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Guest post: Is ignorance bliss? How to stop avoiding your finances

By

Mary Waring
Mary Waring
Recovering superwoman | Dog obsessed | Never too old to change

Mary is a chartered accountant and chartered financial planner – one of only a handful of advisers in the whole of the UK with these qualifications. She’s passionate about changing the way women think about finance, so that they are better equipped to make informed decisions about their future.
Mary Waring
Latest posts by Mary Waring (see all)

Are you someone who’s been avoiding your finances? Then let me tell you a story. I remember the first time I had to give unwelcome news to a client. She was a doctor in her late 50s and had come to take financial advice because she planned to retire at 60 and wanted to check what income she would be able to draw.

At that first meeting she passed over a large bundle of statements showing her holdings, a number of which were very out of date. It was therefore impossible at the meeting to determine the value of what she had saved.

The day before our follow up meeting I had a sleepless night worrying about how she might respond to the news I was about to give her.

Would she burst into tears?

Would she just shrug and say “Oh I’m glad I found out now”?

As a new client I didn’t know her well enough to know how she would respond. And I was quite nervous.

You see, not only could she not retire at 60, but it looked as though retiring at 65 was also unlikely. Really dreadful news for someone who thought her future looked rosy and who was planning how to spend her time when she was no longer working.

Yes, as you can imagine, the news did not go down well.

But at least she was then aware of the situation and being aware was able to address it and do something about it. Admittedly the plan we came up with was completely different to the one she had wanted, but at least she did have a plan. And she agreed this was better than being totally unaware of her situation.

Avoiding your finances? I definitely do not hold the belief “ignorance is bliss”!

Ignorance is a head in the sand approach to not dealing with those issues that cause any form of upset.

But, just like the constant, niggling pain you have which you can ignore for only so long before seeking medical advice, ignorance about your finances cannot continue indefinitely. At some point real life will come and bite you on the bum!

You either find out now, which hopefully gives you time to do something about it if needed.

Or you find out when it’s too late. And then you probably regret not doing something earlier and you kick yourself for ignoring it.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing! But it’s called hindsight because we have it after the event rather than before.”

I’ve been lucky that since that situation I have rarely had to give such bad news. But I was reminded of that first instance yesterday when I had a meeting with a new client. Let’s call her Jane.

When reality hurts

Jane had recently divorced, had received a financial settlement and was planning her future, and feeling very positive about what was ahead of her. She had moved out of the family home some time earlier and was living in rented property. Following her settlement, she felt now might be the right time to buy a property.

However, she was unsure about where she wanted to be based, and was looking at the options of Scotland, Cornwall or London. And obviously the choice of location would involve a significantly different house purchase value.

We discussed in advance what she wanted her financial plan to look like, and decided on three different property purchase prices and a rental option.

The outcome for Jane: only the rental and lower purchase price allowed her to have the ongoing spending she wanted. For the other 2 options she would have to reduce her ongoing spending so much it wasn’t practical.

Was my client disappointed? Yes, of course she was, since she realised various options she had considered (including buying a property in London) was no longer viable. This was a bitter blow to her.

But as we looked at it further, she realised she still had many options. She could still buy a beautiful house and make it a loving and welcoming home for herself and for her children when they visited. She could still have a wonderful lifestyle enjoying holidays and many luxuries. We concentrated on the options that were available to her, rather than the options that weren’t.

As the meeting progressed, Jane started to see how she could use this knowledge to her advantage rather than dwell on the options which were no longer feasible. In many ways it made her choices easier because the London location was no longer an option to consider.

Avoiding your finances? Consider this

I firmly believe ignorance is not bliss. It’s a means of putting off the inevitable until it’s too late to ignore it anymore.

I believe knowledge is key. It allows you to make plans knowing you have the financial means to support your plan. After all, a plan which you can’t afford is simply a wish.

So, how about you? Have you been avoiding your finances?

Here’s a quick exercise to help you turn things around.

  • Think about all the areas of your money – your current spending/daily budget, investments, pensions, savings. How clear are you on your current situation and how clear on where you’re heading?
  • Is there an area you’re completely in the dark about?
  • How can you get the information you need to check you’re on track – print off statements, request an update, make an appointment with a financial adviser like Mary?

Do it today and get one step closer to taking back control.

Let us know your thoughts!

Do you think ignorance is bliss or do you prefer a plan?

If you want to have a confidential no obligation discussion, please contact me on mary@wealthforwomen.biz.

About Mary

Recovering superwoman | Dog obsessed | Never too old to change

Mary is a chartered accountant and chartered financial planner – one of only a handful of advisers in the whole of the UK with these qualifications. She’s passionate about changing the way women think about finance, so that they are better equipped to make informed decisions about their future.

You can find Mary online at the following links:

Twitter: @marywaring

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/marywaring

Website: www.wealthforwomen.biz

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Guest post: How to invest in the future YOU want

By

Donna Bradshaw
Latest posts by Donna Bradshaw (see all)

It’s fair to say that until very recently, finance has been a man’s world. No wonder many women struggle to know how to invest in a way that will make a difference. Even today, at the top of the power pyramid, men still hold court to a great extent. All 10 of the world’s richest people are men, as are most of the leaders of the world’s largest economies.

Not that they are doing a particularly great job of things, if their handling of Covid compared to their female peers is anything to go by!

They’ve not been doing too great with the economy either, unless you happen to be in the upper decile or so. That has serious long term repercussions, which have been brought into focus by the pandemic. Put simply, if people aren’t paid enough to buy stuff there will come a point when big business suffers from a lack of customers – not that this seems to be registering. On Friday 6th March this year I did a talk about the fragility of global economies, highlighting the systemic problems and the similarities with the 1930’s and how such conditions usually resulted in revolution and/or war. I ended my talk with a hope for a gentle revolution.

On Monday 9th March, news broke that the pandemic was worse than feared, and stock markets around the globe plummeted. It’s clear that “gentle revolution” is needed more than ever.

And I believe empowering women to participate and shape the world of finance is critical if we’re to escape our current economic challenges. When we know how to invest in the future WE want, we can begin to really change what’s possible.

What blocks women from knowing how to invest?

Plato wrote:

“Those who tell the stories rule society.”

I believe passionately that women should have an equal say in creating those stories. And to do so we have to have fairer distribution of what drives those stories, namely wealth.

