- Hi, I'm Murray Feldman, and welcome to Easy Money, an extension of the public television documentary, When I'm 65.

Today's program focuses on women and the financial struggles and the triumphs they face when it comes to the complicated world of saving and investing.

Women are making big strides every single day in the workplace, but things like income inequality, raising a family, even living longer can present challenges that most men don't encounter.

But women can overcome those roadblocks with the right advice, and we're here to guide you through it all.

Join me and our three expert guests as we show you just how easy it can be to take control of your finances and empower yourself.

(upbeat dance music) Let's talk about the challenges women face and how they can easily overcome them.

I'm joined by Lara Mazek, Certified Financial Planner with a passion for helping people work toward building their financial futures for the better.

Lara, thanks so much for being with us today.

- Thank you for having me.

- There is so much to talk about here.

You have a BBA in finance from Walsh College.

You've worked with numerous clients to overcome financial challenges.

And you're a new mother, so you're more than aware of the roadblocks that women can face when it comes to saving for retirement all while trying to raise a family.

- Absolutely.

- So the question is, what's your biggest recommendation to women who are trying to raise a family and also save for college education?

- Yeah, actually, my biggest recommendation is to be selfish.

So a lot of times, mothers tend to make sure that everybody else's needs are fulfilled, and they put their own needs in the back burner.

It's really important not to do that when it comes to your finances and it comes to planning for your own retirement.

A lot of times, I'll see couples come to me, or mothers, fathers come to me that along the way have kinda sacrificed their own savings goals to pay for a wedding, or pay for college, help a kid out of a tight spot, which we all understand.

It can be very difficult not to do those things 'cause you wanna make sure your children are being supported.

But what can happen if you don't save for your own retirement as much as you should be is now you're putting your children in a situation where later on down the road, they have to support you because you sacrificed along the way.

So my biggest recommendation is to think of yourself first.

Make sure you have an emergency fund.

Once you have that emergency fund, have the retirement plan funded, and then you can start saving for their college.

- Thanks, Lara.

We spoke with personal finance expert and author, Kerry Hannon, who had some interesting insight into the challenges that women face.

Let's take a look.

- I think it's critical that you think about a couple of things that women have these strikes against them getting started.

First of all, you've had a career where you have this pay gap.

And so as a result, you haven't been able to set aside as much for retirement as perhaps you would've liked to have.

You've had periods in your time when you've stepped out of the workforce, whether it's for caregiving or for an aging relative or a child, so that during those years, you've not only lost wages during that time, but you've lost promotions and raises.

And yes, that all computes into what your social security benefit's gonna be.

So it's all kinds of repercussions down the road that when you reach this certain age, all of a sudden, these things have kind of mushroomed.

- Well, she brings up some excellent points.

Women may find themselves behind when they're older because of the challenges like the pay gap, and taking time off from work to raise a child, and also caring for an aged loved one later in life.

I've seen a figure, Lara, that says it could set a woman back a million dollars by the time she retires.

Wow, that's an awful lot.

How can they compensate for this?

- Well, it's a difficult hurdle to overcome.

A million dollars is a lot of money to make up over your lifetime.

So the biggest thing is you have to save more.

Unfortunately, there's no magic trick.

You have to just put aside the money, get started as early as possible, and keep at it for a very long time.

So you should be trying to set aside for typically at least 15%.

For women, it might be more closer to 20% because of those extra setbacks that we have.

So the biggest thing is have a budget.

Make sure you're sticking to it.

And that way, you can see how much am I spending each month?

And how much can I afford to save?

If I'm not saving that much, maybe I need to cut back in these certain categories.

- And I'm reminded of a conversation I had with a father of a 25-year-old woman.

And he's telling her that she has to save 15%, as you suggested, at least 15%.

And she's saying, "Well, when am I gonna get that money?"

And he says, "Oh, maybe when you're 59 1/2."

And she says, "But why wait that long for it?"

