How tacking financial worries head on can help women thrive

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, we thought it’d be a good time to reflect on how women are feeling about their finances.

Let’s start with you. Are you financially prepared if your boiler broke down? Are you on track to pay off your mortgage? Can you take that girls’ trip to Majorca without stressing out? Are you saving enough for a comfortable retirement?

If any of these questions are making you feel uncomfortable, you’re not alone. Our most recent Global Sentiment Survey shows that 1 in 3 women feel stressed about the rising cost of living and half are worried about saving enough for retirement*.

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis, underpinned by economic uncertainties, is affecting everyone's finances, so it's no wonder many of us are feeling the strain.

But don’t panic, help is at hand. Here are couple of ways to tackle financial doubts head on.

You can’t control prices, but what you can control is how you manage your money. So, if you’re worrying about the cost of living, start by thinking about your own finances and how ‘healthy’ they are. There are four key areas you need to focus on:

1. Budget - this will help you manage your money.
2. Debt - understand and prioritise them.
3. Save - this will help you reach your goals sooner (even small amounts can make a big difference in the long run).
4. Protect - prepare for unexpected and safeguard what matters to you.

If you’d like to understand just how fit your finances are, take our short quiz. It will help you visualise the areas you need to focus on. And you can work out what to do from there. Knowledge really is power.

As women, we often prioritize others — our friends, family, and children. Now, it’s time to look after future you. A third of the women we surveyed said increasing savings and investments was their most pressing need. So, if your pension isn’t quite where you hoped it’d be by now (perhaps due to a career break), the good news is you can get back on track. (I freelanced for ten years to fit work around my children and didn’t always prioritize my pension—you can read more about my journey here.)

Looking after future you is about taking small steps to ensure that you’re financially prepared for life after work. One way to do this is by regularly taking the time to review your retirement savings regularly in PlanViewer. Your spending will change throughout the year, so flex your savings levels as you need to. And don’t worry if you slide off track or need to adjust your goals to meet changing demands on your money. This is about long-term goals, so any blips should be seen as just that. The trick is to stay focused on the end goal.

 If you can increase your contributions, our power of small amounts tool can show you how even a small increase in how much you save could make a big difference to how much you have at retirement.

When it comes to your finances, there really is no point burying your head in the sand. You might be surprised how much better you’ll feel afterwards too!