The world of money is more gendered than most. And the statistics surrounding savings and investments paint a stark picture. Far from feeling confident when it comes to knowing how to invest…

  • By the time a woman is in her early 60s, her average pension pot is a fifth the size of that of a man her age.
  • 35% of women earning over £40,000 are not saving adequately for the longer term.
  • 64% of self-employed women feel they are not saving adequately (37% don’t know how much they’re saving!)
  • More than 2.6 million women have been put off investing because of the number of funds on offer, according to research from Scottish Friendly.
  • More than four in ten (43%) – or 2.64 million – women who save more than £100-a-month have avoided investing because they were discouraged by the vast number of funds available in the market.

Put together, this is a deeply concerning picture. Wealth inequality is a global concern and has resulted in growing political polarisation and civil unrest in, what have been to date, the world’s leading economies.

What’s more, the financial services industry itself has a huge amount of inequality to contend with! HSBC has reported a 47.8% median hourly pay gap between men and women – and financial services has the worst gender pay gap of any UK industry. Female advisers are outnumbered six to one by male counterparts. No wonder we find this a challenging topic!

So, what can we do to change things?

Investing is a huge part of our global economy. And I believe it’s one of our most underutilised ways to have an impact as women. In fact, I’m currently working on an investment app to empower women to learn how to invest,  take charge of their investments and have a say in the future direction of our world through making informed choices about where their money is invested. This really is my passion!

In the meantime, there are 4 key actions which I believe can help us begin to take back control of our global stories about wealth. Some of them will take a bit of time, and involve educating yourself and asking for support. But there are plenty of resources out there to help us to do this. And just committing to building your knowledge when it comes to these areas is a vital first step.

4 ways to impact inequality with your investments

#1 Take control of your investment choices.

Investing doesn’t have to be a secretive, complicated or male-dominated practice. If you’re able to start investing, make sure you’re given the power to make choices about where your money goes. Talk to a financial adviser, and if you don’t get your questions answered, feel free to find someone who will explain exactly what you CAN do. And if it all feels too uncomfortably obscure for you… time for step #2

#2 Learn how to invest.

As Jo Martin has often said, it’s not our fault that we don’t fully feel confident around this topic. It’s simply that we weren’t taught about it – and many of us feel ashamed to admit to what we don’t know. But you can change that. Start small, and learn a little about how to invest and the difference even a small amount of money can make. You’ll be surprised how quickly you can pick up a basic understanding.

#3 Demand greater transparency.

When it comes to investments we can find ourselves inadvertently supporting practices we don’t agree with, simply because the financial services sector often obscures so much of its workings. Don’t be afraid to ask questions (especially the “stupid” ones!), demand explanations, and require clear answers as to where your money’s going. The more of us who expect openness and clarity around our investments, the more the sector will need to pay attention to these demands.

#4 Vote with your wallet.

Say no to bad business practice – including a lack of transparency, refusal to act with integrity, or approach that alienates women from what’s going on. You don’t need to be immensely wealthy to have a say. Your voice truly matters – and the more of us who decide to stand up and take back our control, the more we can shape the future.

Knowledge is power. I hope in future articles to share more around how to invest – what’s out there, how it works, what the jargon means, and the true nature of risk (we are by nature more risk averse than men. It’s a fact that can seriously damage our wealth – but that’s a topic for another time!). But I’d love to know what you’re most curious about — and where to start first.

So, tell me!

How do you feel about investments? Is it something you’ve thought about; have you been put off by the financial services sector in the past, or have you found an approach that works for you?

Let us know in the comments – and feel free to ask me questions! And if there are any topics you would like me to cover in future articles, drop me a line.

About Donna…

Data loving | Eternally curious | Problem solver

Donna BradshawDonna has a background in financial services going back to 1987, a large part of it in marketing and communications. A prominent speaker and commentator about all things money and the economy, she’s appeared countless times in the national press and on television and radio including BBC Budget Special, BBC News, ITN News, Channel 4 News, SKY News, Newsnight, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Radio 4 Today Programme, Moneybox, Radio 5, Radio 2 and Women’s Hour. A good memory coupled with a fascination for data enabled her to “call” the credit crunch a couple of years before it happened! She was also a founder member of Sky News’ Money Panel, providing comment on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s monthly interest rate decisions.

Donna has featured on judging panels for numerous investment fund awards, including: What Investment and Pensions Management, and acted as an expert witness for Which magazine, as well as being consulted by Government on pensions policy. When not number crunching, Donna’s volunteered as a teacher of adult literacy and numeracy skills, driven 6,000 km solo across Australia, fought a bush fire, worked as a ski guide and tried her hand at stand-up comedy (terrifying and exhilarating). She has a passion for yoga, and is partial to the occasional cryptic crossword.

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Guest post: Powering up your money using the Sacred Money Archetypes

By

Dr Nikki Ramskill
Dr Nikki Ramskill
Nikki is an NHS doctor of over 10 years of experience, and is the founder of The Female Money Doctor – an online money coaching company helping women from all over the world to feel less stressed about money. She takes a simple, jargon-free and relaxed approach to help women feel at ease and able to open up about their finances. She believes that we cannot be truly healthy while a money nightmare is going on in the background. Her ultimate goal is to empower women to take control of their finances in whatever way suits them, and spread this knowledge to their children to break the chains of financial stress that can so often run through generations.
Dr Nikki Ramskill
Latest posts by Dr Nikki Ramskill (see all)

Did you know that a whopping 61% of women would rather talk about their own death than money?!

This doesn’t really come as a surprise though does it? Money is one of the great “taboo” subjects that we’re taught not to discuss at the dinner table, so it’s no wonder that so many of us struggle with it.

I’m no exception.

I haven’t always been good at managing my money. In fact, if you had spoken to the Nikki from 10 years ago, you would definitely have been met with a completely clueless, overwhelmed and frustrated individual, who earnt a good wage as a doctor, but had literally nothing to show for it.

In fact, I had so little of anything to “show for it”, after walking away from a controlling relationship, I only had my clothes, my make up and my books left. I even had to leave my fur-babies behind which was heart-breaking!

From that point onwards, I vowed never to be in that situation again.

Thankfully 10 years on, I’m debt free, building wealth and living a life in alignment with my core values – freedom, fun and abundance, and I’m now helping others to do the same. I’ve since trained as a Sacred Money Archetypes® coach, and in this post, I want to tell you all about how this can help you to manage your money with grace, ease and total alignment to who you are. It has totally transformed mine!

The 5 Women’s PowerTypes

In the One of many community, we’re familiar with the concept of archetypes through the 5 Women’s PowerTypes – Sorceress, Mother, Lover, Queen and Warrioress. We get that when we don’t look after our needs, we become one of the disempowered archetypes – the bitch, martyr, or victim. We also know that we may favour one PowerYype over another, and for example, bring Mother to every conversation, often with mixed (and perhaps not as effective!) results.

