Empowering Women in the Great Wealth Transfer

March is known as Women’s History Month and serves as a dedicated time to celebrate women and their accomplishments worldwide. This year’s International Women’s Day theme is Inspire Inclusion – when we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world.

While it is encouraging to think about the strides that society has made to create an environment of equality, it is important to recognize there are still gaps that need to be closed. According to the data presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, for every $1.00 of a man’s wealth, women have just $0.34 cents.

Despite this shocking gap, women have a big event to look forward to – the great wealth transfer, which we touched on a few years ago. According to the McKinsey Company’s research published in 2020, women are set to inherit a large portion of the $30 trillion in wealth that is estimated to be transferred from the baby boomer generation. At the same time, women are also building wealth as they pursue successful careers. The “traditional household” roles are changing as women claim financial responsibility well beyond the scope of managing a checkbook.

Although women are expected to receive a large portion of this upcoming wealth transfer, only 22 percent “have a comprehensive wealth transfer plan” in place. This shift in demographics will create new opportunities for the financial planning profession, and Yeske Buie feels particularly optimistic about our ability to serve these women and their families.

Financial planners have the unique privilege of helping to empower and equip women with the knowledge they need to feel comfortable managing their money day-to-day and to pursue a fulfilling life knowing they are financially secure. At Yeske Buie, this begins at the onset of our engagement with clients. Finance, while technical in nature, is deeply engrained in everyone’s lives, for better or for worse. We believe that before we can dive into the technicalities of our profession, we have to take the time to get to know each client – their goals, their fears, and their experiences with money, among other things. We seek to make every client or prospective client feel safe, and we build each new relationship on a strong foundation of trust. And we do so with a fiercely dedicated and wholly empathetic team, including the wonderful women of Yeske Buie. We also have a financial literacy program, which focuses on, among other things, empowering girls with the financial skills necessary to have a good foundation for a successful financial life.

There is no “one-size fits all” answer when it comes to building a financial plan, just as there is no “one-size fits all” lifestyle. In order to create an effective and empowering plan, the client’s goals and personality need to be understood and reflected. The financial plan is a story of numbers – it creates a picture of the life you lived using your limited resources. And at Yeske Buie, we want to help create a picture that fits your Live Big^® life. No matter your gender, ethnicity, or other identities and preferences, the Yeske Buie team welcomes questions and connections from anyone looking to get empowered by financial security and pursue their Live Big life.