Financial Planning Tips for Women: Books, Budgets, and More Resources
Women have come a long way in every sphere of life, and financial independence is no exception. This is thanks to the women who paved the way for our financial future by showing us what a feasible financial planning process looks like and fighting for our right to have financial freedom.
If you’re a woman who’s always wanted to create a secure or even over-achieving financial life for yourself, it’s time you got started. In this article, you’ll find out the best financial planning tips for women, and we’ll give you our list of the best financial planning books for women. We’ll also show you lots of other financial planning resources for women so you can take control of your finances. Ready to begin your financial journey? Read on!
Top 10 Financial Planning Tips for Women
Whether you’re planning for retirement, your child’s education, your living expenses, or even if you’re trying to create an investment portfolio, there are certain financial factors you must be aware of. Knowing you should create a financial plan is one thing, but knowing how to create one that works is another. That’s why you need these tips to get you on the right financial path.
1. Accept That You Don’t Know It All
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Just because you’re a college graduate or because you’ve been steadily paying your bills on time doesn’t mean you’re financially educated. In a 2020 study conducted by the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), only 49 percent of adult American women correctly answered the financial literacy questions posed.
This shows that more women need to gain financial knowledge. Thus, the first step to planning for your future is understanding the financial world through the lens of a financially literate American woman.
2. Get Financially Educated
Once you’ve accepted that you’re lacking financial knowledge, you need to take steps to get the right education. You can do this through reading online financial planning literacy articles and books, and taking courses and training. Gaining financial education helps you take control of your quality of life. According to a Pew Research Center report in 2021, job loss from the pandemic has caused more financial instability in America than ever before.
3. Create a Vision Board
A vision board is a visual representation of your future goals. It shows you where you are and where you’re going. A vision board is a great way to plan for and track your future, and it’s also a good way to hold yourself accountable. Your vision board should contain key elements, like your long-term and short-term goals. Make it as visually appealing as possible, since it should be a colorful, personal journal that details your money journey.
4. Create a Budget That Defines Who You Want to Be
You should create a budget that’s unique to your situation and personal goals. You can either do this manually with an Excel spreadsheet or make it easier with a budgeting app. If you choose the former, try to split your income into two halves, then try to fit all your expenses into one half. If they don’t fit, split the other half and repeat the process. The idea is to map out your savings and investment plans.
5. Track Your Recurring Expenses
If you’re serious about creating a secure future, then you should track your expenses. You can do that with an expense tracker app or within an Excel spreadsheet. Tracking your personal finances helps increase your chances of maintaining a steady spending income. It also makes it easy to identify wasteful patterns in your spending history, which will make it easier for you to achieve your financial goals.
6. Plan for Possible Life Emergencies
Life’s unpredictable. No matter how sound your plans are, there will always be unpredictable expenses. That’s why you need an emergency fund. This fund should be separate from your savings fund, as your savings fund shouldn’t be used to cover unplanned events. The COVID-19 pandemic and its financial repercussions taught many people that they’re more financially vulnerable than they expected.
7. Stay Consistent in Your Savings and Investment
If you want to experience the magic of compound investment, then you must save and invest. Map out what constitutes your spendable income and what should go to your savings and investment fund. The good thing about investing is that it doesn’t matter how much you invest, as long as you stay consistent. Also, any digital investing platform you choose should be well-vetted.
8. Failure Is a Part of the Learning Process
The biggest lesson you ought to learn in your financial journey is that there will be wins and losses. As a woman who’s just learning to take control of her financial health, you might encounter challenges with your income allocation. The rate of return from your first investment may not be all that great, but don’t let it get you down. The more financial education you get, the more improvements you’ll notice in your finances.
9. Learn to Manage Your Credit Score
Avoid accumulating debts, or you’ll see the financial consequences in your credit score. Trying to juggle too many debts will hurt your financial health. You don’t have to take on a debt if it’s not necessary, especially if you earn a low monthly salary. Also, if you have a poor credit score, you’ll find it difficult to qualify for the loans you need. You also might have to pay higher interest rates when you do qualify for a loan.
10. Seek Financial Advice from Professionals
Financial advisors can help you attain financial security. These professionals have advanced financial knowledge. They can give you the right tax advice, help you plan for retirement, or recommend the financial product you need to achieve financial stability. The problem is, financial planning services can also be quite expensive. If you can afford to seek help within the financial services industry, this can take a mental burden off you.
5 Financial Mistakes for Women to Avoid
While failures are part of the learning process, there are some mistakes you should avoid making altogether. Getting into unnecessary debt will spell trouble for your personal finances, so you should try your best to avoid making these five common financial mistakes.
1. Spending Just Because You Feel Like It
Rather than spending money on a whim, try as much as possible to ensure your spending is premeditated. Having a conservative spending life shows you’re financially mature. Also, most of your unnecessary expenses can be added to areas like your retirement savings or even health insurance.
2. Taking Multiple Loans
It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to go to school to learn business administration or you’re just looking to have more cash to spend, you should avoid taking out too many loans if you don’t have a viable means of repayment. Money issues are one of the leading contributors to high divorce rates in America. If you want to be considered a reliable business partner, spouse, friend, or just hasten your growth, you should avoid developing a dependency on loans.
3. Not Keeping an Emergency Fund
If you don’t keep an emergency fund, then you’re going to have to rely on your long-term care fund or other personal savings to cover your emergency expenses. If you’re not careful, you can easily become destitute by ignoring your emergency savings funds – it’s that serious. You can’t leave it to chance. It’s your future, so keep it secure and have some emergency savings stored up.
4. Investing Without Getting Proper Financial Education
This is another big mistake you can make as a woman in the US. Investing without proper knowledge is the fastest way to lose all your money. Sadly, this trend isn’t likely to phase out anytime soon. The get-rich-quick culture will continue to motivate people to take uncalculated risks.
