Today is March 25th, 2024. I’m writing this piece in my office, watching the pregame commentary for the Iowa Women’s Basketball team before their matchup against West Virginia. Tonight will be Caitlyn Clark’s last home game at Carver Hawkeye Arena, and like a lot of people across the country, I will tune in to watch her team (hopefully) advance to the Sweet Sixteen. My kids will be wearing their Caitlyn Clark t-shirts their Grandma CiCi bought them for Christmas, and we’ll be dancing around the house listening to Taylor Swift, chanting the song “22” (Caitlyn’s jersey number) before tipoff. It’s no coincidence that Taylor Swift and Caitlyn Clark are not just successful entertainers and athletes, but they’re also great money makers and advance their respected economies. Women with money is a winning combination, not just for the women who have it, but for everyone around them.
Hollywood wants to paint a specific picture of how women use their money. Carrie Bradshaw, the main character in “Sex and the City” stored sweaters in her oven and spent almost every dime to her name on Manolo Blahnik shoes. Some of the most popular reality TV shows follow “wealthy” women in large metropolises spending money on fancy jewelry and handbags, all while hiding the evidence from their partners. As someone who works in wealth management and spends a lot of time with women talking about their finances, this convoluted idea that women spend frivolously makes for entertaining television, but it’s not one I see frequently in my office.
In fact, I see quite the opposite. Women are inherently great savers and thoughtful investors, typically being conservative in nature with their money. They tend to be committed to their investment goals and weather investment volatility with grace. When I work with women in developing their financial plan, I see confidence in decision making that betters their lives and the lives of those around them. In 2023 alone, the women I had the pleasure of working with made decisions like: retiring from their day job to focus on their family’s small business, moving across the country to be closer to their children, establishing relationships with estate planning professionals to create instructions and wishes for their heirs, buying a second home, creating a donor fund to support their beloved charities, plan their daughter’s wedding and so many more. As their investment professional, I’m honored to help my clients determine their goals and help provide clarity for large-scale (and small-scale) decisions.
In the coming years, we will see trillions of dollars transfer from one generation to the next, and women in particular will be responsible for more money than any previous generation. Before any type of financial windfall, it’s best to consider how a financial professional can help guide these decisions, and at Iowa Wealth Management, we feel well equipped to do just that. I guess you could call this our “female financial wellness era”… or whatever the Swifties are calling it these days!
