Financial Literacy for Women: The Four Basics That Will Change Your Money Game

Since time immemorial, women have been inundated with the idea that they are inherently bad with money. From the first day we start school, girls are told they have a more natural aptitude for verbal skills, and boys are told they are better at math.

This, of course, is some patriarchal nonsense. Numerous studies have shown that the disparity in performance is cultural rather than cognitive: a domino effect of girls being told they are not good at math from an early age, and thus not being given the incentive or opportunity to pursue it.

At Girlboss, we have always believed that financial knowledge is power, and that women have been systematically denied access to both. The toll this takes is dire and long-lasting. Because women outlive men by an average of five years, and because divorce rates remain significant, a large proportion of women will spend their later years managing finances alone without ever having been given the tools to do so.

The numbers reflect this: according to the US Census Bureau, women (50%) are more likely than men (47%) to have no retirement savings. And a 2024 Transamerica study found that baby boomer women had saved a median of $165,000 for retirement, compared to $350,000 for men of the same generation. Only 57% of women feel confident they will meet their financial goals, compared to 75% of men.

Those are some seriously harrowing statistics. And as with the gender pay gap, it is a nuanced issue with numerous contributing causes. But as with any systemic problem, it requires starting at the beginning and taking ownership of your own circumstances before you can move forward.

It is an issue that Toneisha Friday, founder of Coin Financial, a financial education platform aimed at making financial literacy more inclusive of marginalized populations, has actively sought to remedy. "Mainly, clients come to us about their retirement savings, high credit card debt, and basic savings information," she says. And while these topics are considered to be starting-line knowledge, only 25 states in the US now require personal finance courses to be taught in high school, up from just 17 a few years ago. Progress, but not enough.

Friday shared some of the most common issues she sees in clients who come to her hoping to build a financial foundation:

Plan for the Future

Specifically, retirement. The most common retirement plans take the form of a 401(k) facilitated by your employer, or a Roth IRA, which is a strong option for freelancers or individuals employed by a company that does not offer a 401(k).

"Don't worry as much about any lulls in your 401(k) investing," Friday says. "It's natural for the market to experience ups and downs, but when you invest for retirement, you are making a long-term investment that is less susceptible to market fluctuations."

Outside of your retirement plan, when you are younger, you can afford to take a little more risk with your portfolio. Platforms like Betterment and Stash will automatically build a diversified portfolio for you based on your timeline and goals. 

Know What You Owe

Confronting your debt in all its ugly truth is essential to getting your finances back on course. "List all of your debts (yes, even the money you owe Aunt Sally) and include the name of the lender, the outstanding balance, the interest rate, and whether the interest is tax deductible, like a mortgage," Friday says.

Then assess the impact: "How big a chunk of your income goes to debt payments? Too much? It's best to start with the loan or card with the lowest balance," she says, referring to what is commonly called the snowball method. This guide to eliminating debt walks through exactly how to apply that method in practice, including what to do when the numbers feel overwhelming.

Make Saving a Non-Negotiable

Setting aside money for an emergency fund should be a priority in your budget, just like getting your hair done. "An emergency fund could be the difference between whether an emergency is just a financial headache, an inconvenience, a temporary setback, or a major financial crisis," Friday says.

The easiest way to do this is to set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings account on payday. Once it is automated, you stop thinking of it as optional.

For a full walkthrough on building that fund from scratch, this guide to building an emergency fund has the step-by-step plan including how much to aim for and where to keep it. And if you want to get the whole system automated at once, this piece on automating your finances makes the whole thing much less painful.

Stop Using Your Credit Cards

Despite all the shiny offers of points, reward miles, and zero percent financing, there is one key thing to keep in mind about credit card companies: their primary source of business is you racking up debt and paying interest on it. Credit cards are not your friend until you have reached a point where you can consistently pay off your balance every month. And the keyword there is "consistently."

Until you reach that point, credit cards should be reserved for emergency situations (and ideally, you will eventually have an emergency fund for those purposes). As Pamela Capalad, founder of financial planning service Brunch and Budget, points out: "Chances are, you have gotten used to paying for things on the card and spending the cash you have in your checking account, so you may have to spend a month playing catch up."

Financial literacy is not a personality trait you either have or you do not. It is a set of skills that most of us were never taught. The four basics above are the foundation: start with the one that feels most urgent and build from there. For more on how to put it all together into a plan that actually works, these money resolutions from women who have figured it out are a good next stop.