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I’ve been talking about financial literacy and advice for women with a lot of people lately -mostly because I’ve been bringing it up with everyone I meet – and no one, regardless of gender has been anything other than enthusiastic. No one has asked whether we really need advice just for women, or why I would want to focus on women’s finances, and that tells me something. It tells me that we all know that we aren’t doing enough to ensure women have equal opportunity and equally good financial outcomes as men.  

Did you know that over 80% of women surveyed rated their financial wellbeing as moderate, low or very low?? Or that over 70% of them said their financial wellbeing has an impact on their overall wellbeing?  

Also, that the report sharing those findings was the first of the Financial Services Council reports EVER to focus on financial wellness for women? It’s no surprise that our outcomes differ from men’s when so little transparency has existed in NZ, something being addressed with a current campaign called Mind the Gap which is challenging employers to publish their pay gap. Importantly, they are focussing not just on the gender gap but the ethnic gaps as well which is even more concerning, with a Pasifika woman earning only $0.75 for every dollar a Pakeha male makes. However, the pay gap is only one factor contributing to women’s financial outcomes, with attitudes and behaviour around finances playing a role, as well as the media and societal messaging.  

Many people underestimate the influence our personality and mindset have on our finances, and yet the language we use around it is often quite emotive. We talk about our relationship with money, we associate it with guilty pleasures, bad habits, or even anxiety and fear. It’s not surprising with the low literacy and confidence levels reported by women, that we don’t always seek advice from other women. In fact, only 23% of financial advisers in NZ are women. Additionally, when you search for resources looking to improve financial literacy for women there is often a heavy emphasis on teaching women how to invest, which is great but our financial wellbeing is not solely based on whether we have mastered the art of a Sharesies portfolio..

What Would She Do aims to provide relatable, authentic advice on all aspects of financial wellbeing, from understanding how KiwiSaver really works, to who needs insurances, or when a relationship agreement can protect you, and even how to budget for milestones such as having a baby. We want to help women, of any age, who may not yet be working directly with an adviser but are looking for some guidance, some tips, some reassurance that they are not the only ones out there struggling with a particular issue.  

We hope to create a sense of community through What Would She Do, so that the ‘She’ doesn’t have to be myself or another professional, it might one day be any one of you. A community providing support and advice to you, your friends and your children, when they have questions about money.

So, before I wrap up this introduction to our advice for women, let me address the question of why I feel driven to provide this, and why you should listen.  

In my previous life, before I joined the financial services, I was a nurse. You can picture me I’m sure, a New Graduate, recently moved from Wellington to Greymouth, realising that nursing was not going to get me to where I wanted to be financially and devouring a book on investing from the library.  

Then, in my early 20s I bought my first home, on a nurse’s salary (oh, 2014.. what a different time you were..) and insisted on paying above the minimum because I hated the feeling of being in debt. I also got married, stubbornly refusing any financial assistance from my parents.  

In my late 20s I got divorced, lost my house in the process, and had my daughter, which only strengthened my personal desire to be financially independent. I was hugely fortunate to have been the breadwinner and to have a career to keep me going through that time.  

Picture me again, now a new mum, living on my own for the first time, with my baby in my arms, looking up career options that would give me what I wanted – freedom and choices for myself and my daughter.  

I hoped that if I became a financial adviser I could help others make better decisions than I had.

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Elizabeth.

‍Elizabeth Tsikanovski (FSP693611) is a Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial (FSP95466). No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. Please see Elizabeth’s disclosure statement on our website. 

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