This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/Prudential.

 

Hey Ladies – I have a question for you: how much thought do you put into your financial future? I’m not talking about paycheck to paycheck, or next year. I mean 5, 10, 20 or more years from now.

 

As women, money matters pull at our attention all day long. There’s groceries and medical bills; tuition payments and payments for field trips. Replacing outgrown school clothing, and depleted school supplies.

There are car repairs and appliance repairs and replacements. Keeping stock of everything from laundry detergent to toothpaste. We work on planning the family summer vacation and planning the weekend family entertainment.

 

And that’s just mom and home duties. Since it’s known that women are the primary buyers and decision-makers in the home, media ads are mostly targeted to us. The pressure of caring for everything and everyone else can make us vulnerable to marketing that uses the theme of self-care. This makes it easy to bite the bait, using the mindset of “I deserve it” without much remorse.

 

Because of this, it’s not a surprise at all that long-term financial planning is a backburner subject for most women living a day-to-day life. We are so focused on ensuring that our households flow smoothly in the short-term that we forget about having a solid plan for financial security down the line.

I get it ladies: the topic of financial planning for us is not cut and dry. Several factors play an integral role in us managing our finances in a way that properly balances our short-and-long term financial security. Unfortunately, as women, we have money challenges that men simply don’t have.

 

Our earnings potential over our lifespan is lower, which affects our 401k amounts and our social security payments. Because we’re so busy managing the home, kids, bills, and everything else, we don’t have time to dedicate to a consistent financial strategy.

 

Additionally, we tend to put off saving and investing to a time when we (seemingly) “have everything else under control.” We’ll even save and invest in small increments out of fear that we may need the amount invested for a family or household need right away.

 

Then there are life matters that we never want to think about, such as the possibility of our spouse or partner passing away before us. It’s too emotional to ponder on life without them, which can also cause us to procrastinate on making steps to ensure we’re financially prepared for those years.

Sometimes it takes an unexpected life event to serve as a wake-up call for us as women to get our long-term finances in order. For me, it was when my oldest son was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease over a year ago.

We were faced with a plethora of medical bills for his health care. It was the one turning point that helped me commit to putting more work into our financial security more aggressively.

 

Ladies, shifting the perspective of long-term financial planning is key. Trust me: it’s no longer this ‘larger-than-life,’ intimidating thing for us that it used to be years ago.

 

Times have changed dramatically. There are now a myriad of ways for us to save and invest for our financial future. There are also financial professionals available who can assist in breaking down financial services jargon and creating a plan that works best for our time and our family budget.

Believe me when I say this: whether single or married, a family of three or a family of 5+, the time has come for us to be active participants in our money and investments. With discipline, consistency, change of mindset and personal guidance, we can feel comfortable and confident enough about money to achieve our personal best in our finances in the present to own our financial future.

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Learn more about owning your financial future at the Prudential website bit.ly/ownmyfuture. You can also connect with Prudential on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Financial Future