INDIANAPOLIS — As we celebrate Women’s History Month, financial experts say it’s a good time to make sure you’re making smart money moves.
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The financial journey for women often looks different from that of men. Experts say women are more likely to take career breaks, shoulder caregiving responsibilities, live longer and face the gender pay gap. Those factors can make long-term financial planning especially important.
“Which means we have to think about how we’re saving, budgeting and investing a little differently,” said Kimberly Palmer, a personal finance expert at NerdWallet.
Palmer says a helpful strategy is to break financial goals down by decade. In your 20s, she says the focus should be on building credit, starting to invest and beginning retirement savings as early as possible.
“I didn’t have the financial capability to do that, so at the time I would just save by putting things in jars and then labeling them,” said Crystal Caves, an Indianapolis resident.
“I wasn’t taught that early on. I started my first big-girl job about three years ago. That’s when I quickly learned about all of that and how to do it,” said Naomi Hege, an Indianapolis resident.
In your 30s and 40s, experts say the focus shifts to maintaining and protecting what you’ve built.
"Disability insurance and life insurance because those can really protect people, especially when they are depending on you," said Palmer.
In your 50s and beyond, the focus should be on maximizing retirement contributions and making sure key legal documents are up to date.
"Take care of a lot of financial paperwork like making sure you have your estate planning documents taken care of, updating beneficiaries and all of your accounts," said Palmer.
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