Earlier this year I learned about some fascinating research from the global financial services firm UBS. It explores how women in long-term relationships divide up responsibility for financial decisions. Almost half of women say they defer on money matters to their spouse or partner. But would they do that if they knew that 8 in 10 women, at some point in their lives, due to life circumstances, will be left to manage their own finances?
I wanted to understand more, so I asked Carey Shuffman, Head of the Women's Segment at UBS, to join me in conversation. We talked about this persistent gender gap—which, by the way, is actually worse among Millennial couples. And we also talked about the ways shared financial leadership benefits both partners in a relationship. Carey says that we as women are more prepared than we think to be making money and investing decisions.
"You do not have to be an expert in all financial matters to take a meaningful role in your own financial life. That misperception really doesn't exist anywhere else. You know, you wouldn't read an entire legal textbook before calling a lawyer for a consultation, or if you decided you want to focus on your health and wellness, you're not going to study anatomy before exercising, right? And so there's this weird disconnect and misperception that you need to know how to calculate a bond yield or follow the markets really closely, read financial journals regularly to be meaningfully involved in your financial life...and the reality is that you don’t."
- Carey Shuffman, Head of the Women's Segment, UBS