Do Women Really Need Special Financial Planning Assistance?

Citigroup (C )  offers a membership program to women called Women & Co..  Women & Co. offers “privileged access to professionals and resources that can help you define and work toward your financial goals.”  Here are the reasons that Citigroup feels that women need their help for $125 per year:

 “The statistics don’t lie. The financial facts of a woman’s life are different from a man’s."

After reading about two high profile women at Citigroup (Pamela P. Flaherty was appointed the CEO and President of the Foundation and Sallie Krawcheck was moved from CFO to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup’s Global Wealth Management Division), I discovered that Citigroup offers a membership program to women called Women & Co..  Women & Co. offers “privileged access to professionals and resources that can help you define and work toward your financial goals.”  Here are the reasons that Citigroup feels that women need their help for $125 per year:

 “The statistics don’t lie. The financial facts of a woman’s life are different from a man’s.

On average, women live longer than men (CNN.com, 2/28/05)

Women who reach 60 can expect on average to live an additional 23.5 years (Wall Street Journal, 9/26/05)

By 2010, women are expected to control $12 trillion, or 60% of the country’s wealth (Business Week and Gallup, 2004)

50% of all women over age 65 will require some form of long-term care (MetLife, 2005)

Women retirees receive only half of the average pension benefits that men receive (Women Institute for a Secure Retirement, 2006)

“As women, we also face many transitions throughout our lives, such as the birth of a child, retirement, divorce, a new job, the illness or death of a spouse. When we are not in the midst of a transition, we often find ourselves preparing for one. The financial decisions we make during these times can have a lasting impact on our well-being and on our family's future.

Women & Co. was created to address the unique needs of women as they seek more command over their personal finances. Our mission is to provide you with access to the education, resources, tools, and benefits to become an active participant in planning your financial future. We’ll be there to support, encourage, and empower you on your road to financial fitness.” 

It’s not that I don’t think that financial education, training, and support is beneficial to many women.  In fact, regardless of sex, most people could really use help with those things.  And I’m not sure how their stated life transitions for women are much different from that of men, who also tend to have children, retire, take new jobs, deal with spousal illness or death, and/or divorce. 

The main difference, though, is how women are treated in the workforce and our ability to participate actively and consistently in the workforce if we choose to become parents.  Women’s pensions might not be half of men’s if there were more flexible workplaces that accommodated family needs – both for men and women, and if more quality childcare were widely available so that women did not need to take as much time out of the workforce because they have no other viable options.  It may not be a corporation’s place to tackle these issues, but it helps to acknowledge that there are serious parameters that influence a woman’s financial planning.