The amazing thing about bringing conscious awareness to how we use these PowerTypes, is that we can do just that – use them to our best advantage and bring our best selves to the table.

They help us to become more effective in everything that we do, from business, to home life and how we look after ourselves.

But what about money?

Yes, it will even have an impact there too!

But while the PowerTypes help us to bring the right kind of energy to a situation, they don’t define who we are as individuals.

There are additional archetypes that explain:

• WHY and HOW we do what we do in life;
• WHO we are as a person;
• WHY for example we bring lots of mother, but less of sorceress or lover to a given situation;
• And WHY we don’t have the results we want when it comes to our finances.

And those are known as the Sacred Money Archetypes®.

How We Do Money Is How We Do Everything

“How we do money is how we do everything” is my favourite quote from the creator of the Sacred Money Archetypes®, Kendall Summerhawk. She realised that there are 8 unique personality types who handle money in slightly different ways, and our unique personality is made up of all 8 of them.

However, 3 of them will have THE MOST impact on what we do.

This doesn’t just include money. The money archetypes can literally affect everything in our lives, and once you start to explore yours, you’ll notice so many parallels and similarities. It’s eye-opening!

Each archetype has gifts and challenges, and if we learn this about our most influential archetypes, we can then start to create a path to wealth and abundance that is more suited to this.

We work to our “zone of genius” rather than against it. We can stop sabotaging our efforts because we can then see which archetype might be to blame for our overspending tendencies, or for being so scared of getting into debt or investing that we remain stuck and can’t take the next step in building wealth.

Who Are The Sacred Money Archetypes?

The 8 types are:

• Nurturer
• Alchemist
• Maverick
• Accumulator
• Celebrity
• Romantic
• Connector
• Ruler

If you’re typically an overspender, but don’t mind taking risks, you may have Romantic, Celebrity or Maverick to blame.

If you save well, but avoid debt/investing/taking any kind of risk, you might be an Accumulator.

If you would prefer to stick your head in the sand and not think about money at all, you might be a Connector or an Alchemist.

If you’re a collector of achievements and find it hard to switch off, you could be a Ruler.

And if you love spending money on others at the detriment of yourself, then you could have Nurturer in your top three.

What Does This Mean For Your Money?

There is no “good” or “bad” archetype. They all have their own way of doing things, and even if your unique blend is similar to someone else’s, it will still manifest itself in your life in a slightly different way. This is because when we are unconscious about the way we are doing things, we will act out our money personality unconsciously. This will be impacted by the way we were brought up, the past experiences we have had, and the cultures we come from and live in. We run the risk of living mostly in the “shadow” sides of our Sacred Money Archetypes in exactly the same way that we may bring a less appropriate PowerType to a business meeting or conversation with a loved one.

The key to managing your money in a way that doesn’t feel like pushing water up a hill, is to identify how YOUR top archetypes like to do things.

When you start to understand this, you can then put structures in place around your money that helps you to manage it in a way that satisfies the gifts of your archetype AND manages the challenges.

Next Steps

If you want to take the first step in finding more about yours, then I welcome you to take The Sacred Money Archetypes® quiz and get a break down of your archetypes, including a more in depth look at your top-most one.

I hope you enjoy finding out more about yourself so you can start to build wealth and abundance in alignment with who you are. Good Luck!

Nikki x

Dr Nikki Ramskill
The kind-hearted, wine-loving, adventure-seeking Maverick!

Nikki is an NHS doctor of over 10 years of experience, and is the founder of The Female Money Doctor – an online money coaching company helping women from all over the world to feel less stressed about money. She takes a simple, jargon-free and relaxed approach to help women feel at ease and able to open up about their finances. She believes that we cannot be truly healthy while a money nightmare is going on in the background. Her ultimate goal is to empower women to take control of their finances in whatever way suits them, and spread this knowledge to their children to break the chains of financial stress that can so often run through generations.

You can find her at https://thefemalemoneydoctor.com or email info@thefemalemoneydoctor.com for more information.

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5 Easy Ways to Calm Your Money Chaos

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

Money chaos is the disorganised way we all sometimes feel about money from time to time. But finding your way back to clarity doesn’t need to take years, or hours of learning from financial experts. It can start with a simple re-framing of your mindset. So today, let’s start really simple, with these 5 straightforward ways to take charge of your financial life.

Ready to calm your money chaos?

Maybe these are good habits you already practice – but events have thrown your usual good intentions out of whack, and you need a little reset to get you back on track. Or perhaps getting on top of your finances is something that keeps slipping off the to-do list, because frankly you don’t know where to start.

Whatever your situation right now, you could find one of many simple things you could do to step into the wealth that is waiting for you.

1. Check your balance.

Are you one of those people who feels anxious about checking the bank balance on your current account? Maybe you’re overdrawn, or maybe you know the figure in your head is most probably wrong. As we move around our busy lives with direct debits and debit cards and one-click purchasing it’s easy to lose track. Get into the habit of checking your balance every day and you will never get a nasty surprise again. The major banks all have easy to use apps to make checking your balance as simple as checking your email. This daily habit is the easy way to stay in control.

2. Find your money place.

Get it all together. Every bank account you ever opened. Check every purse or wallet for forgotten funds. Gather up all your loose change and your foreign cash. If you ever keep bank notes in a milk jug on a mantlepiece or in an envelope at the back of your bedside drawer get those too. Now take the loose change to the machine at your local supermarket, close old bank accounts one at a time, count up the screwed up fiver from your old jeans pocket and the pound coins from the bowl by the door. Do you feel rich yet? Stop throwing your money around.

3. Be thankful.

It’s easy to forget to be thankful for the roof over your head when you pay the rent. It’s easy to forget to be grateful for good food when the grocery bill is higher than you expected. When money leaves us we can sometimes feel resentful. The truth is that most of us can all afford basics and opportunities that people a lot less fortunate cannot take for granted. If you sometimes feel anxious about money this can be a powerful way of changing the energy around your finances.

4. Cash is Queen.

Try living without your debit card for a week, or even a month if you feel tough enough. Give yourself a cash budget and see how you get on. Considering this is how society operated until quite recently you might be surprised at how strange it feels. You can’t swipe for your petrol, you can’t shop online. Is the amount you gave yourself a true reflection of how much you really spend?

5. Work out what you want

When you’re in place of chaos, it can be easy to feel helpless. “I just want to have enough” we tell ourselves… but what does enough mean? Do you need to spend less, earn more, or have money flow into your life in a different way? Sometimes, getting clarity about what you have and recognising the control you have is enough to bring you back in control. In the words of Susie Heath, we’re moving “…away from the old traditional masculine paradigm of ‘more, more, more’ to “sufficiency and in harmony with the planet.”

