Ah, New Year’s resolutions. You’ve been going to the gym more and eating healthier, and maybe you have had a “dry” or “damp” January.  Congrats!  2024 is off to an excellent start for your health.  Now it’s time to tackle your wealth as February kicks off.  Given our focus on engaging and serving women investors, I am often asked if financial planning differs for single women.  And the answer is…no and yes.

No, in the sense that our financial plan engagement is the same, no matter your gender.  A financial plan is a roadmap to help you understand your money situation today and help you determine whether and how you can meet life goals through properly managing your financial assets. It’s a process, not just a spreadsheet. Often, clients seek help on one financial topic but soon realize their financial life is intertwined and look for answers on various topics. You can read more about putting a financial plan in place and the steps to take in our “What is a Financial Plan” blog.

But single women, whether single by choice, circumstance, planned or unplanned, often face additional hurdles in developing their financial plan.  Here are some of the circumstances our single women clients have raised as concerns they want to discuss and address as we work together:

• I don’t have a significant other to be a sounding board or backstop, so I feel more pressure to get it right
• I am not confident about all the decisions I am making
• I am worried about my financial security in retirement and want to make sure I have the means and capacity to take care of myself AND help family and friends
• I want to be financially independent so that I can live life on my terms
• I do not talk enough about money
• I have not focused on my estate plan, and I don’t understand the role I will have to play as someone’s executor or guardian of their children
• I am taking care of my aging parents and relatives; who will take care of me?
• I have too much cash and need to invest it
• I sometimes feel overwhelmed with having to make all the financial decisions by myself and would like help in analyzing the value of tradeoffs
• I don’t need all this money, how can I develop a legacy strategy
• I do not want to be too reliant on a “faith” based strategy, and hope it works out; I want a plan

Well, if you are thinking about any of the above things, we can help!  Making money, accumulating wealth, and having a wealth strategy are essential to your financial independence and securing your long-term financial security, especially if you are single.  Building wealth is not just about being successful; it is about having an intentional plan and a financial ally to help you develop, execute, and monitor it.  You can learn more about our Women and Wealth offering here.