If you're uncomfortable talking about personal finances, seek a mentor. If you're comfortable having those conversations, be a mentor.
I recently attended a Milken Institute Future of Health Summit panel in Washington, D.C. called Race, Gender, and Work: The Economics of Healthy Aging. The experts’ insights whizzed across a range of topics from caregiving to investing and jobs, but there was one common thread: the critical financial issues facing women. I was especially struck by the particular challenges they noted for women of color and low-income women.
“Whether you look at women through the lens of their labor force participation, pay equity, health participation or financial security, women are challenged to live the lives that are healthy, wealthy and secure, and to continue to stay in the workforce the way we need them to stay,” said Patricia Milligan, a senior partner at the global consulting firm Mercer, who was the panel’s moderator.
When you look at the economic landscape for women, the speakers made clear, it’s pretty sobering.
Said Debra Whitman, AARP’s chief public policy officer: “Women earn less per pay period, but they also are more likely to work part-time. They are more likely to leave the labor force not just to take care of their kids, but their parents and grandparents, so they are out of the labor force for 12 years on average.”
That means their Social Security checks are going to be lower than they would be otherwise, and if the women work part-time, they probably don’t qualify for their employer’s 401(k), Whitman added.
www.forbes.com
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