Why women need to start sharing finance tips - Women's Agenda

Why women need to start sharing finance tips

Women don’t discuss finances and that’s why we don’t know as much about it. We know about our children and shoes. We can tell you what the latest travel hotspot is and home decor trends. But we aren’t as well-versed on property investment trends or the companies that constitute the ASX200. We share our views on everything but our finances and investments. It’s time we talked about it.

Someone once told me it’s not polite for women to talk about money and sex. The sex taboo was broken by Helen Gurley Brown when she launched her modern day guide to sex in the 60s. But to this day women remain polite when it comes to the subject of money.

Why don’t we talk about money? It is a comfortable topic of conversation for men. If they have invested well, they will boast about it. If their super is performing they will reveal the secret. The rest of the men listen, learn and act on the advice.

I have attended many a dinner party where the men and women splinter off to separate areas of the home to continue discussion over drinks. On one recent occasion the women descended on the living room, topped up their glasses with champagne and shared their knowledge of other people: celebrities, their children, other couples. The men hung around the kitchen where the man of the house was pouring whiskey over ice. They were talking share prices, business disasters and personal investment strategies. Both conversations were compelling.

In the living room I learned that a husband and wife I vaguely knew were basically living double lives and the “real story” behind a celebrity divorce. While hovering in the kitchen pretending to look for a glass I got a share tip.

Is this split in conversation type simply explained by the stereotype that women like to share and men like to boast? Or is it that we keep to conversations we feel confident discussing?

I have long believed that confidence is at the root of achievement levels. My observation is that in most industries, the arts aside, people with confidence tend to go further than those without, regardless of skill or talent. Men in general tend to back themselves more than we do. I speak from personal experience. When I moved from my functional skill of content creation to a management role that required a business focus 15 years ago I didn’t just wing it. I enrolled in an MBA program.

A few weeks ago I had a coffee with a man who had made a similar move. He spoke with some confidence about how he now provides restructuring advice to organisations. When I asked him how he made the leap from journalist to business consultant (without any formal education in this discipline or on-the-job experience) he told me that his networks helped him land contracts and he worked it out as he went. I envied his confidence.

The process of talking about a subject with your peers can assist in confidence levels. So we need to start adding to our conversations. There’s nothing wrong with gossip and fashion talk (after all men love to also discuss cars which is the male equivalent of fashion), but throw in something that can assist your ability to build personal wealth too. Women have been great at telling me what to buy so next on my shopping list is a share portfolio. Let’s discuss!

Do you agree that the conversations that men and women have are vastly different? Can this impact gender differences around confidence with finances?

×

Stay Smart! Get Savvy!

Get Women’s Agenda in your inbox