Women and Money - Know Your History

Though we view many gender norms from the 20th century as outmoded, they may still have a holdover on the way (women especially) think about and manage money. Understanding past historical cultural norms can help women recognize and remediate the psychological remnants that linger from these old ideas. We model our financial behavior on what we see around us—usually passed on from the attitudes and actions of the women who raised us. While I was at Georgia Tech in the late 1990s, the “MRS degree” (i.e., students who were there mostly to find a husband) was still something being sought out to achieve financial security. While that notion may appear crazy on the surface, old norms (also called “money stories” can get passed on and influence us, even if not verbally communicated. Let’s break some of these things down so we can have breakthroughs in our relationship with money.

Shining a light on the law

Let’s not blame mom when kids don’t turn out perfectly (I mean, who does?!). Historically, our mothers and grandmothers were prevented BY LAW from many of the basic financial rights we take for granted. You’ll probably be shocked at how recently some things changed.

• While the First Women’s Bank of Tennessee began serving women customers in 1919, the U.S. did not mandate that banks grant women the right to open an account without their husbands’ permission until the 1960s. In practice, however, requiring spousal permission to issue credit cards or open checking accounts for women continued well into the 1970s.
• Ruth Bader Ginsberg argued and won five separate gender discrimination cases in the early 1970s (before a Supreme Court composed entirely of men, no less). In doing so, she expanded the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause to cover women as well as men, which meant discrimination based on sex was constitutionally forbidden.
• The Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988 allowed women to get a business loan without a male co-signer. Before that, would-be business borrowers had to convince a husband, son or male business partner to sign on just to meet the bank’s lending requirements. 

Depending on your age this mind-boggling set of facts could well have impacted the options available for your mom, and it almost certainly placed huge limitations on what was possible for your grandmother. Look back at your own mother’s financial role within your family and see if any of these trivia facts help you view her actions (or inactions) in a new light.

Overcoming the historical hangover

Now that the legal situation has improved, women owe it to themselves to engage financially, despite any discomfort. You don’t have to leap headfirst into the deep end, and you certainly don’t have to become a high-powered financial broker of any kind. You just have to take steps to grasp the money facts that control your own financial future and build the skill set to steer that ship yourself. 

Learning financial skills and building comfort with financial decisions is a process. There’s no finish line and no crucial deadline you have to race against. But it’s super important that you do engage in the process and begin accepting responsibility for managing your personal finances in an engaged and informed way—just because you’re an adult and because you can. 

And also, because not doing so creates an unacceptable level of avoidable risk. Understanding and being engaged in your own financial world equates to power in your own life. Claiming that power ultimately creates security in the event of a potential divorce, death or disability—very common outcomes that can leave women in a terrible position if they’ve always left all the “money stuff” to someone else. 

After more than two decades as a financial advisor and helping women navigate that painful situation all too often, I can promise you this: It’s far better to claim your own financial power now, whether or not your mom did.