How about you?

Do you have any other simple ideas of where to start when the money chaos gets too much? How is your relationship with money today? How can we help each other? We love to hear from you in the comments.

It’s the final call!

Wealth Insights is our 3.5 hour tour de force training on all things women and wealth. You’ll find out what can hold you back from the wealth you’re capable of enjoying; learn simple practical steps to make managing your money a breeze; and discover what you need to focus on right now to make a difference to your bank balance.

This year, registration is free and the event is taking place LIVE online on Saturday 1st August. Click here to book your place now.

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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4 Ways to Treat Your Money Like a Lover

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

Money is a force. It is a concentrated symbol of energy and power in life. And you have a unique relationship to your finances. That relationship is made up of things like how often you think about money, how you feel when you do, what matters to you when it comes to finances, and how you interact with your money. Like any other relationship, our connection with money can very wildly from day to day and year to year. And today I want to explore a way of thinking about your finances you might not have come across. What would happen if you started to treat your money like a lover?

Why it can be hard to treat money like a lover

Most of us are aware of the importance of hard work, determination, and drive to attract money. Love, on the other hand, isn’t a characteristic that’s often connected with finance.

In popular culture, financial competence tends to be associated either with a lack of feeling – think the dry and dusty desk clerk, staring at figures all day – or the opposite end of the scale, where avarice and greed take the place of deep and trusting love.

However, there are also other, more hidden and subtle ways to attract money, wealth, and prosperity.

When you think about it, the reason most of us want money comes from a place of love.

  • We want to be able to take care of the people we love – to give our families incredible experiences, be there for our friends when they need us, show our appreciation for people we care about.
  • We want to be able to have a meaningful impact on the world when we make choices about spending. Support local farmers, ethical businesses, companies with a sense of social justice.
  • We want to support and sustain ourselves – to show ourselves and our teams love by working less, taking better care of ourselves, reducing our stress and worry – so that we can be brighter, stronger builders of the future we want to see.

If our desire for money comes from love, why not show our money love?

Start taking real care of your money the way you would a treasured relationship and you might find you get the kind of rewards you dream of. Here are 4 ways to get started.

1. Give your money attention

It is a basic law of life that everything –- whether it is a physical object or a human being — responds to greater attention. Money is no exception. The best way to give attention to money is to account for it accurately and in a timely manner. Keeping precise and up-to-date accounts of money is a powerful mechanism for suddenly attracting more of it.

2. Honour your money’s freedom

Like any force, money needs to move freely in order to sustain itself. Holding back on paying, or otherwise hoarding money, prevents the free flow of energy, and thus the free flow of money. Do you insist on getting money in advance before you pay money out on a job? Reversing such an attitude will let money circulate, energy will flow, and life will reward you with good fortune.

3. Respect your money

If you don’t treat your money with the respect it deserves, don’t be surprised if it walks out on you. If you squander away funds or pay exorbitant amounts for things that can be purchased more cheaply you will repel the arrival of more funds. However, if you discover what it is that you waste your money on, and overcome that habit, your bank balance is likely to quickly respond.

4. Cultivate affection for your money

We all love money on one level, right? But what do you feel when you think about money? Do you really feel love? Or do you feel stress, pressure, panic and ultimately lack? Replacing these negative emotions with positive ones, so that in time you feel happy and uplifted when you think about money will help money to flow in the right direction.

How about you?

Do you treat your money like a lover, or does it feel strange or even “wrong” to consider money in those terms? What comes up for you when you consider treating money like a lover?

We’d love to know, let us know in the comments.

If you’d like to explore a new way of thinking about money that takes away the shame, brings in a whole lotta love and gives you practical, powerful actions to take, come along to Wealth Insights. It’s our focused money workshop that gives you the chance to talk about your finances in a safe and friendly environment – and leave with a map of how to change your financial situation for good. This year it’s taking place online on August 1st – and it’s absolutely free to join. Read the full details and book your place here.

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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Sorting out your finances: 20 ways to start

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

Let's get real: When sorting out your finances looms on your to-do list, it can be easy to keep putting it off. There’s often a big scary task (getting honest about your pension situation, facing up to debt, or figuring out what your investments are doing, perhaps) that you’ve been avoiding.

But the truth is, there are countless ways to move into action around your money. And it’s often the smallest, simplest ones that will get you feeling empowered and confident enough to move onto the scarier items on your list.

By the time you get there, they might not even seem quite as daunting after all…

Our mission: To help women take control of their wealth

We’ve helped hundreds of women get control of their finances through our BeWealth retreat, one-day events and online programs, and the feedback we get is inspiring. Take Boryana's celebration after she attended our Wealth Insights workshop.

"The biggest impact of Wealth Insights for me was the realisation that wealth is achievable by ordinary people and that when you know how to appropriately manage your money, you can create predictable results. The second big aha moment was that you are not born with the knowledge of how to multiply money. It comes with education. I cannot thank you enough for these insights. They have started my ongoing journey to wealth in a sustainable way."

And every woman’s journey is different. So today I want to share just some of the ways we’ve seen women in our community make a start. My hope is that one of them might be the first step for you when it comes to sorting out your finances.

Let us know which one you’ll choose in the comments!

20 ways to start sorting out your finances

1. Get clarity

Don’t worry about changing anything, just find out where you arewhen it comes to one area: Maybe your pensions, savings or investments. Could you fire off a quick email at lunchtime and get access to the data you need?

2. Write down every penny you spend for a week

Perhaps the simplest and most effective way to start changing your financial habits. A spreadsheet is great for this. Not a tech fan? A little notebook works just as well!

3. Set up ‘jam jars’ or allocated pots for your money

This is a really powerful tool to use when it comes to taking control of your finances, and it can go well beyond spending and saving. We teach this and lots of other helpful tools around managing your money as part of our 10 Week Wealth Turnaround training. Give the office a call if you'd like to know more.

4. Explore your limiting beliefs around money

Is it the root of all evil? Goes as quickly as it comes? Causes stress and arguments?

What did you grow up believing about money, and how might that be holding you back? Taking time to journal about these feelings is free and easy -- and it’s often the biggest barrier to getting things on track.

5. Teach your kids the basics of saving, spending and investing

How do you manage issues like pocket money, and what do your children understand about money? Start having conversations with them and make finances feel fun!

6. Have an honest conversation with a friend about your finances

Many of us are happier confessing the deepest details of our sex lives than broaching the topic of money. Find a friend you trust and have a money chat. What do they earn? How do they spend, save, or invest? What are their challenges? You might find common ground.