As a given, you shouldn’t invest in anything that hasn’t been endorsed by the government, meaning that you should be wary of cryptocurrency, pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing companies, and other shady investments and money schemes.
5. Not Learning to Become Assertive About Your Finances
It’s your finances, and it’s your life, so you should treat it as a big deal. You should be firm and positive about your personal and household finances. Exchange the scarcity mindset for an abundance mindset. Tell yourself you’re ready to become financially independent. Tell yourself you’re tired of begging for scraps. Mean it, follow through with it, and watch your finances fall into place
How to Make a Budget as a Woman
Your financial resources will never be enough without a structured spending plan, especially as a single woman living in America with the gender pay gap. That’s why you need a budget that works for you. Our capitalist society imposes on us the need to maintain healthy financial habits. Therefore, below is a sample of common expenses for women, compiled to create an efficient running budget. Try making your own budget using this template, swapping the placeholder amounts with your own.
Women Sample Budget
| Expense or Income | Amount |
|---|---|
| Total Income | + $6,000 |
| Rent | – $1,100 |
| Utilities and Bills | – $900 |
| Debt payments | – $350 |
| Food | – $300 |
| Entertainment | – $100 |
| Transportation | – $172 |
| Self-Care | – $100 |
| Childcare | – $1,400 |
| Total Remaining | + $1,578 |
Financial Planning Resources for Women
Being an adult is hard, so we shouldn’t leave our financial futures to chance. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re single, educated, or living below minimum wage, you can benefit from the financial advice and success tips within these financial planning resources. Start achieving your future goals by using these top financial resources for women we’ve listed below.
Financial Classes for Women
- Modern Money’s Money Breakthrough Mastermind Class. This is a four-week live group financial planning class for women who are ready to transform their financial situation.
- Clever Girl Finance 4 in 1 Course Bundle. This is a free four-class series for women who wish to improve their financial mindset and build feasible financial goals and budgets.
- Women’s Resource Financial Class Series. This is a foundational class for women who want to secure their financial future. You’ll learn the best financial strategies and goals from volunteers.
- Fundamentals of Financial Planning, with Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women. Goldman Sachs, in collaboration with Coursera, lets women learn financial management and strategic planning.
- edX’s Finance for Everyone. Your everyday money decisions are not complete without this course. Learn how to use the right financial tools and frameworks in just six weeks.
Financial Planning Books for Women
- Smart Women Finish Rich, Expanded and Updated by David Bach. This is one of the best-selling financial planning books for women who want a secure future. It helps women gain the insight, confidence, and strategy they need to attain financial wealth.
- Rich Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan for Getting Your Financial Life Together… Finally by Nicole Lapin. Learn from the financial health doctor herself. Nicole makes financial terminology easy to digest because she first creates a rapport with her audience.
- Secrets of Six-Figure Women: Surprising Strategies to Up Your Earnings and Change Your Life by Barbara Stanny. Several women have realized their financial power by using this book, it’s time you discovered yours so you can start making your six figures, too.
- Women and Money by Suze Orman. Suze Orman’s New York bestseller was written from the heart. She knows your story and she wants you to take control of your finances.
- We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide To Earning More, Building Wealth and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel Rodgers. Rachel Rodgers dares her readers to achieve real wealth, including peace, joy, and power. You shouldn’t have to choose between financial success and a happy, balanced life, and now, you don’t have to.
Financial Planning Software for Women
- Personal Capital. This is a sophisticated software application that allows you to monitor your income in real-time. You can control all your retirement accounts here as well.
- Intuit Mint. Gain access to your credit score, expenses, savings, and budget all at once from the free Mint app. This smart app is your solution to a debt-free year.
- Digit. With Digit, financial independence is no longer a mere wish. This efficient app helps you make a budget, invest, and save effortlessly.
- Qapital. Qapital is a popular app that has captured the hearts of several women. It allows you to manage your emergency funds and long-term goals from the app.
- Acorns. With more than nine million users, Acorn is worth every penny you spend on it. It’s an efficient app for tracking your financial performance.
Meet Your Female Financial Goals in 2022
It’s time to live like a boss, and, with the financial resources listed in this article, you can. 2022 can be the year you no longer have to worry about why your income keeps dwindling. Instead, you can focus on how to build a side hustle or bag a promotion that doubles your income. It’s time to start letting your savings and investments work for you.
If you’re interested in starting a new high-paying career in tech, you can research coding bootcamps. These bootcamps are not only less expensive than traditional schooling but often offer scholarships for women.
Financial Planning for Women FAQ
Financial planning is important for women because you can be more and you shouldn’t settle for less. Financial planning enables women to take active control of their lives. It is a way for you to break from the traditional, elitist system that has tried to keep you ignorant. Being financially independent and self-reliant is simply a basic need for all adults.
A woman can be financially independent when she’s exposed to the right financial resources. She needs to first gain the right level of financial education so she knows what her options are in the world. A woman becomes financially independent when she learns how to properly manage and grow her income by investing in viable assets and budget her income efficiently.
Yes, if possible, a wife should be financially independent. Financial independence for women is not a luxury, it’s a need. A wife needs to be in control of her financial health and be able to make her decisions without fear or manipulation. She needs to be able to give her potential kids the best life, whether or not her husband is financially capable. Financial control is a form of marital abuse, and this can be mitigated by ensuring you’re financially self-reliant before you enter a marriage.
The first step in developing a successful financial plan is outlining your goals. You can’t know what to plan if you don’t know what to plan for. By systematically defining your goals you’ve simplified the entire financial planning process. It makes it easier for you to develop S.M.A.R.T goals, because all your claims will have a basis and you’ll have tangible actions to take in order to achieve your goals.
