Consider this scenario of a couple. Jane is a successful surgeon who makes good money. Her husband, John, comes from an affluent family and has considerable wealth to his name, but all of it is held in a trust. The couple, for many years, lives off Jane’s salary because it’s plenty to cover their living expenses. Life goes on, and this setup works well for the couple for some time.

But then Jane and John get divorced, at which time John makes a claim for alimony. The court views it as a valid claim because the couple has been living on Jane’s earnings all those years. To make matters worse, because of the way that John’s trust is titled, that portion of his wealth is essentially untouchable in the divorce proceedings. Jane is caught completely off guard. She is forced to wonder whether she will have enough wealth to support her vision for retirement while also supporting her children and parents.

Far too often, women find themselves in unfortunate financial situations like this, partly due to not having been more prepared or empowered to manage their personal wealth. These situations continue to arise even as women constitute a significant and growing economic force. A recent Boston Consulting Group study found that women control a third of the world’s wealth — about $70 trillion as of 2019 — and are amassing wealth at a faster clip than men, outpacing the growth of the overall global wealth market.1

While all women should expect to be solely responsible for their financial well-being at some point in their lifetimes, many women feel underprepared to manage their financial wellness for a variety of reasons.

Potential causes of financial under-empowerment

A key reason that many women may not feel fully engaged in managing their finances might be the origin of the relationships that a male/female couple has with their financial professionals.

When it comes to married women, relationships with the financial advisor, the attorney and the CPA are often initiated by the husband. Women are often outsiders to these already-formed relationships. This can cause women to feel that they aren’t the top priority, or worse yet, that they aren’t even part of the team.

Division of labor in the household is another potential issue. Although they often handle the day-to-day financial matters, most married women are not similarly involved in the larger, more macro, financial matters such as financial planning and investing. While division of labor is typical of any household, dividing up financial matters this way might jeopardize the couple’s — and more likely the woman’s — financial future.

Potential consequences of not being fully engaged

When women aren’t fully engaged in the larger financial discussions, they run the risk of being isolated from important information and decisions regarding their financial futures. The consequences can be significant, particularly when women find themselves “suddenly single.”

Life events such as a divorce and the sudden death of a spouse can lead to very difficult situations without the right preparation. For example, a widow may face liquidity or cash-flow challenges that can undermine her ability to maintain her current lifestyle, especially if wealth is tied up in private businesses, real estate or other illiquid assets. Family discord, losing out on a fair share of a business, and hefty legal and tax bills can exacerbate these issues.

Simply put, individuals — and especially women — can’t afford not to take control of their wealth and financial resources. Thankfully, there are several ways to address this.

Three steps toward greater financial empowerment

1. Establish and build the necessary relationships. It is critical that you know — and are known by — your financial professional and other professionals involved in managing your wealth. This may require a deliberate effort to build or even start a relationship with the financial professional. You can begin by joining the meetings and calls that, in the past, your spouse may have attended alone.

It may even make sense to set up individual time with your financial professional for a one-on-one conversation without your spouse present. This isn’t meant as a time for telling secrets or undercutting your spouse, but rather as a safe environment and opportunity to discuss things from your perspective, ask questions on your own terms and get to know your advisor.

2. Know the fundamentals and ask the right questions. Before you can feel fully engaged about upcoming decisions, you need to understand the fundamentals of your financial plan and investment strategy. This is important for everyone in a financial professional-client relationship, but especially for individuals who may be looking for a way to get up to speed.

Women often find themselves in situations where they need to take action to ensure that their financial rights are protected and their obligations and risks are limited appropriately. But they need to feel comfortable to ask questions.

Sometimes it is hard to know what questions to ask your financial professional. Start by asking to see an overview of your accounts. Ask the advisor to explain any terms that are unfamiliar to you. Go to the library or go online and take some time to learn the basics and research the right questions to ask.

3. Normalize the financial conversation. Many women may feel a stigma about discussing financial topics, and “money talk” is often viewed as a social taboo. Unfortunately, this may contribute to a woman’s hesitation to take initiative with financial matters. One way to overcome this stigma is by talking about these issues more regularly. Sharing your experiences with people you trust can help you feel more empowered and ready to engage — and your friends and family members will likely benefit from the conversation, too.

Women may underestimate the significant and growing economic force that they represent given the massive amount of wealth that will shift to women over the coming decades. Perhaps this is part of the reason that many women feel underprepared to manage their own finances, especially when thrust into more of a leadership role due to the death of a spouse or a divorce. But most women will end up in control of their own finances at some point in life. Now is the time to begin preparing for this role.

By focusing on building relationships, asking the right questions and normalizing the financial conversation, women can begin to take greater control of their financial futures.

1. Boston Consulting Group. From 2016 to 2019, women gained wealth at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.1%, versus 4.1% for men and 4.7% for the overall wealth pool. From 2019 to 2023, women are expected to gain wealth at a CAGR of 7.2%, versus 5.2% for men and 5.8% for the overall wealth market. The global wealth market size is expected to reach $271 trillion by 2023.

Platt Wealth Management offers financial plans to answer your important financial questions. Where are you? Where do you want to be? How can you get there? Our four-step financial planning process is designed to be a road map to get you where you want to go while providing flexibility to adapt to changes along the route. We offer stand alone plans or full wealth management plans that include our investment management services. Give us a call today to set up a complimentary review. 619-255-9554.

