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By Sarah Tolson Kim
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Financial literacy has become a familiar rallying cry, especially in conversations about women and money, but knowing what an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is, understanding a 401(k), or making regular retirement contributions does not automatically translate into wealth.
The real test is whether women feel equipped to make their money work for them.
For example, an individual may contribute regularly to an IRA without realizing that contributions still needs to be invested according to an appropriate investment strategy.
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Simply funding an account does not necessarily mean the assets have been invested. People need to understand what their money is doing, where it is going, and which questions to ask when they need help.
Financial knowledge without practical direction creates a dangerous illusion of security. A Merrill Lynch and Age Wave study found that 61 percent of women are more comfortable discussing their own death than money.
Silence could be very expensive.
Cost of Putting Others First
Women often spend decades building financial security for their families, while managing carers, children, households, and aging parents. Their own financial needs become one more item on an already impossible to-do list, and many arrive at retirement without having adequately addressed their own long-term financial needs. It is an important planning challenge to recognize.
The economic cost is substantial. The Federal Reserve’s 2025 household survey found that 37 percent of mothers living with children under 13 were not working for pay, compared with 18 percent of fathers.
Among parents who were not working, 41 percent of mothers said childcare responsibilities contributed to that decision, compared with 25 percent of fathers. Career interruptions may result in years of reduced earnings, missed retirement contributions, and potentially slower future salary growth.
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I understand why a woman might remain in a familiar job because it offers flexibility around her family. Yet the safe choice is not always the secure one. A missed promotion, an unnegotiated salary, or another five years in a position with limited earning potential can substantially affect the amount she eventually invests.
Financial independence requires women to examine their career prospects with the same seriousness they bring to their families’ needs. Caring for others should never require abandoning responsibility for oneself.
Planning for Financial Independence
Thoughtful planning can help individuals better understand how savings, investments, insurance, career decisions, and unexpected expenses may affect their financial circumstances.
Planning cannot eliminate these risks, but it can help identify areas that may warrant attention. The difference can begin with a handful of decisions made years earlier. And this is hardly a concern exclusive to women. Every family depends on financial decisions, and every generation inherits the consequences of the financial habits established before it.
Retirement preparedness can affect more than the individual. In some families, insufficient retirement resources may influence decisions about how long someone continues working, the financial support available to children, and other household priorities.
Thoughtful planning can help families consider these potential trade-offs earlier. When a mother is forced to work into her seventies or eighties, what should be a period of rest becomes an endless necessity.
This financial anxiety is hereditary, traveling quietly through lineages until children begin worrying over utility bills and harboring deep guilt for pursuing an education they believe their parents cannot afford. It teaches an entire generation to negotiate their futures from a place of scarcity and fear.
This is why I want women to reconsider what it means to put themselves first. Financial planning is an act of self-preservation and an investment in the people they love. I often compare it to booking a facial or getting your nails done. We can find an hour for those appointments, so why should an hour spent protecting our financial future feel less deserving?
A qualified financial professional can provide additional perspective and help identify planning considerations that may be easy to overlook. Asking for help is a sign of responsible decision-making.
Taking Practical Steps
There are practical steps every woman can take. Set aside one hour each week to review bank and investment accounts, pay credit cards, check upcoming bills, and understand what savings are actually bringing you. Money sitting in cash may offer stability, but inflation can steadily erode its purchasing power.
Review life and disability insurance, and consider how long-term care expenses could affect your family. Treat an annual financial review with the same importance as an annual physical. Keep an eye on career opportunities, too. A potential $20,000 salary increase can transform the amount available for saving and investing over several years.
Financial institutions also have a responsibility here. Advisors and educators must make investment decisions understandable and explain the practical consequences of inaction. Financial services should never leave clients believing that opening an account is the same as having a strategy.
I want women to redefine what being a good mother, wife, or daughter means. Protecting your own financial future is part of protecting your family. It gives your children a living example of financial responsibility and allows them to inherit knowledge, confidence, and opportunity.
Start with one hour this week. Review your investments, examine your insurance, question your career trajectory, and ask a professional to scrutinize your plan. You do not need to become a financial expert to take control. You need to begin acting like your future deserves the same protection you have spent a lifetime giving everyone else.
Sarah Tolson Kim, CFP, is the Founder and President of Girls Just Gotta Have Funds, a San Francisco Bay Area-based financial services firm dedicated to empowering women. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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