We don't understand that many young people don't see the need for that kind of long-term planning.

They're lookin' at maybe five years or 10 years, but certainly not twice their lifetime.

- Mm-hmm, absolutely.

It's hard to look 20, 30, 40 years down the line and say I'm gonna start planning for that, and especially to take action today that's gonna benefit you 20, 30, 40 years down the road, so.

But it's extremely important.

And the way that compounding interest works, you gotta get started as soon as possible, and you'll thank yourself for it later.

- So we're talking about financial planning for people who are above the teenage years.

But what about people who are newborns?

Now I know that that hits close to home because you have a four-month-old at home.

Does she have a financial plan yet?

- Of course she does, yeah, absolutely.

And it's important when you have a child.

A lot of times, you're thinking about a lot of things, but maybe not the long-term future of what would happen if something, God forbid, happened to you or your spouse.

So you need to make sure you have life insurance, a will, possibly a trust, and thinking about college planning as well.

- Wow, so all of that should be done for families that are just starting to grow for the future.

It's never too young to begin.

- Yes, absolutely.

- All right, and as we talk about that, as we think about that, we're thinking about professionals that we use in the field.

And I just have to bounce this statistic off you and see what you think.

One out of four financial planners, financial professionals, in the country is a woman, only one out of four, women being underserved.

- Yeah, absolutely.

It makes me proud to be a female financial advisor, but I think we have a long way to go as far as getting it equal.

And a lot of women don't necessarily feel comfortable speaking with a male advisor, so it's important that we get women into these types of fields.

- Lara, amazing.

Thank you so much for being with us today on this edition of Easy Money and sharing your valuable tips with us, advice that you have gained over your years as a Certified Financial Planner.

Despite the challenges that women face, they are redefining business and entrepreneurship every day with innovative ideas all across the country.

Stand by, we're gonna discuss more with a very special guest who is an entrepreneur herself out of necessity in just a moment.

(upbeat dance music) Changing bad habits can be hard, but with the right advice, you can make big changes for the better.

Personal finance columnist, Michelle Singletary, has a plan that can get you back on track.

It's called The 21-Day Financial Fast, and she guarantees it'll put you on the path to fiscal responsibility.

You spend 21 days and you can't spend on anything that is not a necessity.

So you can't go out to eat, can't go to the movies, can't get your hair done, (laughs) or cut, (laughs) and you can't go to the mall.

- That means you can only purchase things that you absolutely need, food, housing, medication, and other necessities, and you can only pay with cash.

Michelle believes that by using cash, you become much more aware of how much you're actually spending.

During The 21-Day Financial Fast, you should also keep a spending journal.

This should be a detailed log of what you spend, what you save, and where you may be falling short.

At the end of your fast, you can use the journal to identify any spending triggers or habits that you need to change.

All of this for 21 days.

It may seem difficult, but the benefits are vast.

Throughout the fast, you'll become more conscious of your spending habits, and you'll become better prepared to resist temptation.

Plus, it gives you the chance to take control of your current financial situation and eventually make big changes in the future.

Entrepreneurship, it's a risk, but one that can certainly pay off if you play your cards right.

I'm joined by Dorethia Kelly, a personal finance coach and a speaker who's an entrepreneur herself.

Thanks for being with us today.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- You have a great story, and I know you're telling it all over the country.

- Thank you.

- You were a single mom struggling to get by.

You really turned things around because you realized you had to turn things around and take control yourself.

What a story.

- Absolutely, thank you so much.

Yes, I was a single mom, I was going to school full-time, I was raising my daughters, I was working full-time, and there just never seemed to be enough money at the end of the month.

So I just knew there was something other than living from paycheck to paycheck.

So I started reading, researching, and teaching myself how to manage my finances.

And then implementing, because a lot of people read, but they may not implement.

You go to a lot of seminars and workshops, but you never act.

And so that's the key part.

- And you have actually become a professional in this field.

- Yes, absolutely.

