International Women’s Day: Women’s Personal Finance

Marked annually on March 8th, International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It’s a day to acknowledge the struggles women before us have overcome and the challenges that we are still working towards overcoming today.

Like many other areas of society, there are various disparities between men and women when it comes to personal finance. In this post, I’m going to share some small wins women’s can make to improve their own financial situation today.

International Women’s Day: Women’s Personal Finance

Juno – Financial Education App

To celebrate International Women’s day, Juno has partnered with Wealthify to offer everyone free app membership for 1 year. On the app you’ll find courses on budgeting, investing, debt, side hustles, salary negotiation and lots more!

The Juno app allows you to earn avocados as you progress through the courses – these can be traded for rewards such as samples, gym memberships, tickets to events, financial planners and gift cards.

Get 500 bonus avocados with referral code: YK757UPRLG

Download the Your Juno app (iPhone only)

Women Save Less than Men – The Savings Gap

On average, women save £180 a month, while men save £306 a month.

There’s no one-size-fits all when it comes to saving. My recommendation would be to start with a goal. My first savings goal was enough to cover 3 months worth of bills, then 6 month and so on. Your next step could be to make it a priority to pay yourself first each payday by moving money from your current account into a savings account.

It’s worth looking for a savings account with a decent interest rate – my top picks are Chase (3%) and Chip (3.40%).

Women Invest Less than Men – The Investment Gap

15% of women have no savings or investments.

When we look at the total assets of the average man compared to the average woman we see a massive £50,000 gender gap. And the reason for this gap is largely attributed to women being uncomfortable with the possibility of losses. However, when we compare investment choices between genders we see that women actually make better investment choices and outperform men.

If you’re scared to take your first step towards investing know that you’re not alone. I only recently started investing after putting off for fear of not knowing what I was doing. But it’s worth doing some reading, increasing your understanding and investing a small amount of money to figure out what works for you.

I have some offers of free shares you can claim as a starting point too!

More International Women’s Day Reading

• How COVID has hammered women’s financial health – This post from Faith Archer includes all the ways that women have been disproportionately effected by coronavirus, as well as practical advice for turning your financial position around.
• Striving For An Equal Future – Marie rightly points out that if we don’t challenge the status quo, then change won’t happen. We must take up space, stand up for ourselves, be confident, know our own worth and call out inequalities.
• Closing the gender pay gap: 8 things you can do – Claire shares 8 things you can do to close the pay gap including upskilling and encouraging other women to do the same, challenging sexism in the workplace and seeking out employers that don’t have a gender pay gap.
• My Love Letter to Women for International Women’s Day 2021 – Lynn (Aka Mrs MummyPenny) has written a love letter to women for International Women’s Day. In this beautiful love letter Lynn talks about her divorce, writing her first book, and thanks the women that have supported her through it all.
• The Emotional and Joyful Sides of Money with Martha Lawton & Alex Lemon – You can listen to Martha on Couragemakers (a podcast for creative women), talking about how personal finance is still seen as a male domain, and how understanding and taking control of money brings you a firm foundation to build the life you want.
• Women Investing Inspiration: Hetty Green, the She-Wolf of Wall Street – Maria (The Money Principle) offers some investment inspiration by sharing the story of Hetty Green. In the late 19^th century, Hetty Green was one of the most powerful financiers in the world. She believed that making a fortune was easy.

Ideas for Celebrating International Women’s Day

• Talk to your friends, family, and colleagues about the topics discussed in this post (gender pay gap, investment gap, etc.)
• Share your messages of solidarity and support using #IWD2022 on social media.
• Support women led businesses and charities that support women
• Take a look at the books you read, people you follow and businesses you support, are they doing their bit to help the cause?
• Show your appreciation for the badass women in your life
• Encourage your employer to do more, what did they do to support International Women’s Day this year?
• Keep reading, keep learning and encourage others do the same

We can all choose to challenge and call out gender bias and inequality. We can all choose to seek out and celebrate women’s achievements. Collectively, we can all help create an inclusive world on International Women’s Day and beyond.