Inspiring Confidence And Empowering Financial Success

THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT WOMEN HAVE COME A LONG WAY OVER THE PAST CENTURY. EMOTIONALLY, PHYSICALLY, AND FINANCIALLY. BUT THE REALITY IS THEY CONTINUE TO FACE CHALLENGES WHEN PLANNING FOR THEIR FINANCIAL FUTURE. THIS MORNING WE HOPE TO INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME NOT ONLY SUCCESSFUL IN YOUR CAREER BUT ALSO INSPIRE YOU TO BECOME AN EMPOWERED FEMALE INVESTOR. JOINING ME THIS MORNING IS TRISHA MILLER EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF CAREY FINANCIAL AN AFFILIATE OF W. P. CAREY IN NEW YORK CITY. GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING, OLGA. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. ALRIGHT, GREAT TO HAVE YOU. GOOD NEWS HERE. WE'VE COME A LONG WAY. I HAVE A FEELING THERE'S A BUT. THERE ARE BUTS. (LAUGHS) WE DO HAVE CHALLENGES. YOU KNOW, WOMEN STILL EARN A LOT LESS THAN MEN. REALLY? ABOUT 81 CENTS COMPARED TO EVERY DOLLAR A MAN MAKES. NOW IT'S NOT BECAUSE A WOMAN AND A MAN DOING THE SAME JOB, A WOMAN'S EARNING LESS. BUT IT'S FOR A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER REASONS. SUCH AS PART TIME WORK AND SO FORTH. ALSO, YOU KNOW, WE WOMEN TEND TO COME IN AND OUT OF THE WORKFORCE USUALLY FOR CHILD REARING. THAT'S ME. I LEFT FOR TWO YEARS TO TAKE CARE OF MY NEWBORN. THERE YOU GO. AND SO, ON AVERAGE WOMEN ARE OUT OF THE WORKFORCE 12 YEARS OUT OF THEIR CAREER WHICH SETS THEM BACK IN TERMS OF SAVING FOR RETIREMENT. AND THEN YOU HAVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN. THIS IS TRUE. IT'S GOOD NEWS. YES. WE LIVE ON AVERAGE TO BE 80 AND A HALF. MEN 75 AND A HALF. BUT WE NEED MUCH MORE MONEY TO FUND THAT LIFESTYLE. AND I'M GOING TO ASSUME ALSO THAT BEING SINGLE, DIVORCED. THAT CAN IMPACT OUR RETIREMENT AS WELL. YOU BET IT CAN. IN FACT, THERE ARE 8.6 MILLION WOMEN TODAY AS SINGLE PARENTS. WOW. AND WHEN WOMEN GET DIVORCED, THEIR INCOME OFTEN GOES DOWN BY ABOUT 26% COMPARED TO A MAN. SO, CONFIDENCE THERE. THAT'S IMPACTING THERE. ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW, MOST WOMEN DO NOT FEEL CONFIDENT ABOUT THEIR FINANCIAL FUTURE AND IN FACT, ONLY 7% OF WOMEN ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A SECURE FINANCIAL FUTURE. WE'RE GOING TO CHANGE THAT THIS MORNING. SO, WHAT CAN WOMEN DO TO BE BETTER PREPARED. WHAT IS A GOOD FOUNDATION LOOK LIKE? HOW DO YOU REDEFINE YOUR SECURITY IF YOU WILL? I THINK THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. I ALWAYS ASK WOMEN, WHEN I SPEAK TO GROUPS OF WOMEN, WHAT DOES MONEY MEAN TO YOU? AND THERE'S ALWAYS A CONSISTENT ANSWER. (IN UNISON: SECURITY) (LAUGHS) ABSOLUTELY. IT'S ALL ABOUT SECURITY TO WOMEN. TO MEN, IT TENDS TO MEASURE THEIR SUCCESS. WOMEN, IT'S ALL ABOUT THEIR SECURITY. SO, FOR MOST WOMEN, WE DON'T WANT TO SEE OUR ACCOUNT VALUES FLUCTUATE A LOT. WE NEED TO REDEFINE SECURITY, HOWEVER, AND MAKE SURE THAT SECURITY MEANS TO US THAT WE ARE NOT GOING TO OUTLIVE OUR MONEY. AND SO, HIRING A PROFESSIONAL IS THE FIRST STEP REALLY. AND WE WOMEN, WE LOVE TO ASK FOR ADVICE ON THINGS. SO, LET'S DO SO WHEN IT COMES TO OUR MONEY BECAUSE HIRING A PROFESSIONAL IS GOING TO HELP US DEFINE OUR GOALS. WHAT THE TIME HORIZON IS TO THOSE GOALS. WE ALL HAVE SHORT TERM GOAL AND LONG TERM GOALS. IT'S GOING TO HELP DEFINE WHAT IS THE AMOUNT OF RISK WE ARE WILLING TO TAKE ON AND STILL BE ABLE TO SLEEP AT NIGHT. HOW DO WE FUND THOSE GOALS? WHERE DO WE TAKE THAT MONEY FROM? AND I THINK A GREAT EXERCISE THAT ALL WOMEN CAN DO. CARRY A PEN AND PAPER AND WRITE DOWN EVERYTHING YOU SPEND MONEY ON FOR TWO WEEKS. IT WILL BE EYE OPENING TO SEE HOW MUCH WE