So I'm a personal finance and business coach.

I teach people how to manage their money, how to stay on track with managing their money, and save, and invest.

- All right, you've been an entrepreneur now for over 10 years.

- Yes.

- As an entrepreneur, you have great insight into the world of entrepreneurship.

- Yes.

- Especially when it comes to women.

- Absolutely.

- I wanna play a clip right now-- - Okay.

- From personal finance expert, Kerry Hannon, who has a few tips on what female entrepreneurs can do to be as successful as possible.

- It's really important to remember if you wanna succeed, again, it's really critical, pause, go slowly, do your homework.

Make sure you're prepared, but you don't have to be fully baked.

Everything doesn't have to be lined up perfectly.

Take a risk to a certain degree once you wanna start.

But one of the things I find incredibly useful is once you have an idea for what you wanna do, get together a group, a group of women who are like-minded, who may are also be starting businesses or have recently started them.

And get a round table of maybe six or eight, and set up a group that you meet once a month, and you set goals, you each set your goals, and you keep each other accountable to those goals.

It's really important, and then you have this network that you're working with that keeps you pushing forward, and pushes back, and kinda helps you hone your ideas and move forward.

- I like that, that's great advice.

Hold yourself accountable, and find support in other like-minded women who share the same drive as you do.

That's so important.

Not only will it help you develop mentors, but it'll help you grow your network.

And most people get jobs and move up because somebody knew somebody who knew somebody, and that's what networking's all about.

- I agree with that 100%.

Ever since I started my journey entrepreneurship, I was introduced to mastermind groups, and that's a group of women who get together just like she spoke of.

And I have maintained that it is the best thing that was done for my business.

Because a lot of entrepreneurs try to operate on an island just by themselves, but there's resources you don't know about.

There are people you need to connect with that you've never been introduced to because you don't have that network.

There's funding opportunities.

You need to be around people who know about those things so that you can kinda go up in your business as far as your knowledge base.

If you operate on an island, there'll be so much that you will hinder yourself as far as knowledge and wisdom.

- The more minds you can get that are like you.

- That's right.

- Not people that are gonna send you the wrong way.

- That's right, that's right.

- That's the... So I've often seen that networks should be built with people who are a little bit above your level and a little bit below your level, but not everybody that's the same.

Even though they're like-minded, they're not exactly the same.

- You're absolutely right about that, 100%.

I have found myself, because you'll see, you'll be in a lot of groups.

If you are the only one who knows at a certain level, you're the highest level, there's nobody to help you.

So you have to be around people who are gonna make you step your game up essentially.

Otherwise, you're the only one giving advice and you're not getting any help.

- All right, let's get some help right now with another piece of wisdom from Kerry Hannon who discusses the challenges that female entrepreneurs face.

Here it is.

- One of the biggest stumbling blocks for women in starting a business is yes, it's incredibly hard to get capital.

So again, make sure you're financially secure as best you can before you make this shift to take the launch.

And one good way to do that is start it as a side gig.

You don't have to jump full speed into it.

Start slowly with baby steps.

Build your market, build your community for your product, and then you can take it in stages, and that will really prepare you to succeed.

The other important thing is there are wonderful resources out there.

The Small Business Administration has Women's Centers that really are there to help you.

Go and talk to them.

They can help you write business plans.

They can help you find financing.

So look for those established centers around in your community.

And again, SCORE, which is an offshoot of the Small Business Administration.

They're mentors that are there for you.

They're free help, free advice.

- But it all starts with money.

And like Kerry said, it can be incredibly hard to get capital when you're trying to start a business.

What did you do when you were trying to start your business?

How did you become funded?

- Well, I used my paychecks.

So that's why it's incredibly important to have your personal finances together.

And it took time.

I didn't start with having a ton of money left over at the end of the month to be able to put toward my business.

But I took what I did have and I put it to the side, and I was very disciplined about that.

And I was very disciplined in my handling my personal finances.

