Unique financial challenges female lawyers face

Jackie is back this week solo to discuss unique financial challenges female lawyers face in the course of their life. She shares tips on what women need to do to be a boss and take charge of their finances. Let’s dive into some of these challenges and look at ways to overcome them.

Female lawyers often feel time starved

As lawyers grow and become more successful, they tend to deprioritize getting their finances in order due to their extremely busy schedules. Usually not their fault, and the truth is making time to get your finances in order can be difficult but when you consult the services of a professional like us, we pride ourselves on helping you to execute on the financial goals you have set for yourself (AKA professional naggers!). Ladies, this is your cue to get a financial planner to get the ball rolling if you tend to procrastinate when it comes to your finances.

Female lawyers still face more financial challenges compared to their male counterparts, in this instance we are speaking about the gender pay gap

This financial challenge goes beyond just earning less but affects how women are able to save for retirement, pay off student loans, invest e.t.c. the gender pay gap eventually has a ripple effect on female lawyers long term. Jackie’s big questions on this challenge are, are women comfortable discussing salaries with their colleagues? Are they also documenting their accomplishments ahead of their year-end reviews? How many people get a second professional opinion on their offer letters? These are important steps to take for financial success in your career. Do not take the power of negotiations and being informed of what you deserve for granted as you grow in your career.

Student loans

Female lawyers finish school with more student loan debts than their male counterparts and this could be attributed to the fact that they tend to go to law school much later in life and usually after a bachelor’s degree. With the rising interest rates, we have found that debts are one of the most popular challenges that women have to deal with. When it comes to putting a debt plan in place, we help our clients figure out if the debts that they have is deductible based on their income and if they are at a point where the deduction would help them to reduce their taxes. We also look feasible is it for the client top pay off the debt based on their income, or how they can better manage the repayments based on the clients financial situation.

Work life balance

Because women take time off for more caregiving duties, women tend to miss out on some career opportunities and pay throughout their career. The big question to ask yourself is, are you the one doing most of the heavy lifting at home when it comes to caregiving and child care? What conversations can you have with your partner so that unpaid work is shared more equally in the home? Women, it is ok not always be the superwomen and overcome the judgements and guilt we put on ourself. Instead the focus needs to be on asking for help and self-care to level up.

Investing

Women tend to save more than they invest, this can lead to missed opportunities to build long term financial security. Women tend to be more cautious than men when it comes to investing and this is sometimes as a result of not understanding the investment market. Women seek to really understand how they are investing and how that will impact their long-term financial goals as opposed to men who tend to dive in and see how things work out in the long run.

The best thing a woman can do is commit to learning a bit more about investments each year to build their financial confidence. Seek the services of a financial advisor that has ample experience with investments and is willing to walk them through how investments can make a huge impact on their finances long term. The research suggests, women who are well educated on investments tend to be more comfortable taking risks. Take action to learn more about the markets.

Here are some books Jackie recommends for women looking to invest

• Morgan Housel – the psychology of money
• Jen Sincero – You’re badass at making money
• Tony Robbins – Money: master the game
• Thomas J Stanley – The millionaire next door

If you feel like after reading this article you are ready to level up your finances, please reach out to our client experience manager Jody at jody.euloth@askjackie.ca. Remember ladies, when it comes to your finances you need to advocate for yourself, prioritize that work life balance, commit to financial self care and overcome these challenges for a secure financial future.