It IS About the Money

Women over 55 control 65% of the wealth and we generally "let my _______ (husband/son/ brother/ accountant/pest control guy) take care of that for me." No wonder we often feel invisible! There is no reason for companies to market more than wrinkle reducing creams to us if the perception is that is the most difficult financial decision we are willing to make.

• I have heard story after story of women not talking about money. We have GOT to get over that. At Make Mine a Million Dollar Business, three women were selected at random to go on stage and make a three minute pitch to receive a year's worth of support to grow their businesses. Not one of them mentioned their sales or growth goals!
• In This is Not the Life I Ordered, written by four very savvy and accomplished women in the Bay Area, each one of them was blindsided at some point in their life by lack of knowledge of their financial position.
• A friend who is thinking about retirement and she isn't clear if she can afford it in today's turbulent financial times.
• I, too, have had my life upended because I didn't want to upset my husband and make sure he had his will in order before he died.

Let's go on this financial journey together -- I'm in the same place you are -- to take control of our money, understand what we have, what we can count on, and what we need to put in place. Then when we decide to make any changes in our lives we can go forward with confidence we will not be bag ladies (and I don't mean Nordstrom!) or be eating cat food because we cannot afford the filet of our choice. We can also plan to leave the legacy of our dreams to those we love or those organizations we want to support.

Click through for a Money Matters! sheet to start this journey...inch by inch it's a cinch.

            What Do I Have?
            What Do I Owe?
            What Does It Cost To Keep Me In the Style I Am Accustomed To?
 

Knowing these three sets of numbers, we can begin the fun of bringing the life we have dreamed of to fruition!

"If you're given a choice between money and sex appeal, take the money. As you get older, the money will become your sex appeal." --Katherine Hepburn