What Women Need To Know About Money

about flexible working. There's a ton to talk about, but there is hope. I'm joined today by Emilie Bellet. Emilie is passionate about helping women improve their financial lives. She's the host of her podcast, The Wallet, and the founder of Vestpod, a community with a mission to help people, especially women, achieve financial independence. She's also wrote the book, You're Not Broke, You're Pre- Rich, which feels very on- brand

for a little bit richer. So let's dive in. Emilie, what are some of the challenges that women face in the financial space?

a working life that's not as linear. So we may take breaks because we take care of our children, but it's also taking care of elderly parents, taking care of families, of communities. Women are still the primary carers, so taking time off means less money being saved, less money being saved for the short term, but also for the long term. And also women tend to invest less than men.

So because they're not taking this extra risk with their money, they're not necessarily getting this extra reward and building pension pots over the long term. So there's this motherhood penalty, good daughter penalty. I hate having all these penalties on women's life, but it's really important to think about the long term. Another statistic is that 34% of women say that their financial situation keep them up at night.

So I think because we didn't necessarily have these conversations about money, don't have the education, and this is men and women, we never received any financial education. There's also a lack of confidence when it comes to finances. So even if women are really good savers, they're not actually always investing for the long- term and putting money into

their retirement. When you look at pension pots, women will have pension pots that are half the size of men at retirement, and this comes from habits that will come from much earlier in their working lives.

there. And I think it is so important as women, I think, I can't remember the exact number, but there is a stat out there that shows that women are better savers, they save more than men, but maybe they didn't take as much risk on their money. So they didn't put it in investments to help it grow. So I think there is that. But speaking about investment

then, what is this investment gap? So can you describe what it is and what can be done about it?

not all women are actually investing money. So they're losing out because by making your money work for you and putting your money at work. In the stock market, you may expect higher return over the longer time. But of course, this comes with a notion of risk and risk

is very difficult to comprehend. So when we look at the younger generation, you think about maybe the financial crisis in 2008, people may be worried about the stock market. There's a lot of misconception when we think about in culture and movies, we think about the Wolf of Wall Street. So investing seems really scary and seems something that's

not for everyone. So we sort of miss this education from a very young age about delayed ratification and budgeting and how to put your money at work to generate more return with your money and building wealth. And these are very important concepts. But if you don't start, then you may not have the confidence. You may feel a bit worried about asking for help, knowing where to go

when you need financial advice. There's also a financial advice gap in the UK to add to our gaps where most people are not going to have access to a financial

advisor maybe because they don't have enough money. So there's a lot of responsibility and personal responsibility to get started managing your money and investing your money because this is going to be really important to build financial security and financial independence. It's not about having more money, it's about having more money to be able to achieve your goals, to live

the life you want. So I feel this investing piece is really where I want to help women to just get started on a very small scale. Now, there's a lot of platforms on the market where you can invest your spare change, you can start investing with £ 50 amounts. So it's getting started into this habit and trying to understand risk and see risk not necessarily as something that

is bad but risk more as an opportunity. And when you invest in the stock market and if you have a pension, your money is invested. So most people don't actually know that through your workplace pension, you're contributing towards your future, but your money is going to be invested

in a collection of different companies. It's trying to understand a little bit more about how the stock market work, build up this confidence, understand risk, and feel a little bit more comfortable with this term of investing. And it's the same as investing in your personal career, in your personal development where you do a lot of things for yourself to feel better, but you can do also some

of these things with your finances. And it's starting from maybe learning a little bit more about money, investing a little bit. So starting on a very small scale actually works and it compounds over time, and that's one of the greatest lessons in investing.

representation as well. So we've mentioned there are a lot of gaps, there are a lot of gaps for women out there, but as a woman, what can you do to be better prepared when it comes to your finances?