SPEND THAT WE COULD CUT OUT AND NEVER EVEN MISS. I TOLD MY BOSS THE OTHER DAY. AND NOT KIDDING. AND SHE'S LISTENING TO ME RIGHT NOW, I TOLD HER. GOING TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE, BUYING LUNCH, ALL THAT ADDS UP AND IN A MONTH, YOU'VE SPENT $500 BUCKS. THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. SO, YOU THINK ABOUT THAT BUILDING OVER TIME AND INVESTMENT PLAN AND YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE A LOT OF MONEY TO YOUR RETIREMENT. NOW, WHEN IT COMES TO INVESTMENTS, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THE COMMON ONES. THE MUTUALS, THE STOCKS, THE BONDS. ARE THEIR ALTERNATIVES THAT WOMEN CAN SEEK ALSO AND WHAT IS A GOOD FINANCIAL FOUNDATION LOOK LIKE. I KNOW IT'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS THERE FOR YOU. NO, BUT UNDOUBTEDLY, WOMEN NEED THE THINGS THAT YOU JUST MENTIONED. BUT ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS CAN PLAY A KEY ROLE IN OUR ABILITY TO HAVE GOOD DIVERSIFICATION WHICH APPEALS TO A WOMAN'S SENSE OF SECURITY. SO, WHEN YOU HAVE GOOD DIVERSIFICATION YOU HAVE THINGS IN A PORTFOLIO THAT DON'T MOVE IN TANDEM. THAT HELPS TO POTENTIALLY REDUCE THE PORTFOLIO VOLATILITY AND CAN LEAD TO MORE CONSISTENT RETURNS. WHICH IS WHAT WOMEN SEEK. SO, ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS WOULD BE THINGS LIKE REAL ESTATE, COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE. GOT IT. OR COMMODITIES, WHICH WOULD BE THINGS LIKE METALS, GOLD AND SILVER, OR GRAINS LIKE CORN AND WHEAT. AND SO WHEN YOU LOOK BACK OVER THE LAST TEN YEARS FOR EXAMPLE, COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE IS INDICATED BY THE NCREIF INDEX ONLY MOVED IN TANDEM WITH THE STOCK MARKET 26% OF THE TIME. COMMODITIES, OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS HAVE ONLY MOVED A LOCK STEP WITH THE STOCK MARKET ABOUT 50% OF THE TIME. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN A DIVERSIFIED PORTFOLIO. SOMETHING'S UP, SOMETHING'S DOWN. IT HELPS TO REDUCE THE OVERALL VOLATILITY, LEADS TO MORE CONSISTENT RETURNS ALLOWING US TO SLEEP BETTER AT NIGHT. ANY FINAL THOUGHTS BECAUSE WE'VE COVERED A LOT AND THIS IS GREAT INFORMATION AND I'LL BE HONEST. I'M VERY CONSERVATIVE, MY MOM IS TOO. MY MOM HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THE CD KIND OF WOMAN. YOU KNOW, IN THE BANK. AND I'VE ALWAYS TOLD THEM, MOM YOU HAVE TO DIVERSIFY. YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. FINAL THOUGHTS FOR WOMEN OUT THERE WHO REALLY HAVEN'T TAKEN THAT RISK, LET'S SAY. YES. IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE AS WOMEN BECOME EDUCATED. EDUCATION IS EMPOWERING AND IT BUILDS CONFIDENCE. IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE RISKS THAT WE'RE TAKING AND THERE'S RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH ALL TYPES OF INVESTMENTS. SURE. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO UNDERSTAND IF WE DON'T INVEST PROPERLY, WE RUN A SERIOUS RISK AND THAT IS OUTLIVING OUR MONEY. THAT DOESN'T NEED TO HAPPEN TO ANY WOMEN. SO, SEEK OUT A PROFESSIONAL TO HELP YOU BUILD AN INVESTMENT PLAN THAT'S GOING TO MEET YOUR GOALS, YOUR RISK TOLERANCE, YOUR TIME HORIZON. ALLOW YOU TO SLEEP WELL AT NIGHT AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T OUTLIVE YOUR MONEY. GREAT INFORMATION. THANK YOU SO MUCH TRISHA. THANK YOU OLGA. I'M GOING TO TALK TO MY MOM AND TELL HER TO DIVERSIFY. ALRIGHT. THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY. AND IF YOU'D LIKE MORE INFORMATION ON RETIREMENT PLANNING, FINANCIAL TIPS, AND SECURING YOUR FUTURE, GO TO OUR WEBSITE. THEBALANCINGACT.COM THAT'S THEBALANCINGACT.COM