Education
Women's College First: Financial Literacy Class
By Susan Kaplan - WEnews correspondent
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WOMENSENEWS)--President Ruth Simmons of Smith
College can point to numerous accomplishments, including a doctorate from
Harvard in
Romance languages. Nevertheless, she's still intimidated by the thought
of tackling her own financial management.
"I think the average person has great difficulty with this, and
especially women," Simmons said in an interview about women, money and a
new Smith
College course on financial literacy for women--those at least who do
not make their living in the financial services industry.
"Women often have the impression that there's something magical about
numbers and that you have to be a genius to be able to understand the
financial
page of the newspaper or to be able to invest in securities," Simmons said.
"That's what we learn when we're growing up; we're socialized that way."
With Simmons' strong encouragement, Smith College this fall will launch
the Women's Financial Management Program. Smith is believed to be the first
women's college in the country to offer courses in basic money
management. Simmons says giving young women financial tools should be a
fundamental
part of their undergraduate education.
Simmons said she hopes the new program will become a model for other
colleges. The program is expected over time to include online courses,
outreach to high schools and community colleges and the development of a
think tank devoted to a woman's financial life cycle.
The purpose of the course is "to put in the hands of every single Smith
student the confidence to know that she could make decisions about her
own money--how to acquire it, how to save it and how to invest it," said
Simmons, who will be moving on to Brown University in July after six years
at
Smith.
53 Percent of GenX Women Say They Live Paycheck to Paycheck
A new national survey commissioned by OppenheimerFunds illuminates the
need to bolster young women's financial acumen. The study of single women
between age 21 and age 34 found that 53 percent live paycheck to paycheck,
compared with 41 percent of married women and 42 percent of single men.
The study, released earlier this month, also found that 54 percent of
those surveyed said they would be more likely to acquire 30 pairs of shoes
before they saved $30,000 for their retirement.
Bridget A. Macaskill, OppenheimerFunds chairman and chief executive
officer, said that trend could put GenX women at financial risk, in part
because
they are likely to live longer than men, they may not work as continuously
as
men, their earnings may be lower than men's in general and therefore their
Social Security payments are expected to be lower.
Many young women know they need to take money matters seriously--but
they are just not doing it, the report suggests.
Young women are not alone.
Numerous studies show women of all ages lag behind their male
counterparts in taking control of financial decision-making.
Many experts believe the key is in better educating women about money.
Topics Include Socially Responsible Investment Strategies
The director of Smith's new program, Mahnaz Mahdavi, said that courses
offered will include personal finance, the principles of investing, risk
tolerance and socially responsible investment strategies.
New data show the number of affluent women in the United States is
increasing rapidly, and in the next decade more women are expected to
graduate from
college, said Mahdavi, an economics professor. These circumstances mean
that the new Smith College program is in the right place at the right time,
she added.
"We are training women to be leaders in whatever they want to be. And an
essential aspect of leadership is to be able to make financial
decisions," she said.
The Women's Financial Education Program is being funded, in part, by
Goldman Sachs and Co. and by Ann Kaplan, a Smith alumna and trustee,
together
providing $2.5 million in seed money.
Kaplan, a partner at Goldman Sachs and Co., said numerous magazines, Web
sites and books are devoted to helping people become financially
literate.
But the Smith program will cover new territory, Kaplan said, noting that
most business schools don't offer undergraduates straightforward financial
planning, like strategies for retirement.
Increasingly, Women Are Responsible for Families' Financial Future
"There are a number of programs that have been developed for younger
women, and there are also obviously a number of programs at the college
level.
And this will be the first that we're aware of at a women's school," Kaplan
said.
President Simmons of Smith added that women are increasingly becoming
responsible for their families' financial outlook. Simmons said the
course is an effort to make sure that women are prepared to weather those
periods
during which their families are dependent on what women know about their
financial situation.
"So it's not just that this is kind of a nice thing to have. It's
something on which your family will have to depend, probably, at some point
in
your life--and so, it's life itself," Simmons added.
Susan Kaplan is a public radio reporter based in Amherst, Mass.
For more information, visit:Smith College: - http://www.smith.edu/
OppenheimerFunds: -
https://www.oppenheimerfunds.com/commonJhtml/women_pressrelease.jhtml
Linda Purrington
<lpurring@earthlink.net>
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