7. Book an appointment with an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA)

Whether you’d like to be sure you’re investing ethically, want a financial MOT or need advice on handling an inheritance, separation or windfall, an IFA can give you qualified, impartial advice. And if you're imagining a stuffy old man in a suit, think again. We have several IFAs in our own One of many community, who love helping other women feel confident and empowered about their finances without patronising or making assumptions. Pop a post in the Facebook group if you'd like to find them!

8. Schedule a time to talk money with your partner

Hint: Not in the middle of an argument or when the joint bank statement’s revealed a nasty surprise. Find a time when you’re both ready to get honest -- and have a frank talk about where you’re at. Bonus points for making a date night out of it: win-win!

9. Print out your bank statements

Simple. Powerful. Grab a highlighter and see what's going in and out. Any surprises? Get familiar with the numbers. It’s the first step towards taking back control.

10. Update your CV

Make sure it accurately reflects your achievements, training and growth. Even if you're not actively job hunting, this can be a great way to identify the value you’re bringing to your organisation, company or clients. Might it be time to explore a promotion, pay rise or career move?

11. Write a list of your financial values

What’s more important to you: Freedom or security? Providing for your family or feeling independent? What would you like to be doing with your money? Spend some time exploring what matters most to you.

12. Find out about One of many’s wealth training

If you’d love to get control of your finances, book in a chat with one of the team to find out if our training can help. We have a few different options, and if there’s someone else we think would be a better fit, we’ll happily signpost you.

13. Listen to a podcast or read a book about money

This is a great one if you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious about your own situation. Start by listening to what other people have experienced -- it might be just the inspiration you need.

14. Get clear on WHY

Feeling guilty or unclear is never the most positive motivation to get started on change. What’s your vision for your financial future? What would you do if you had zero financial worries? Draw a picture, write down some ideas, don’t be afraid to dream big.

15. Find an accountant/bookkeeper who can help you

If you’re self employed or an entrepreneur, having the right support in place will make all the difference.

16. Shop around

When it comes to renewing your insurance, the difference between quotes can be surprising. Or perhaps you'd prefer to be with a company that aligns better with your values? Spend an hour shopping around, and celebrate what you can achieve.

17. Commit to a regular money check-in

Like going to the gym, it’s little committments that can add up to big changes. Book in half an hour a week and commit to making that your money slot. How you use the time is up to you, but knowing it’s there will enable you to make a difference.

18 Up your self care to give you the energy you need

If you’re burned out and exhausted, looking at money stuff can feel like the last straw. Can you go to bed an hour earlier, book yourself in for a massage or have a long bath to recharge before you tackle the task?

19. Spend an hour journalling about your relationship with money, starting with your childhood

How have you felt about money, how much have you earned, what have you spent it on? Watch out for any patterns that recur, whether it’s online shopping binges when you’re feeling low or avoiding money conversations with those close to you.

20. Identify where you are on the Stages of Wealth - and what your priorities need to be

Knowing where you are on the stages of wealth means you can quickly identify what you need to focus on first. Read more about the different stages, and how they can help you focus your energy most effectively, here.

What's your first step?

As Boryana realised at Wealth Insights, nobody's born knowing how to manage their finances. Feeling confident and in control around money is something any of us can achieve, with the right support and education. So if you know you want to sort out your finances, take one small step today. Ask for help, share your journey, and celebrate every way you move forward. You've got this!

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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The truth about manifestation: money, mindset and miracles

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

When it comes to money – making it, managing it and multiplying it – there are an awful lot of myths and misconceptions out there. From the “just roll up your sleeves and make more of it” school of thought to the “visualise and believe and miracles will happen” one, it can be hard to know what to do. Should you be learning about the stock market, or working on your chakras? Today I want to share the truth about manifestation as I see it, and bring a bit of sanity to the sometimes polarizing debate. Ready? Let’s go.

Why mindset matters

As a scientist and a businesswoman, I really understand a lot of the sceptical responses we get when the topic of “manifesting” comes up at the BeWealth retreat.

It can all sound a bit fluffy, a bit woo-woo, a bit “out there” for those of us who are committed to making results through our own intelligence, determination and hard work.

But it’s also true that it’s not only what you do that has an impact. It’s how you do it.

Approach a sales call, a client meeting or a strategy discussion when you’re feeling pissed off, resentful and fed up with the world and the outcome will be very different to what it might have been if you were feeling confident, positive and enthused.

This isn’t anything airy-fairy, it's just being in the right frame of mind to do the right job.

The truth about manifestation

From that perspective, the idea of manifesting, or creating, your reality isn’t something quite so outlandish. And the same thing also applies not only to practical situations you’re in, but things you’d like to see happen in the future.

Ever had a bad dream and woken up sweating, and shaking, and afraid? You're sweating and shaking because of something that's not real. It's in a dream, but your body responds as though it's real. It’s one example of the way your brain doesn’t actually distinguish between fantasy and reality.

Which is weird on one hand, and bloody great on the other. Because it means you can actually harness the power of imagination to create what you want. If you're focusing on the future, and imagining it, you can create results, because your brain goes, "Ah! I know what to do! I've done this before!".

It can work before a big presentation, when you get your energy flowing and your confidence boosted so that you can deliver exactly what your audience wants.

So it follows it can also work for income targets, salary raises and dream clients.

But is it really as simple as visualising what you want to create… and then watching it happen?

The limits of manifestation

Let’s come back to reality for a moment. Because whilst your brain might not be able to distinguish between something you’ve imagined and something that’s real, your bank account certainly can.

(Last time I checked, you couldn’t pay staff, mortgages or bar bills by visualisation alone… more’s the pity!)

Physical manifestation is a combination of the right action at the right time. You do the right things at the right time, having cultivated the right frame of mind, and you’re able to create the outcome. It’s a combination of both.

The truth about manifestation, then, is that its effectiveness lies in balance.

Some people spend a lot of time focusing on their energy. They might devote hours to manifesting, learning about the Law of Attraction and sitting there and just hoping and praying and thinking and visualizing, without actually putting in the work.

And then at the other end of the scale we have the women who are working, working, working really hard, struggling and fretting and stressing out about what they want to happen – and never acknowledging the difference their mindset or energy could be making.

At our BeWealth retreat we talk about “active creating”. One way to think of this concept is as a bridge.

A connection between the physical world - going out and doing your business, talking on the phone to clients, managing your spreadsheets, advertising, and Facebook pages, and all of the things that you need to do... but also having one foot in the energetic world. The area of the Sorceress PowerType, the area of just bringing your energy and your connection with all that is to your manifestation, to making manifest.

