggling to make significant progress, financially. ‍

Why aren’t we feeling more empowered about our financial futures?

While we wait for the slow-moving dial of gender financial equality to shift, there are things women can do for themselves to positively impact their financial situation …

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Hello, financial literacy.

Financial literacy is having the knowledge, competence, and confidence to make smart financial decisions.

It’s the knowledge and application of various financial skills. Skills like creating a budget or cash flow, understanding how credit works, investing, and saving for the future.

Here’s how to raise your fin lit

Make it a priority

As women, we have many tasks (and people) competing for our attention. Make money one of them. How much time do you allocate a week to your money? Be honest.

I devote an hour a week to my money. It’s in my calendar, it gets my attention.

What can you achieve in 12 months’ time by devoting just an hour a week to your finances?

One of the worst outcomes of not prioritizing saving and investing is missing opportunities to leverage compound interest – time & money = perfect power couple.

Money is just like any other relationship you have in your life, it needs your time and attention.

Learn About Money

Knowledge is power

Take small steps to invest in financial knowledge, by setting aside as little as 15 minutes each week or month to read and learn about money – whether it be about budgeting, saving, investing, retirement planning, shares, property, mindset or wealth protection (insurance).

Seek financial advice or rely on trustworthy channels to add to your financial know-how over time. There’s a wealth (pun intended) of financial knowledge out there for you to consume from magazines, newspapers, books, podcasts, websites & blogs.

Here’s a few to get you started: Money Magazine

Podcasts: The Australian Finance Podcast, The Broke Generation - Emma Edwards, The Grass Is Greener – Tim Henry & How to be successful with money - Pivot Wealth

Books: Join the Rich Club by Peter Switzer, She's on the Money by Victoria Devine

Websites: - mine, obviously…. www.womentalkingfinance.com.au; Money smart www.moneysmart.gov.au

Magazines: Money

By continuing to up-skill and arming yourself with financial knowledge will also increase your confidence and decision-making abilities.

Get comfortable Talking about Money

It’s hard to learn about money when we’re discouraged from talking about it.

Conversations about money can put you in a position to be better informed about financial matters and normalise that you’re not alone in not knowing what to do.

If you want to improve your financial situation, talking about it is necessary.

So, that’s why I’m all about talking about money (hence Women Talking Finance was created...). You can take small first steps, like casually mentioning that you’re reading a money blog or book, or mentioning you’ve just created a spending plan. From there, you can build up how often you talk about money, whom you talk to, and which topics to focus on. Whom you talk with does matter – seek out like-minded people who are also wanting to be better with or already are good with money.

In a similar fashion to a book club, why not meet your friends over a drink or dinner to start a conversation about financial topics? Create your own Money Club.

As you build your financial literacy through allocating time, learning, and talking about money, here are some of the areas you should focus on:

Establishing a spending plan - A well-designed spending plan allows you to know how much you need to set aside each month for basic living expenses, the fun stuff, and saving towards your goals and future.

Taxes - Understand how taxes work and how to use the system to reduce yours. What can you claim back and how does investing positively or negatively impact your tax.

Debt – How to use it well to grow your wealth and fund your lifestyle in a healthy way. Learn strategies can you use to reduce existing debt or prevent getting into debt again.

Become an investor — Once you have good spending habits, have some savings, and aren’t carrying debt, then it’s time to grow your money through investing. Over the past two years, investment platforms and trading apps reported an increase in female accounts. Are you one of them? You can start investing with as little as $5.

Protecting yourself – Using insurance to minimise your financial risks. Consider how much coverage you have and the best way to hold it to maximise your premium spending.

Retirement – become familiar with your super account. Learn how it is invested, how much it is projected to grow from now until age 60, and what fees and insurance you are paying within it.

Goal setting – your money needs direction and purpose. How to set goals you’ll achieve based on what is most important to you.

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Each of these aspects of managing your money better is covered in my 90-day online education and coaching program. 7 Modules delivered live and online over 90 days.

If you want to increase your knowledge and confidence, feel like you have a financial plan and most importantly, feel good about your money and financial future,

register your interest here:

www.womentalkingfinance.com.au/online-course

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