Happy 110th International Women’s Day!

Consider that women born in 2000 have a better chance than ever to live to nearly 100 - it's incredible! Yet many things affect life expectancy, including your heritage, your lifestyle, your zip code and of course the seeds you plant to nurture your long, healthy financial story.

When it comes to planning and investing for women, the industry continues to give generic basic advice that is not thoughtful or individualized. Just recently a friend shared a financial plan given to her by another firm that raised eyebrows with its assumptions. While it acknowledged that she is in her 60s, currently caring for her 94 year old mother, it only planned for her money to last until age 85, because statistically women do not "last" past 85.

Another plan we saw assumed a single woman’s income, and therefore savings, would rise every year until she retired at age 65. Unfortunately most women see incomes peak around age 40, making it terribly hard to put a greater percentage towards savings even if your expenses do not also “peak” then.

One more thing that really gets us is the error in assuming how much Social Security income you will receive. There is so much that can be said here but best to go to www.ssa.gov/myaccount to get an accurate assessment straight from the source. (Just don’t forget to read the fine print to see if your payout will be reduced!)

Women have so much to celebrate in 2019 so hats off to all those who have come before us to make today’s world a better place. We are in your debt. We can honor them by continuing to ask questions, challenging complacency and being brave!