06.05.25 -- I recently read another article about women and financial literacy. After 20 years in finance, I've heard this story too many times. But we're solving the wrong problem.
The women I meet aren't financially illiterate. They run companies, manage million-dollar budgets, and make complex financial decisions daily. Yet their personal investment accounts tell a different story—often unopened, underfunded, or ignored entirely.
This isn't about education. It's about permission.
The Pattern
Here's what I see repeatedly: Women who negotiate complex M&A deals but won't negotiate their own fees. Women who build generational wealth—for everyone else.
A founder who structured a $50 million exit has $30,000 in retirement savings. An executive who manages a billion-dollar P&L keeps her bonus in a checking account. A consultant who charges clients $500/hour hasn't raised her rates in three years.
And it's not just in the C-suite. I see women managing household budgets with CFO-level precision—tracking every expense, optimizing every dollar, stretching budgets that would make corporate finance teams jealous—yet their own investment accounts sit empty.
When I ask why, the answer is always some version of "I haven't gotten to it yet."
Really? They've gotten to it—for everyone else. They've built wealth for their companies, their clients, their investors. They've simply been trained not to prioritize building it for themselves.
The Cost Is Measurable
Let's be clear about what this costs. A 35-year-old who delays investing for five years loses approximately 40% of her potential retirement wealth. For a high earner, that's the difference between having options at 55 and working until 70. Not because markets crashed or investments failed—simply because time passed.
Our male colleagues don't seem to have this hesitation. They invest early and often. No guilt. While we're being told we need more financial education, they're already building portfolios.
Here's what needs to change:
- From "I need to understand everything first" to "I'll start while I learn"
No one waits to be an expert before making their first hire or launching a product. We figure it out as we go in every other area of life. Wealth building is no different. Start simple, refine as you go.
- From "My wealth is what's left over" to "My wealth is a line item"
You wouldn't run payroll with whatever remains after other expenses. Why treat your future that way? Successful wealth builders pay themselves first—automatically, consistently, strategically.
- From "This is selfish" to "This is responsible"
Financial independence isn't selfish. It's the most responsible thing you can do for everyone who depends on you. Your security is their security. Your options become their options.
The Practical Path
Here's what women who close this gap do differently:
They start immediately. Not perfectly, just immediately. Open the account this week. Fund it with whatever you can. Buy an index fund. You're now building wealth, not planning to build wealth someday.
They automate everything. Set up monthly transfers that happen without your involvement. Start with 10% of gross income. Increase it every quarter. Make building wealth as automatic as paying rent.
They apply business principles to personal wealth. Create KPIs. Set growth targets. Schedule quarterly reviews. Run your wealth like you run everything else—strategically and with clear metrics.
They stop apologizing. For wanting more. For prioritizing wealth. For taking up space in the market. They invest with the same confidence they bring to every other domain.
What This Looks Like in Practice
I recently worked with a CEO who realized she'd spent 15 years building wealth for everyone except herself. In six months, she:
- Automated 20% of her income to investments
- Maximized her retirement accounts (adding $66,000/year to her wealth building)
- Built a diversified portfolio that runs itself
- Stopped saying "I'm not good with money"
The result? She's on track to have the option to retire at 55 instead of never. Not because she became a financial expert—because she started treating her wealth with the same seriousness she treats her business.
The Real Question
After two decades in this industry, I've learned that women don't need more financial education. They already have every skill required to build serious wealth.
The question is: What would happen if you applied the same focus to your portfolio that you apply to everything else?
Here's where to start: Calculate what you've built for others versus what you've built for yourself. The gap might surprise you.
Then close it. Because you already know how. You close gaps every day. This one's just personal.