we try to have these conversations about money. There's still such a big taboo around money because they have this lack of education and money being the thing where it's quite, I mean, I've always been taught that it's quite impolite to talk about money, that girls shouldn't talk about money. When you look at the statistics, girls actually receive 20% less pocket

money than boys. And our money habits come from a very young age, from age three to 7 years old. So we sort of grow up with these beliefs around money. So I think doing a little bit of work on your money mindset by having a conversation, trying to write your money story, maybe seeing a money coach also financial advisors can also help you. But really doing the

work for yourself. And then it's organizing your finances, not being worried about checking your bank accounts. And I know that's quite scary for people who never look at their finances. But on the morning, try to check your bank account once a day, you'll feel empowered, you know exactly how

much you have. And the same is going to go for debts, trying to understand how much debt do you have, how much savings do you have, and try to understand your basic numbers. So having a little spending plan, trying to check for the past months, or for the past three months, how have you been spending your money? So this is the first part. And then thinking more

broadly about wealth, we all should think about wealth. And of course, here we're talking financial wealth, but knowing a few numbers. So maybe trying to calculate your net worth, which is the sum of all your assets, minus the sum of your liabilities. If you're quite early in your working life, and if you have a lot of student debt, you will

have a negative net worth. But that's okay. It's just a matter of improving this number over time, knowing how much savings you have. So really knowing these numbers, also your credit score and writing them down and having maybe a little date with yourself on your money once a month. And I'm sure you talk about that also with your friends and communities, but it's having this regular catch-

up with money, I think is really helpful. And not judging yourself really, sort of detaching your self- worth from these numbers. They don't define you, the amount of money you earn, the amount of debt you have, they're not your personality. So trying to separate the two, I think is quite important. But be very realistic about how much money you have, how much money you don't have, and what are your goals going forward.

talk, so things become taboo. And you never know if you see your colleagues are any more than you because we don't talk about it. And I've made it a thing of my own friendship group that us as girls will come together and we'll just talk about money. Sometimes it's like, " We want to go out here, but girls, I haven't got the money this month. So let's be mindful of

the budget." And having those open conversations make things easier. You can bring up, you know what, I'm going to go through this pay rise. It just makes that conversation a lot easier to have with people. So I think it's definitely a good thing to try and incorporate for people. So Emilie, when it comes to the cost of kids specifically, because that can be a very big cost for a lot of

parents. How can women and partners financially prepare for this?

the most expensive in the world. And when we have conversation about childcare, women tend to compare their salary with the cost of childcare. But actually, maybe they have a partner and they can share this cost with their partner. So I think it's trying to plan with your partner, cost of childcare, what do you want to do? Do you want to go back to work? How much is

it going to cost us? And try to see this cost of childcare as an investment that will allow you if you want to to stay in the workforce, if you want to take some time off, can you also plan for this time off understanding that you will not earn any money? So there's also no money that's going to be put into your savings and into your investment plan. And a conversation you can have with your partner is

around pensions. So if you're taking time out of work and that you can have a few kids and then very easily you're five years out of the workforce or 10 years and you haven't saved any money. So making sure maybe your partner knows about that and is helping you and paying into your pension, or you can help

your partner. So having this thing where you work as a team and collectively to make sure you build up financial independence together for your household, but also independently, making sure you have your own money, you have your own

pension pots because you never know what can happen. And also when you start having children is how do you talk about money in the family and how you start educating your children because as we know early education will have such a big impact later on in life. So involving them in basic money decisions, and that can be

budgeting, delayed gratification, saving for something you really like. Also, when it comes to raising kids, there's important conversations to have around flexible work and shared parental leave. So it's important for both partners to maybe be able to take some time off to spend time with the kids to make sure the other partner can also stay the workforce.

And the last thing is for parents, for young parents, when you have children, you should apply and potentially claim for child benefits. So if you are out the workforce, you may not be entitled to actually receive a payment, but you can check that on HMRC, on the governance website. But actually, can you get your national insurance contribution to make sure you're not losing out in terms of your state pension?

pension, check your pension, make sure you're contributing. If you don't have a pension yet, it's maybe the time to start figuring out how you can save for your older self and try to connect with your future self. And my third tip is learn more about money, become more financially

confident. You can start again on a very small scale with maybe books, video, courses, podcasts like this one, and slowly learn the tips, find some guidance, and become more financially confident.

managing work in the UK. In the meantime, follow the podcast, leave us a review, and tell a mate. See you next week.