Peter Foley CFP® is taking lessons learnt from a facilitated women’s forum he is running to provide more relevant and meaningful advice to his clients.

Laughter, shared experiences and storytelling are not something we usually associate with financial planning, but convene a group of women to discuss money and that’s what you’ll get.

Women focus on the shared experience, teasing out each other’s problems, supporting and validating each other’s experiences – it’s magical.

I’m involved with a venture called The Kitchen Table^®, a thoughtfully constructed, facilitated forum in which small groups of women unpack their own beliefs, be they limited or expansive, about their relationship with money. It’s been the foundation of my business, which focuses on women’s unique financial planning needs, encouraging open conversations to build two-way trust.

One of the real privileges of our focus on women and finance has been witnessing the honesty and openness with which women share their stories; it’s something I haven’t experienced with many of my male clients. While it can be heart-warming and sometimes heartbreaking to hear their truths, in the storytelling space other women inevitably offer support, validation and encouragement. As a result, the conversations usually become lively and optimistic, with a ‘can-do’ approach to action.

Fears from the kitchen table

Two of the principal fears that almost always arise from The Kitchen Table^® forum are the fear of divorce and the fear of poverty in retirement, and with good reason.

The Sydney Community Foundation (SCF), in its 2011 report Portrait of Women and Girls in Greater Sydney, identifies that [for women] “being older and single is to be at housing risk, and points to the social and economic impacts of divorce, separation and inadequate superannuation on women’s capacity to maintain affordable and appropriate housing into old age, such that the new face of homelessness has been identified as being single older women.”

Think about how many women you’ve met who fit the category highlighted by the SCF. What’s not immediately obvious is they present from all segments of the socio-economic mix when they have little or no superannuation balances, property assets, business assets, intellectual property or other form of support. Their circumstances are often a result of marriage breakdown.

Men suffer too in a marriage breakdown, but where the specific gender impact lies, is in the ability to recover and rebuild. In families with children, primary care often falls to the women, leading to career stalling or lengthy career breaks for them.

It’s no secret that career breaks result in lower superannuation contributions for women, and returning after a career break is tough because there’s always someone with greater currency of experience, client relationships or fewer commitments, ready to step in and fill the gap she left. The corollary being a lower income and a tougher job rebuilding assets.

Unmarried women have a different set of considerations, since excluding inheritance or other form of family support, they are self-reliant and lack the economic framework provided by a partnership, yet the mission is very similar – create economic independence and everyone will benefit.

Inclusive not exclusive

In my opinion, women’s fears about inadequate provision and over dependence are well founded and as a profession, we are in a strong position to help. In the words of Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank: “If you are a socially conscious person, why don’t you run your business in a way that will help achieve social objectives?”

First, we can ensure the women stakeholders are always present in advice discussions. Jokes abound about how he can’t make a decision without the wife, but I’m sure like me, you’re still seeing situations where one party is making the decisions on behalf of all, and we need to stand strong on this principle: be someone who insists on involving both parties.

I’ve advised too many widows who have no financial confidence because they were not party to financial conversations, and it takes years before they begin to feel safe, even when they have exceptional financial means. The unknown can be very frightening.

Create forums for your female clients, invite them to a cheese and champagne night with your other female clients. Choose a classy female friendly wine bar or a cosy pub and facilitate meaningful roundtable conversations. Ask questions, listen carefully to the answers they give you and implement their recommendations into your business where possible.

Add value to them with insight and knowledge but don’t lecture them with the extent of your knowledge. Patronising advisers have been cited as one of the top barriers to women seeking advice, so it’s best to listen with compassion and speak with insight.

Don’t be a ‘grey suit’. Be approachable and human; we’re all working hard to raise the bar on our profession’s image and reputation, and it’s not only about letters after our name or investment performance. Sure, professionalism is the price of entry, but soft skills are what bring lasting relationships and loyalty.

Walk the walk

A focus on women and finance will be successful if it’s coming from an authentic place and a genuine desire to make changes in your business to accommodate your clients’ needs. So, we need to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Accept that to most people, superannuation is boring and over-complicated. People panic about their super balances to the detriment of focus on other investment types, like property or income producing business assets, or the commercialisation of intellectual property.

Super is just a tax-effective savings vehicle and being one-eyed about super is a narrow approach that turns people off. It has its place as part of a wider strategy, but unfortunately, many Australians (women and men) take a ‘she’ll be right’ approach. Being highly skilled at introducing super conversations early in the lifecycle and helping clients to understand it’s simply a tax advantaged savings plan and not a retirement panacea, is valuable to clients; it helps them think more broadly.

New Work Order

The Foundation for Young Australians has published a powerful piece of research called the New Work Order, which specifically relates to the job challenges facing the new Gen Z entering the workplace. While not aimed specifically at women, it supports many of the strategies I’m already seeing deployed by women to solve their challenges.

Women are embracing the rise of the gig economy, taking the concept of part-time work opportunities and converting them to multiple work opportunities to create a portfolio income stream, thereby increasing long-term income and diversifying risk.

In planning, we need to help guide our clients in wealth creation through alternative income streams, as well as focusing on the traditional ‘spend less, invest more’ philosophy. With knowledge and insight, we can show our clients how to earn more as well.

Educate and advocate

In summary, we planners must educate ourselves in the challenges specifically affecting women, have the courage to raise them in our discussions, and frame our recommendations with their wellbeing in mind. It’s all about context, and the meaning the client applies to their circumstances.

We need to understand this to partner with them as they travel through life and then, the true value of advice will become relevant and meaningful.

Our role is also to educate and advocate, it is our responsibility to show all clients that our society is rapidly moving towards an era of self provision, away from government and/or corporate provision, in the areas of healthcare, retirement planning and social support.

We must show them how else they can earn income, be educated on industries like network marketing, on blogging, on consultancy, and on all of the avenues available to men and women to support both their own interests and those of the family. Otherwise, it’s just about the numbers and we’re not serving our clients as best we can.

Peter Foley CFP^® is a director at Thirdview Financial Planning.

State of play

50.7% – women as overall Australian population

25.1% – women working full-time

17.3% – gender pay gap between men and women working full-time

42.0% – percentage difference of average super balances for women at retirement than men

$230,907 – average super balance for women at retirement

Sources: Australian Government’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.