Women on wealth: the things we don’t talk about

Wealth is a taboo subject and it shouldn’t be. It’s too important not to talk about it.

When was the last time you sat around with your friends openly talked about money? For too many of us, this is a topic that’s not discussed and it’s to our detriment, leaving us out of step with how to build wealth today.

Why don’t we talk about wealth?

There are a number of reasons we don’t talk about it. It’s considered impolite, socially unacceptable and we all know it’s what’s on the inside that determines your worth, not how much money someone has, right? Right.

How do we learn about wealth if we don’t talk about it?

The challenge is that many of us are without an appropriate “wealth role model” whom we can talk with and learn from, leaving us bumbling along of our own accord with often no more than the out-dated ideals of our parents (which, to give them credit served them just fine, last century) and the result is we are battling challenges with no real insight or support on what we are doing. How do we pay off our credit card debt? How do we get into the property market? How can I increase my superannuation? How do I buy an investment property? All good questions and ones that have answers.  If only we knew who to ask.

Buying a house, working your guts out to pay off your mortgage and saving some extra money is not enough today. The average woman retires with just under $100,000 of superannuation, about 47% less than her male counterpart. So, many couples may end up with $247,000 in super. If they retire at 60 and live 30 years, it’s a rude shock to the budget. 

With less superannuation, a gender pay-gap and often time out of the workplace in caring roles as mothers or care providers for ageing parents, we have to work smarter to gain financial independence.

So, given that I want to travel and enjoy my retirement with my friends and family, it’s important that they are going to be building wealth too.

• We don’t have to do this alone. We bumble along, often holding ideas from last century as a means for operating today and working like mad to pay the bills.
• Connect with the right professionals and surround yourself with like-minded people, so you can learn things your family or friends may not have done before you.
• We want to start the conversation, lift the lid, so you can learn about what people are doing today and talk about wealth.

We recently partnered with ShireWomen to sponsor the ShireWomen – Empower Event Series. The first event, held at our office brought together women from the ShireWomen community to talk 'money', learn from others and get inspired all in a supportive environment. 

We heard from some brave women who shared their personal stories about wealth complete with all of life’s unexpected ups and downs that posed some interesting challenges. It illustrated the reasons it is so important to get organised sooner rather than later. We touched on:

• Life Insurance
• Estate Planning
• Property Investment
• Loans and structuring
• SMSF

We also heard from a ShireWomen Business Member and psychologist, Stephanie Allen, who addressed some of the emotional issues that may hold us back from wealth. It seems many of us are uncomfortable with building wealth or have some deep seeded ideas about greed, selfishness or perhaps that we don’t deserve more? Being financially independent is an achievement to be proud of, putting you in a position to help yourself, your family and others.

Key ideas discussed at the event:

• Work smarter not harder
• Do the research, set some financial goals and start with a strategy
• You may be suprised to find that taking control of your finances is easier than you think.

I encourage us all to start the conversation about wealth, talk to your sisters, partners, friends, parents, and professionals to get wise to the ways you can build financial independence. Let’s learn from each other and get practical about what needs to be done to be financially independent today. 

About DPN

DPN is an Australian owned business established over 20 years ago and employs around 60 people. It is our mission to help everyday people live the life they want by achieving greater financial independence. We do this by providing innovative finance, property investment and property management solutions, mentoring and education.