By Linda Elkins.
OPINION | If I had a daughter, I would imagine I’d want to raise her just like I did my two sons – to believe that achieving your definition of financial security is completely within your control.
I’d want her to know that gender doesn’t matter and give her the confidence, and skills, to take control of her financial wellbeing. However, I’ve worked in wealth management for 20 years now, and I know there isn’t absolute parity. There remains a distinct gender gap when it comes to financial security, evidenced by well-known statistics: On average, women retire with half as much super as men and full-time female employees take home nearly $27,000 less than their male colleagues.
Yes, women face structural economic obstacles. But there is an opportunity to close the gap by kick-starting the conversation earlier, by engaging young females on all financial topics and by improving access to information that’s relevant and helpful.
Improving the future financial security of all women lies in how we talk to women and what we talk about. Moving the dial requires disciplined action in three areas.
Financial literacy
The first is financial literacy – the building blocks of knowledge and confidence.
Financial literacy helps individuals make important life decisions. It has a strong link to affluence and starts with understanding money and budgeting, but also needs to encompass understanding super, creating opportunities for retirement and investing for long-term wealth creation.
Improving Australia’s financial literacy baseline would make an enormous impact. We would create 15,000 more jobs and boost our economy, measured by GDP, by as much as $6.2 billion a year.
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