The story below is from our March/April 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Local financial professionals weigh in on the challenges women face and the solutions worth exploring.
Ashley Wilson Fellers
Picture a modern wealth-builder, and who do you see? A white-haired media mogul like Logan Roy in “Succession?” A Bobby Axelrod-styled upstart, sporting spendy sneakers with his business suit? If so, know this: many statistics tell a different tale – one in which the future of wealth is far more female than our stereotypes suggest.
Take a study by Simon-Kucher & Partners, for example, which found that, between the years of 2016 and 2021, women’s wealth in the United States and Canada grew at a pace that was 180% faster than that of their male counterparts.
Or consider a 2021 report from the National Association of REALTORS®, which demonstrated that, in many regions, single women significantly outpaced single men in rates of homeownership – seen by many as a marker of financial stability and a starting-point for asset accrual.
To put it simply, women’s wealth is on the rise — with American women perhaps earning, inheriting and managing more than ever before.
“Women have really come into their own,” says Roanoker Ginny Jarrett, managing director, investments, for Davenport & Co., a Virginia-based wealth-management firm. “I think that they realize they no longer need a partner to invest money or to be philanthropic. They can do it on their own. And it’s very powerful.”
But all this progress belies a sobering fact: when it comes to achieving financial parity with men, women still face challenges.
“I like to be optimistic, but I’m also a realist,” says Cynthia Petzold, a fee-only financial advisor who founded CommonWealth Financial Planning, LLC, in Roanoke. “Women still earn, according to a study in 2020, 83% of what men earn … We’ve got more opportunities, but as a group, women are still earning less.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the COVID-19 crisis placing a disproportionate burden on the backs of women, who exited the workforce in droves during the pandemic—sometimes to care for children, and perhaps in part because the industries hit hardest included female-dominated sectors like food service.
To dig into those challenges (and more), The Roanoker asked a panel of female wealth advisors, financial counselors and planners to weigh in on the greatest financial hurdles they believe women still face … and the solutions they see. Here are their insights and encouragements.
Invite Yourself to the Financial-Planning Table.
Perhaps one of the most persistent challenges is that many women may still feel uncomfortable with financial conversations – so uncomfortable that they may simply opt out. In fact, a 2022 report by UBS Wealth Management showed that half of women in relationships deferred financial decisions to a partner.
This can put women in a precarious position, says Lori Brown, a Roanoke-based director and brokerage financial advisor at Truist Investment Services, where she works on a mother-daughter team alongside her stepdaughter, Madelyn Brown.
“Eight out of 10 women are going to end up being fully responsible for the financial wellbeing of their families,” Brown says, citing a 2017 report from National Vital Statistics — and that’s in part because women statistically tend to outlive men, as the National Center for Health Statistics reports. This means that women may need to save more for a retirement that could last 30 years or longer.
“We don’t need to learn [these] statistics; we see [them] every day. That’s why it’s critical women take a more assertive and active role in managing wealth,” Brown says.
Take Charge of Your Financial Education.
Week after week, the counselors at the Roanoke Financial Empowerment Center – a free financial counseling service offered by the City of Roanoke, Freedom First Enterprises and other local partners – meet women who find themselves debt-burdened or supporting dependents long before they’ve had a chance to learn the basics of borrowing, spending and investing.
“Financial literacy is not taught in schools, and we don’t know these things until it’s too late sometimes,” explains program manager Kathryn Matherly.
Araceli Ruiz, an FEC counselor, can personally relate. “I became a single mother when [my daughter] was six months old,” she recalls. “I had a bit of a messy divorce. I was left with a lot of debt, so I had to learn how to basically teach myself financial literacy.”
The good news? Financial education is within reach, with dozens of free local services to help.
“We are talking about a lot of challenges, but Roanoke has a lot of resources,” says Ruiz’ colleague and fellow counselor, Janaia Bass. “You can get a financial counselor who will walk with you throughout the entire journey … a second set of eyes. I would say, definitely tap into every resource.”
Set a Time to Check in With Your Goals.
Over and over, the professionals interviewed cited a key challenge that prevents women from taking charge of their finances: time.
“As women, we want to do everything,” admits Ginny Jarrett of Davenport. “We want to make our community stronger, we want to raise our children, we want to work full-time and we want to invest our money. So I think time is a challenge.”
Lisa Downing Angle, a Roanoke-based senior vice president and wealth management advisor with Merrill Lynch, agrees. “Many women are not only the primary caregiver, but the primary breadwinner,” she says. “Trying to find time to balance the budget, to check progress … it can just fall by the wayside.”
To combat that, Angle recommends having a designated time to sit down throughout the year, “to focus your energies on financial items … to see if life changes have occurred and to refresh you on the next steps.”
Having someone to hold you accountable to those check-ins can be key, she says: “This is where a financial professional can step in … It’s okay to ask for help.”
Find an Advisor or Counselor You Can Trust.
Cynthia Petzold of CommonWealth still remembers the encounter that became a core motivator for her later career: “I set up a meeting with a bank downtown, which no longer exists,” she recalls, “and the first question was, ‘Well, where is your husband?’”
Today, women might perhaps experience fewer moments of overt prejudice, but it’s still critical to find a trusted advisor who listens to their goals. For those just starting out, Ginny Jarrett recommends multiple interviews to find the best fit: “Talk to a number of brokers and see who you feel you work best with, who you actually have a rapport with. I think that matters more than fees or anything else.”
Hone Your Negotiating Skills.
The gender wage gap leaves women with a critical challenge, Petzold says: they have less wealth upon which to build.
To combat that, she offers a simple tip: “One fundamental thing that every woman can do is learn to negotiate,” she says. “It’s not a matter of winner-takes-all, but more of, ‘how can we both work to get what we want?’” Whether they’re negotiating a benefits package or a pay raise, Petzold believes a little practice and a few consensus-building skills can help women land “better-quality and better-paying jobs, which will help them build wealth.”
Be Intentional About Charitable Giving.
For many, one of the most rewarding things about gaining wealth is the opportunity to give it away – and statistics show this is especially true for women. In fact, the aforementioned 2022 study by UBS showed that nearly nine in ten women surveyed believed money is a tool to affect change, with seven in ten reporting they had increased their commitment to giving within the past two years.
As one of the founders of the Roanoke Women’s Foundation, Ginny Jarrett knows how gratifying giving can be. But there’s a challenge: “Women are busier than ever, and so they’d like to give their money more than their time,” she explains.
To help that money go farther, Jarrett founded the Roanoke Women’s Foundation with a friend, Kandy Elliott, creating space for women to collectively pool investment dollars and to rely on a group vetting process for greater philanthropic leverage at the local level. And whether they’re donating appreciated stock, ready funds, or using other strategies, intentional giving can provide empowerment to women that has ripple effects.
“I want women to realize that they are powerful as consumers,” Jarrett says. “They’re powerful as investors. And they’re powerful as philanthropists.”
Ashley Wilson Fellers
Know That There’s Hope, Whatever Your Starting Point.
As an FEC counselor, Janaia Bass says she meets many women who struggle to open up about their financial challenges. But whatever the challenge, Bass believes there’s a chance for women to begin moving toward solutions – even when those solutions are complex. “I have yet to see a credit report and say, ‘Oh, there’s no help for you,’” she says.
And for any woman who feels as if she’s starting behind, the FEC’s Kathryn Matherly has this advice:
“I say, open the junk drawer. We throw all this stuff we don’t want to deal with right away in the junk drawer, and money is definitely one of those things that people avoid, because it’s scary,” she says. “So, open the junk drawer … You can do this, and you don’t have to do it alone.” I
The story above is from our March/April 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!