When I started my first real job and had the option to contribute to a 401(k) I admit I was clueless. Thankfully I had a good manager who told me that even if I didn’t understand I should start contributing and I’d thank him later. I remember him explaining how the company we worked for would match whatever I contribute up to 5%, so basically it was free money! As a young 20-something all I heard was “free money” and I was sold on it. Then I left my job to start a family and I left my 401(k) where it was. So for six years now it has been doing I don’t even know what! I realize finally that I am not getting any younger and I really need to take control of my future and finances.
Genworth Financial has a great document all about women and money that is quite useful. It is full of statistics, tips, facts and more.
After reading an article, I learned about four Financial Barriers women face:
- We Lack Confidence
- We Sweat the Small Stuff
- We’re Waiting for Someone Else to Fix the Problem
- We’re focused on Goals, Not Numbers
The article “Why You Need to Take Control Now” made me realize I am not alone. It hit me right on the nose with all the barriers and I realize I don’t want to stay stuck where I am at forever. While I know I am not going to change overnight and since I am still raising my young children as a stay at home mom, I am keeping the article information filed in the back of my brain. Since I don’t have a real income coming in, I can’t do much with investing but I do still have that old 401(k) that I need to think about doing something with. I can’t believe I almost forgot about it! I am also more interested now too when my husband talks about investing and our retirement, wheras in the past his words just flew over my head. I honestly never really paid much attention to him when he talked about our future finances. I live in the here and now with our finances meaning I pay the bills and handle the day to day expenses, but I don’t look ahead.
How confident are you with your finances?
Mom and More Disclosure: Information for this post is sourced from Genworth Financial in partnership with the SheHeard Influencer Network. Please see my Disclosure Policy.
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