Creating and letting go

Women are gifted to be able to create from seed. Whether or not you're a mother of children, as this creator, as this receptive and creative principle, you are that creative aspect.

So, if you can bring that and then bring your intentionality to creation, there's a balance between putting your energy into it and then letting go.

Letting go of the timing and actually also letting go of the outcome.

You might think

"I would love to have my business make X amount of money per year or have this many clients or make this difference, be able to give 10,000 pounds a year to the Hunger Project."

But the approach I've found is the most effective is to say to myself

"Let this be in divine timing. Let it be as life wants it to be and let the outcome be what it's going to be. It's this or something better. "

By focusing your energy on "this or something better", you're not sitting there going, "I have to have this today. Otherwise, I'm going to be a failure." Or, "I have to have this tomorrow because otherwise, I'm going to feel like everyone's rejecting me."

It's harnessing the doing and also harnessing this "Sorceress" energy of manifestation.

Which, when it comes down to it, is simply the fact that we do create things through our emotions and our thoughts and our decisions.

We do it moment by moment, day by day. And if you can find that balance, you can do that in the big picture as well.

That's the place where miracles are made.

Curious about discovering the truth about manifestation for yourself?

There are so many layers to the way we create our individual realities. Your challenges, experiences and talents are unique, and navigating your way through them can be tough.

If you'd like help to find your path and change your financial situation, we have a whole host of trainings and programs that can help. Just click here to book a call with the office and we'll talk you through which one might work for you.

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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How to achieve financial stability

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

Financial stability is the foundation for so much of life. When your income and outgoings are roughly equal, and you know exactly what your money situation is, you have choices: where to focus your energy; what your next career move is; what your priorities are based on your values. And yet most of us aren’t ever taught how to achieve financial stability.

So let’s go back to basics, and explore exactly what it looks like – and how you can get there.

How to achieve financial stability

If you’re feeling unstable financially it can be tempting to throw all sorts of tactics at the problem. We rush to trim our budgets, fret about how to earn “more” with only the vaguest idea of what our goals need to be, or find ourselves overwhelmed with complicated investment and asset management plans – when in reality, we’d find ourselves derailed by an unexpected gas bill.

Distracting yourself with that stuff keeps you from the real challenge: getting a clear, unbiased picture of where you are right now, and taking responsibility for changing it.

So if the mere thought of looking at your bank statement sends you into a cold sweat, or you’ve ever found yourself saying “I’m just hopeless with money”, I invite you to stop, and take a deep breath.

Getting to grips with this doesn’t have to be a struggle. It can actually be an easy, gentle process and today I’m going to walk you through exactly what it looks like.

The first thing you need to know is this simple principle:

The key to financial stability is ACCOUNTABILITY

That’s it. That’s what you need to embrace. And if that seems too simple, or too easy (Where’s the 25-step plan? The percentages and spreadsheets?), then let’s walk through exactly what’s involved.

Step one: Take responsibility

Becoming fully responsible in this context means acknowledging that you are the one who’s responsible for your thoughts, actions, and behaviours.

If your outgoings are more than you have coming in, it’s your responsibility to make the shifts you need to.

If you don’t know your financial situation, or it fluctuates so wildly you can’t keep track of it, you’re the one who needs to take action to address that.

It’s a principle that the richest women I know follow. But it’s also a mindset you can adopt today – no matter what your circumstances.

Taking responsibility means being fully committed to “owning” what’s happening in your life, instead of placing the cause outside of your control.

A simple way to track this is to begin to notice any time you find yourself doing any of the following:

  • Placing blame on others (If my boss wasn’t so stingy about pay rises… if my partner didn’t have such expensive hobbies…)
  • Justifying your circumstances (It’s the economy… it’s my lack of qualifications… it’s the competition)
  • Shaming yourself (I’m just no good with figures… As soon as I get money I spend it… I’m never going to be rich)

This week, become aware of any time you find yourself blaming, shaming or justifying your current financial situation. That might be in conversation with others, or just as part of your internal dialogue.

How can you reframe those thoughts, so that you can begin to be someone who takes responsibility for how things are?

2. Be accountable to others

When we look at financially successful women, we generally find they’re not only committed to taking personal responsibility. They have someone in their life who they report to when it comes to their finances. It might be a coach, business partner or accountant.

For you, it might be a close friend, your partner, sister or perhaps another woman in our community.

When we lead women through the 10 Week Wealth Turnaround, our comprehensive financial training for busy women, we invite them to be accountable within our online forum and to “buddy up” with someone else on the program. We know that this makes a huge difference in how effective the techniques and tools we teach are.

Showing up and being answerable for the promises you’re making can make the difference between setting good intentions (that quickly fall by the wayside) and starting to truly get honest about what’s going on.

Who could you be accountable to? Your partner, or someone else?

Reach out to them and ask them if they’d be willing to check in with you once a week on how things are going.

3. Get clear on your numbers

The final step when it comes to reaching financial stability is being accountable in the more familiar way we think of when it comes to money.

For most successful, capable women, the biggest challenge isn’t actually earning or budgeting. Those are important pieces, but they’ll come later.

First you need to know where you are: what’s coming in, what’s going out, and what needs to change in order for things to be different.

You’ll need to know:

  1. Your expenses – How much is going out each month. This will include your obvious monthly expenditure like housing, bills and groceries as well as less frequent expenses, from annual holidays to sporadic plumbing bills or house maintenance.
  2. Your income – Not just your salary, but other income like benefits, dividends, interest payments and income from things like rental properties.
  3. Your liabilities – A fancy word for any debts you have. This might be so called “good” debt, like your mortgage, or that high interest credit card you’re trying to forget. Having it all in one place means you can begin to get to grips with what’s going on.

This is an absolutely vital step, so don’t rush or skip it. I know it might sound counter-intuitive. When you’re slowly turning crimson as your card’s declined by the supermarket cashier, or guiltily trying to hide the evidence of that late-night online shopping spree when the credit card statement arrives, it can certainly feel like getting to financial stability just means finding more money – fast.

But without a clear picture of exactly where your money’s going, you won’t be able to make the empowered, intelligent decisions you need to.

A note on fear

For many of us, this third step is the hardest.

Why?

Often, especially if we’re capable and successful in other areas of our lives, we find ourselves paralysed by fear when it comes to looking at data which relates to our personal finances. This can be true even if handling budgets is something you breeze through as part of your business or job.  

If you’re feeling uncomfortable at the thought of gathering your financials in one place, take a moment now and gently ask yourself why.