Raising children who understand the value of money gives them an advantage. So, that means your kids need to know about taxes. Of course, receiving a check at their first job for much less than the $15 per hour stated on the employment agreement is one way to find out. 

Instead of believing that they’ve been robbed by their employer (or the government), by learning early on why taxes are deducted from their checks, they’ll understand that some of the taxes taken out pay for Social Security and Medicare when they’re no longer able to work. 

They’ll also find out that federal and state taxes pay for things like the police and fire departments in the town where your family lives, as well as roads and bridges in addition to national defense and parks. Maybe even more important to many kids today, the fiber optic infrastructure that allows them to stay online all day!

As a taxpayer, of course, you well know that taxes can be complicated. While you know that you don’t need to burden your five-year-old with the difference between marginal income tax rates and capital gains rates, you might not be sure what your kids need to know and when. 

As always, you know your children best, and you might want to let them in on some of these topics earlier or later than suggested, depending on personalities and experience. The ranges are pretty broad, though. Take the opportunity to make sure they’re clear on the foundations before you start teaching them more advanced topics.

Children ages 5-10 need to understand tax basics

Even in elementary school, your kids can absorb some fundamental and easy lessons about taxes. It’s probably easiest to start while you’re shopping at the grocery or toy store. Find an item whose price is easy to understand, like $1 or $5 or $10. (Good luck in some of the stores, which for behavioral finance reasons, charge $4.99 or $9.99 instead! But that’s a lesson for later.) 

Run the item(s) through checkout separately, so it’s clear on the receipt how much tax you paid. Point out that while the price was $5, the amount that came out of your pocket was slightly more than that. 

They’ll want to know where the money goes. At this age, there’s no need to get very specific. Your kids only need a high-level overview; that money goes to the government to fund things like parks, police, and schools. No need to get political here either; just the basic facts will do.

Middle school/junior high, ages 11-13 need to understand taxes in relation to their paycheck

At this point, your kids will be familiar with sales taxes, having seen you shop. Maybe they’ve been able to shop themselves.

They’re old enough to begin learning about other taxes, such as income tax, property tax, and Social Security/FICA. Show them your pay stub and discuss the various amounts that have been deducted and why. If you have Social Security statements, you can demonstrate where the money goes later on in life.

Let them know what the deductions for Medicare and Social Security pay for. You can also explain the federal, state, and potentially local taxes. They should have a basic understanding of the US government from school and know that the federal government is in charge of some things, and state and local governments run others. Taxes at every level support all these different branches of government.

Although you’ll explain the deductions from your paycheck to them in some detail, that’s not the central concept they need to know. The big lesson here is that the money they earned according to the stated pay rate is not what shows up in the paycheck. 

Show them the difference between the stated rate and what gets deposited into your account. Of course, not all deductions will be taxes since you likely have health care and retirement contributions taken out as well. Talk to them about the importance of budgeting with the net amount after taxes and other deductions, not the gross income.

Show them your property tax bill as well. Property owners fund local improvements and projects, so they need to understand where the money goes.

Teens 14 and over need to understand how to file their taxes

At this age, your kids are probably paying taxes in some shape or form already. They’re paying sales tax when they shop, and if they have jobs, they’ll also be paying income tax. They know the reality of paying taxes, especially if you’ve been educating them along the way.

If they do have part-time (or other) jobs, show them how to keep their documents organized for tax time. Let your kids know about the importance of W-2s and why they need to keep track. They should do their income taxes (with your guidance, of course) during this time. 

There are plenty of online software applications to use, which makes it easy. My dad made me do my taxes when I was in high school, and back then, we had to use paper forms and read the instructions. 

Doing their taxes each year helps your children understand the basic calculations and the importance of tax deductions. They’ll also be in the habit of doing their taxes annually, so they won’t need to worry about IRS fines and fees later on.

If they don’t have their own jobs, they can sit with you while you do your taxes online or go to the CPA with you. 

When your kids start asking why so much money goes to taxes, discuss how Congress sets the rates. You can also show them that income tax rates change over time. For example, income tax rates on high earners are currently significantly lower than when the government built the interstate highway network across America and other big infrastructure projects in the middle of the last century.

If they’ve been investing, or you’ve been investing on their behalf, introduce capital gains tax. Explain how they only pay it when investments are sold. Let them know about capital losses, which can reduce the amount of capital gains they’ll need to pay taxes on.

Understanding income and capital gains taxes is an excellent segue into the importance of tax-deferred accounts. You know your children will need a significant amount of assets in the future and the need to start saving early to take advantage of compound returns. Show them what a difference not paying income and capital gains taxes on the money they accumulate in these accounts makes down the road.

If you’ve been saving for their future in college 529 accounts, you have another chance to showcase the importance of deferred or tax-free (for qualified expenses) money. Depending on when you started funding the accounts, you can also demonstrate the power of compounding over time. 

There are many opportunities to teach your kids about taxes in an age-appropriate way. It’s critical for them to understand the difference between gross and after-tax income to know how to budget appropriately. Tax season is an excellent time to demonstrate to your older kids why they need to understand IRS rules and regs.

If you’d like to talk to us about investments for your kids, please feel free to give us a call at 619.255.9554 or email us to set up an appointment.

Platt Wealth Management offers financial plans to answer your important financial questions. Where are you? Where do you want to be? How can you get there? Our four-step financial planning process is designed to be a road map to get you where you want to go while providing flexibility to adapt to changes along the route. We offer stand alone plans or full wealth management plans that include our investment management services. Give us a call today to set up a complimentary review. 619-255-9554.