So each month, I would put a little money aside and maybe purchase some equipment or software, maybe hire an assistant for a few hours, that kind of thing.

So that's one way.

Pull the money from your paychecks.

That's why if you are working a job, it is a way to catapult you into entrepreneurship.

But there are also small business competitions that you can participate in.

That's why it's important about that network again, because you can find out about these things, pitch clubs, different things in your area that you can participate in.

And often, there are people in the room that know of other ways that you can get funding as well.

- All right, and I know one of the things that you like to talk about is something that you call the financial life plan.

- Yes.

- Tell us what the financial life plan is, because you subscribe to it.

- Absolutely.

- And it may help people who are out there watching us right now who say how do I, how do I, how do I?

- Absolutely.

- This is how you do it.

- Absolutely, so we plan for everything, right?

We plan for our careers, we plan for our vacations, but how many of us plan for our financial life?

How many of us say, okay, in one year, I'd like to have this much money saved, or I'd like to start investing in this item five years, 10 years?

So where do you want to be financially, retirement?

Where do you want to be as far as what kind of vacation you might want to take, your savings, building up?

So I believe in financial life plan.

I teach that all over the country so that people write down, not in their head, not in their thoughts, but that they write down where they want to be one, three, five, 10 years, 20.

- And you have also said live beneath your means.

- Yes.

- Because that's the key to get successful.

- It is.

- But it's so hard, and you admit, it's hard for some people to do it.

- Yes.

- And it's difficult for them to even think about doing it.

- Absolutely.

And it was hard for me, because like I said, I was a single mother, there was never enough money, and everybody kept saying live beneath your means, and I was like, I am way beneath my means.

There is nothing else to do here.

But that's when you have to find ways to increase your income, increase your skill set, learn a new skill.

And I'm not talking about necessarily going and spending a ton of money for college or anything like that if you're not in the position.

But learn something that will help you make money.

Pick up something, because if you are already feeling like you're crunched and living beneath your means, you have to increase your income.

That is the only thing you can do.

- Thank you so much.

I hope people put that to good use, because you're living proof that it can work out.

- Absolutely, thank you.

- Thank you, Dorethia, for being with us.

Okay, so with her tips, you can become the next big entrepreneur.

But you should make sure that you're prepared for the trials and tribulations along the way, and they will be there.

Coming up, we're gonna talk to a special guest who has seen it all that has some valuable advice on the biggest mistakes women make when trying to get ahead.

We'll be right back.

(upbeat dance music) Here's an Easy Money tip.

Saving for your child's education can be daunting, especially when you're trying to save for your retirement at the same time.

Personal finance columnist, Michelle Singletary, recommends utilizing the 529 plan.

The 529 plan is a tax advantage savings plan.

You put away money, it grows, and when you're ready to send your kid to college, you'll be able to withdraw the money tax-free.

Michelle believes starting to save early can make all the difference when it comes to your child's education.

If you can, if I'm talking to people who just starting out, got little babies, or they're three, or four, five, please, please save whatever you can in this plan.

We were able to send all three of our children or are sending all three of our children to college debt-free.

They don't have loans, and we don't have loans, including graduate school.

Now we have regular jobs.

I'm not a (laughs) multimillionaire, neither is my husband.

But we just did it consistently over 18 to 20 years.

- Michelle wants to make it clear, you have to manage your child's expectations when it comes to college expenses.

She suggests making them commute.

You'll save big money on living expenses.

About 1/2 of what most students pay for college is room and board.

And consider sending your child to a community college.

The tuition is cheaper for the same degree one would obtain at a university, and many states now allow community colleges to offer four-year bachelor degrees.

Whatever you choose to do, the key is sending your kids to college without breaking the bank.

It's starting to save early.

Compounded interest can make a world of difference over time.

Mistakes happen, but we can avoid making mistakes with our money if we do research.