You might be afraid of what you’re going to find, when it’s all laid out in black and white. You might be worried that you can’t work out a spreadsheet, or that the maths is too complicated, or even that you’re going to be far more successful than you think. (Remember, our fears aren’t always rational!)

If that fear is enough to stop you moving forward, here’s my simple suggestion: Find someone who can do this with you. There will be someone out there who can help you. A friend, neighbour, brother, mum, or your partner. If your fear is going to cloud your ability to do this, reach out and ask someone else to help you through it.

And keep it simple! You don’t have to use a spreadsheet or fancy app. A simple sheet of paper and a pen is all the technology you need to get the clarity that will make the difference. 

From awareness to action

When you’ve got clarity on where you are, you’re able to take action based on reality.

You might be pleasantly surprised, and find that you’re actually far more flush than you think. Your income is greater than your outgoings, and you’re ready to look at the next stage of wealth.

You might realize that things need to change if you’re going to “break-even” at the end of the month. Now you know by how much, and you can probably see whether your expenses have room to be trimmed or it’s time to think about raising your earnings.

Perhaps you’re almost there. Your incomings and outgoings are roughly the same. Getting this powerful habit of accountability in place will be the final piece when it comes to reaching stability. After a few tweaks, you’ll be ready to think about your next area of focus.

Need a helping hand with your money?

At One of many, we use a model called the 4 Stages of Wealth to map financial priorities. Financial stability is just the first stage – and we help busy, capable women navigate every step of the journey.

Whether you’re wondering how to set up a budget that works to starting to think bigger about your legacy once you’ve reached financial freedom, we’d love to have a chat about supporting you to take action.

Click here to book a call with the office and find out more.

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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Are you a Jekyll and Hyde when it comes to managing money?

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

It’s a surprisingly common challenge among our community of smart, capable women: Managing budgets is part of your role at work and you’re competent – even talented – at doing it. But when it comes to your own finances, it’s a different story.

Why is it that we can be firing on all cylinders when it comes to our business finances, and yet stuck in a rut when the money’s our own? After all, it’s not as though your own cash is less important. Well, I have a theory – and I’d love to know if this resonates.

The power of boundaries

One of the reasons why we can be so successful in one realm, and yet feel like we’re floundering in another, is this: in our work, we tend to be constrained by clearly defined parameters within which we have to make our decisions.

You’re operating within a framework that leaves you in no doubt what you’re aiming to achieve, how you’ll monitor it happening, and when you’ll know if you’ve hit the mark or not.

At home, it’s a different story. Often we lack a basic structure to allow us to make informed decisions about what our goal should be.

  • Spend less?
  • Earn more?
  • Figure out investing?

And often we focus on the wrong thing. (That’s if you’re making the time to choose on a clear focus at all – when you don’t feel confident about your finances, it’s really easy to keep putting off the day when you’ll “have a proper look” at what’s going on.)

So let’s break down the 4 key areas that we can often find ourselves struggling with when it comes to personal wealth.

1. Data

Any business needs to have a grasp of the basic numbers: how much you’re spending versus how much cash your business is earning.

At work you likely have data on hand to explain why those numbers are what they are, and depending on the industry there will be varying levels of detail available to back up those numbers and give you further information.

But many of us have a very different story at home.

You might have an idea of what comes in, and perhaps certain fixed expenses, but what if things go up or down unexpectedly? What happens to spontaneous purchases or surprise expenses? And what’s the money you’re not earning or spending doing?

Cat Townsend is a graphic designer who started her journey towards financial freedom when she took a closer look at her own financial history… and was surprised, to say the least, to find her assumptions about her freelancer earnings proved wrong.

“I was amazed to discover that despite feeling like a financial failure, and not always having dependable income, that I had actually earned as much over the last decade as my partner had in his stable and steady job.

It turns out I was doing pretty well with the ‘making’ money, I was just lacking in follow through with the ‘manage’ and ‘multiply’ parts of wealth creation.”

When you have the data you need, you can make a better decision about what your focus is going to be – do you really need to be making more money, or is it more sensible to begin to look at what happens to that money when it comes in?

Getting a handle on where you currently are is an essential first step when it comes to taking back control.

2. Goals

In a business, you likely have a clear goal – a SMART one, hopefully, that guides your strategy when it comes to generating income.

Conversely, many of us haven’t been taught how to set our own financial goals. At One of many we use a simple structure called The 4 Stages of Wealth. These describe where you’re at and then use that to reveal what your current priority should be.

When Cat realised the stage she was at, it gave her another “aha!” moment.

“Jo also taught us about the four stages of wealth – Stability, Security, Independence and Affluence – and I realised another reason why previous financial education hadn’t worked for me. I was so far in the realm of instability that I hadn’t even reached the first stage of wealth yet! You can’t just jump straight to financial independence or affluence.

Each stage of wealth builds upon the next, so if I wanted to improve my wealth situation I needed to do the work to progress through each stage. Because as Jo explained, the strategy that gets you to one level is NOT the strategy that will get you to the next level.”

3. Accountability.

If you look after numbers in a business context, you might be called upon to report them at a team meeting, via email, or in a meeting with your accountant. What’s important is that there’s an element of accountability there.

At home, the opposite can be true. There might be no one who has a clear picture of what your money situation is. Meaning pushing financial stuff to the bottom of the to-do list is fatally easy to get away with – after all, no-one except you will know…“It fascinated me that stability is also about accountability” says Cat. “Scott and I never even spoke about our finances. I immediately knew this had to change.”

4. Emotion

One of the biggest differences when it comes to handling budgets at work compared to tackling your own financial situation is emotion.

Of course, as a responsible team member it’s going to be important to you that the business you’re in performs and gets results. But the level of personal attachment to those numbers is likely to be significantly less than the emotions you feel when you look at your own figures. You might feel worried, guilty or angry if the business isn’t doing well, but you’re less likely to feel personal shame.

This is a clue to one of the most commonly overlooked aspects of financial confidence: dealing with and recognising our own emotional “baggage” when it comes to money.

The good news

The great news is, if you’re on top of things at work the evidence is clear: you’re absolutely capable of nailing your personal finances too.

When you have the right framework in place you’ll discover the joy of making financial decisions from a place of empowerment – so that tending to your finances can feel fulfilling, exciting, and even joyful.

And even if you don’t handle budgets at work, you might be more talented with figures than you think. A 2017 survey by Fidelity insurance in the US found that in an analysis of more than eight million clients, women actually tended to save more and outperform men when it came to generating a return on their investments.

