Ok be honest with yourself.

Do you truly understand your current financial situation?

Because for better or worse, eight out of 10 women will end up alone and solely responsible for their financial well-being, according to our Own Your Worth research. ¹

That’s because there are two major trends, profoundly impacting women today:

• Women are living longer—longer than men.¹
• Nearly half of marriages are likely to end in divorce, with those rates rising among couples over 50.¹

And, of course, there are many women who choose not to be in a formal marriage or partnership.

So the odds are, you may be alone, by choice or by chance, at some point in your life. 

Will you know what to do?

It’s ok if you don’t -- but let’s commit to changing that right now.

And that just means getting involved.  Yet unfortunately, our research also found that 56% of married women in traditional, heterosexual relationships leave major financial decisions to their male spouse/partner. ¹

And while many look to the millennials to transform things, they’re just perpetuating it all.  A whopping 61% of millennial women leave financial decisions to their male partner. ¹

Not good.

Granted, often times it’s because of the division of responsibilities in a household.  Women tend to manage the day-to-day finances, while men take on the long-term planning and investing decisions

That’s fine – but it’s time to pull up a seat to your financial table and start asking some questions.

And by no means am I suggesting you become a stock picker or start quoting bonds yields.

I am suggesting you ask real questions like:

• How much money do I/we really have?
• Will it sustain me/us through retirement, at our current life style?
• Where are all my/our accounts, including insurance policies?
• What, most importantly, are the access passwords?

And then really start to think about what you want.  What type of future do you envision for yourself and your loved ones? What do you want to leave to your heirs?  What are you philanthropic endeavors?

Too many women are not involved in these conversations.

Let’s change that now. Start talking. To your spouse. To your girlfriends. To your family members. To your advisor. Ask questions.  Lots of them.

Life is so precious and can be taken from us so strangely, as many of us have experienced recently.

Let’s get answers now, in case the people you love may no longer around to address those questions, and to help you prepare for all that the future holds.

Own your worth – now.

¹ UBS Own Your Worth, 2018

Please feel free to reach out to me at anytime.  Tracy Byrnes, Financial Advisor, UBS Financial Services, Inc. tracy.byrnes@ubs.com/ Lockwood Wealth Management/ 203.977.7221/973.865.9479