I'm here with JoAnne Purtan, WOMC radio co-host and former consumer reporter with a wealth of experience and stories regarding money and the mistakes that we often make with this.

JoAnne, thank you so much for being here.

- Oh, my pleasure.

I'm so happy to be here.

- It's great to work with you on this.

All right, let's talk about something.

You've reported on consumer issues for more than 20 years now.

- Yeah.

- With all of the stories that you've done on all of the people, what are the biggest mistakes that you see us making?

- Some is what I've already heard our experts talk about, right?

You meet people, you go out, you deal with people who have either fallen victim to scams, or got taken by something, or are trying to budget and whatnot.

So a couple things I wanna talk about.

A, the idea of depending on your spouse, okay?

Maybe in your relationship, your husband pays all the bills, or maybe you pay the bills.

But it goes beyond that, right?

It goes to the point that our experts talked about where you need to understand the bigger financial picture.

I think a lot of women pay bills, but they maybe aren't involved with the investing aspect or knowing exactly where the retirement funds are, in what funds, how do I access them if something ever happens, things like that.

So being part of that big picture and being educated is important.

Okay, how 'bout budgeting?

Budgeting, I think, is like a four-letter word for a lot of people, you know?

It's like, budget, really?

I have to budget?

- Nobody wants to have to stick to a budget.

- No one wants to budget.

- Or explain why you didn't stick to the budget.

- Absolutely.

But I don't care if you make 20,000, 50,000, hundred, 200,000, we all can benefit from having a budget.

And the mistakes and the stories that I've covered through the years, often, it's people who get into big debt, get into trouble when they don't have a budget and they've lived with way beyond their means, right?

So many resources today can help you with budget.

Even my local bank, where we have our checking account and our debit card, will break down where all of your restaurant spending, and your entertainment-- - Mm-mm, uh-oh.

- And vacation.

And you can, at the end of the year, look and see holy cow, this is where I spent this much money or whatever.

A lot of people are aware of the money that comes in, but they don't pay attention to where it all goes out, right?

Have you budgeted for your, you got a kid in high school, for their pay-to-play sports that we all have to pay now, high schools, for them to play sports.

- There you go.

The monthly things, you may budget for, but what about the things you pay quarterly, or Christmas gifts at the holiday season?

All those things, you need to get a handle on.

Can I keep goin', Murray?

- Oh, you can keep goin'.

(JoAnne laughs) But you know what I wanna ask you, though.

- Yeah.

- You did a segment-- - Yeah.

- On TV that was called Don't Waste Your Money.

- Yeah.

- And when we're talking about that, we're talking about scams that are all over the place.

If people lose money to scams, and people lose money to scams every single day, JoAnne.

- So many.

- They're never gonna get that money back.

- No, they're not.

- They're not gonna get that money back, so what is most important for us to be aware of to avoid that?

- Okay, a couple scams to me, the most heartbreaking are the ones that I get with senior citizens who call, and it's if you heard of the grandparent scam where they call and someone answers the phone, hello?

And someone with a loud noise in the background will say, grandpa?

And then maybe unknowingly you're helping the scam artist by saying, Timmy?

And oh, yeah, it's Timmy.

I got in an accident.

I need you to wire me some money, whatever.

And you do.

You wire money by Western Union or gift cards.

You're never getting that money back, okay?

But interestingly, I read a report from the BBB not too long ago that it wasn't just... Elderly people are actually getting better at recognizing scams.

It's younger people with shopping scams, and clicking on links in emails, and all those types of things that people are falling victim to, not just the elderly.

- All the stories you've done, what do you think the most valuable lesson you learned from reporting on people, and women, even entrepreneurs from time to time?

- Oh.

I think entrepreneurs, it's be gutsy, right?

I think some of us live in a little world like we go to a job where we get a paycheck every two weeks.

And I so appreciate and respect entrepreneurs who are willing to do their homework, but then take a risk, step out of the boat, so to speak, and follow their dream.

If you wanna control your own destiny, do it.