“The results of Fidelity’s latest analysis reinforces that women too often underestimate their strengths as savers and investors,” – Alexandra Taussig, senior vice president of women investors at Fidelity

Which is great news, right? When we have the right tools, women on average make sound decisions. So if you’re wondering why you can’t seem to manage your own finances like you do your business’s, it might simply be a case of creating the structure that will allow you to shine.

How about you? Are you a financial maven at work, and yet find yourself floundering behind the scenes? Or do you feel confident in both areas? Let us know in the comments.

Want more?

If you’d like to explore a new way of thinking about money that takes away the shame and gives you practical, powerful actions to take at whatever stage you’re at, come along to Wealth Insights. It’s our focused money workshop that gives you the chance to talk about your finances in a safe and friendly environment – and leave with a map of how to change your financial situation for good.  Read the full details and book your place here.

Our intention is simple. To support professional women to handle the day-to-day so they can unleash the bigger impact they feel called to make in the world.

We believe real leadership is less about skill, and more about having a well of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual strength to draw on. Every week we support thousands of grassroots leaders globally with our free articles, videos and online trainings with powerful tools and methodologies created BY women FOR women.

Become One of many™ women creating strong, meaningful connections in our community.

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Personal finances – where to start

By

Joanna Martin
Joanna Martin
Founder at One of many
Founder: One of many. Author. Ex-doctor. Entrepreneur. Sister. Sometime Actor. Baby Wrangler. Personal Chef. Mother.
Joanna Martin
Latest posts by Joanna Martin (see all)

Did you know that in the UK, where I live currently, it’s estimated women are going to hold more than 60% of the country’s wealth by 2025 ?

We are a veritable army of change waiting to be tapped into. If we equip and empower ourselves around money and start making decisions which are in line with our values, then we could transform what the world looks like.

So it’s exciting times with regards women and wealth.

But these are also hugely stressful times for a lot of us, right?

Money can be stressful

To take the UK again, only 7% of the population in this country are on track for the retirement that we want. I’m a little bit concerned about our pensions, if I’m honest. And I’m not alone.

Research tells us that 4.5 million women in the UK are losing sleep over their money situation, and it’s not just that they don’t have enough in the bank right now.

57% are losing sleep because they don’t have enough savings – they’re worried about their future. And 28% are doing okay month by month but they’ve got a huge debt that they don’t know how to manage.

All together, that’s a hell of a lot of sleep we’re losing.

It’s impacting our quality of life. It’s impacting our well-being. And arguments about money are the number one top predictor of divorce.

So unless we do something about this money stuff, our very vitality, our health, our happiness and our relationships, will continue to suffer.

Our money confidence is often our lowest area of power

Here’s a quick challenge: think about your work confidence. Whatever you do, how confident do you feel that you’re the master of your own destiny there? That you can show up, that you can do something to make a difference?

Maybe it’s 100%, it might be 50%, or it might be 10%. Go with the first number that comes to mind.

Now, compare it to how confident you feel about your ability to manage and grow your money: your money confidence.

Interesting, right?

What I think we’re seeing at the moment is that over the last 100 years or so, as women have started to become empowered in the public sphere, we’re finally feeling confident in work.

We’ve fought our way through that glass ceiling and showed up, and we’re performing. Yes, there’s still a long way to go, but we’re doing great.

However, our money confidence is often lagging behind.

(Perhaps it’s still being informed by the last few millennia where we have not been involved in commerce at all.)

We still have a tendency to give our power away – to our partners, financial advisers, or even our parents. And where we are giving our power away, then we are not fully stepping up to the responsibility, or the opportunity that’s there for us.

Because let’s face it – the world needs changing.

And we can change it with our economic power. We can change it with our empowerment. But if you’re giving your power away around money, then you’re giving your power away full stop.

Personal finances: where to start

At Be Wealth, our brilliant retreat all about women and their relationship to money, we use a simple model called the 4 Stages of Wealth to identify our financial priorities and challenges, regardless of how much money we do or don’t have. At the retreat I take a spot survey in the room, asking the women there to put up their hands to say which stage of wealth they’re at.

It’s always a fascinating exercise to me, and not for the reason you might think.

What I see first of all is that an overwhelming majority of women in the room who are at the first stage of wealth – stability, where whatever they have coming in the amount they have left over at the end of each month is zero – feel shame.

They’re like, “Oh, god, I don’t want to admit to this! I’m so embarrassed”

And then, those who are at the next stage: security – where their expenses are a little less than their income, so their savings are increasing gradually to make a rainy day fund – are also thinking ”Oh my god, I don’t want to admit to this. I’m so embarrassed…”

But then those at the next stage, who you might think have got it sorted – because their passive income is making them more than their expenses – also say “Oh, I don’t want to admit to this in public! I’m so embarrassed”.

It doesn’t matter how much money we make, we have money shame

And I believe this is the root of so much of the problem.

We’re embarrassed.

We’re embarrassed because we’re making more than the person we’re sitting next to.

We’re embarrassed because we’re making less than the person we’re sitting next to.

We’re embarrassed because we’re not further along than we “should” be based on what our parents, or our society, tells us.

I would go so far as to say 99% of the women I have spoken to around money have some kind of money shame.

And when you have embarrassment around talking about money, you cannot transform it. Because if you can’t talk about it, you can’t learn about it, and education is the thing that can turn a situation around.

If your financial situation at the moment is not what you want it to be, it’s probably because at some level, you’re embarrassed to have conversations around money.

But if you were never taught how to manage money, if you were never taught to understand how it accumulates and how it grows and how it works, how could you possibly ever do anything about that?

We need to talk about money

I believe if we really wanted to change the way that power is arranged around the world we could do so, purely by changing whether or not money is talked about.

If everybody started talking about money: how much we have, how much we don’t have, what we know about it, what we don’t know about it – if we took it out of the closet, so to speak, I think things would shake up hugely.

But we will not be able educate ourselves until we overcome this first step of speaking about it.

And it’s absolutely time to do something about this, because we have an opportunity right now to transform the world. Not just our own personal financial world, so we can have the retirement that we want, and make the kind of impact for our kids that we want, or have the lifestyle that we want. Of course we know we can change that world if we sort our money stuff out.

But I believe we can change the world for even more people if we actually transform our relationship to money. If we let go of our money shame, and actually get educated on how the damn thing works.

What do you think? Can you relate to a feeling of embarrassment or even shame when it comes to talking about your finances? Let me know what your relationship to money is in the comments.

If you’d like to explore a new way of thinking about money that takes away the shame and gives you practical, powerful actions to take at whatever stage you’re at, come along to Wealth Insights. It’s our focused money workshop that gives you the chance to talk about your finances in a safe and friendly environment – and leave with a map of how to change your financial situation for good.  Read the full details and book your place here.

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