- And somebody once told me, actually, it was a relative.

I hate to quote relatives on the air, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

- Right.

(laughs) - "If you're always happy, you'll never get ahead."

- Oh.

- Which means you should be taking a risk sometime.

- I know.

- Go outside of your comfort area.

You never know what you'll find out there.

- Yeah, some of us are risk-averse, right?

- All right, I have one last question for you.

- Okay.

- But I wanna wait for a moment, and bring back all the other guests that we've had with us today.

And I want everybody to weigh in on this very important subject.

Many of us have made mistakes along the path to financial health.

Many of us have things that, frankly, we wish we could do differently or do over.

Personal finance expert, Kerry Hannon, divulged to us the biggest piece of advice that she would give her younger self.

Take a look.

- If I was 25 years old today, I would tell myself, and in fact, I tell my nieces this all the time, is to really, you have to start saving.

You have to put aside even if it's a little bit into your retirement account.

Because, although, I did set money aside in my retirement account with my first employer, when I made a shift to my next employer, I cashed that out.

Okay, ladies, do not do that.

And I so I say to my nieces, "Today, if I had that money, "it would be worth not a huge amount, "but trust me, it would be worth more than it was "at the time where I thought it was absolutely urgent "that I needed that money, "because the idea of retirement was so, so far away."

The other thing is for 25-year-old women and for when I was that young, I was living in New York City, and I spent money on going to restaurants, on clothes, on, I don't know, makeup maybe.

These are kind of important, but they're really temporary.

And so if I could, I would say, Kerry, do not spend as much on the sorta superficial things, and really start thinking about putting that money aside.

- I love the question.

I wish I thought of it, but she did.

It's a valuable question, too.

(JoAnne chuckles) What is the biggest advice that you would give your younger self, JoAnne?

- Oh, all right, start investing aggressively as early as possible.

And don't look at savings and that investing when you're young as like something that isn't for you.

You can feel like I don't wanna pay myself this.

I want something now.

But it is for our future.

No one's taking the money for us, you know what I mean?

To the points made earlier, you're building your future with that money, so it is for you, just later.

- [Murray] All right, start now.

- Yes.

- And you'll be okay later if you do that.

- Yes, you will.

- Dorethia.

- At 25, a lot of people, including myself, I wanted a new car.

And it's just not a good time.

You need to save more money.

So I would've told myself not to get that new car, because I struggled to pay for it, struggled to pay the car insurance on it.

It just was a disaster until it was paid off.

So I would've told my younger self buy a used car, pay cash if you can, or at least have a very small note, and save more money.

- Gets back to what you were talking about earlier, live beneath your means.

- That's right.

- There you go.

Lara.

- My advice would be to get educated.

I think a lot of people are scared or uncomfortable when it comes to talking about money, finance, numbers in general, so they kinda turn a blind eye.

And really, I think the more I learned and the more familiar I got with personal finance, the more empowered I felt, and the more excited I got about it.

- All great advice.

And I know that people will take that advice and use it.

At least, I hope they do, because it could work for them.

Thank you, all, so very much for being with us today for joining us on Easy Money and for your valuable tips to everybody.

- Thank you, Murray.

- Thanks.

- [Dorethia And Lara] Thank you.

- Great, great conversation right there, valuable, and it will make an impact.

All right, three amazing women prove that retirement, and investing, and entrepreneurship can be easy if you have the right advice.

That's what this is all about.

The valuable information that we've given you today can be used to overcome challenges and to take control of your money once and for all.

And there's a lot more that you can learn about personal finance.

And we have more to share about spending, and saving, and investing, and more topics to help you make the most of your money.

Visit our website, wi65.org.

We're also sociable.

You can follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @WI65project.

Tell us what you think or give us a piece of your mind.

Most importantly, ask us your questions.

Until the next time, I'm Murray Feldman.

(upbeat dance music) Thank you for watching Easy Money.

(bright piano music)