Please cut me some slack here for the obvious reason that I’m not a woman, but it’s fair to say that with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (D-NY) recent announcement regarding egg-freezing, this issue is in the spotlight for plenty of women.
It likely was prior to famed politician’s announcement that she’s freezing her eggs because data confirm that younger women are putting off marriage and starting families. Some do so because they’re focusing on their careers. Others may be called on to be caretakers for elderly family while others simply believe they can’t afford to be mothers.
The point is egg-freezing, on a standalone basis, is a financial goal for some women. It’s also arguably indicative of the fact when it comes to financial goals for women, many are struggling to reach their objectives, highlighting the importance of advisors.
Egg-Freezing Isn’t Just a Metaphor for Financial Goals for Women
Quick aside that’s relevant to this piece. A few months ago, I was walking my dog and he’s a real ham, so he dragged me over to a woman who was in my neighborhood visiting her parents. Long story short, we strike up a conversation because she likes my dog and she tells me she’s 38 years old (don’t worry, I wasn’t flirting. She’s married.) and she’s thinking about freezing her eggs.
She’s blessed because her father is a reproductive endocrinologist so the cost of this procedure is of little concern to her. That got me thinking about how much it costs. As BadCredit.org notes, the average cost of an egg-freezing cycle is $15,000 – a large enough dollar amount that it qualifies as a financial goal for many women. The issue is just 29% of women actually afford that $15,000.
“For some women, pursuing egg freezing could mean carrying credit-card debt or taking out a personal loan,” notes BadCredit. “For others, it could require delaying financial goals such as buying a home, building emergency savings, repaying debt, or contributing to retirement.”
The point here isn’t the end use of the $15,000. It’s that if women need that amount of money for a specific goal, financial or otherwise, many don’t have that capital on hand and plenty are entertaining taking on debt to make to raise that $15,000. Translation: Women have financial goals, but many are currently falling short of reaching those objectives.
Financial Goals for Women Don’t Always Mean Trade-Offs
Again, egg-freezing is just an example. It can be swapped out for another out-of-pocket medical expense, car repairs or a luxury vacation. It can also be applied to plenty male circumstances, but the point is one doesn’t have $15,000, but needs to raise that cash, doing so often requires trade-offs.
“Indeed, for women who do not have $15,000 readily available, they may need to raid their savings, take on debt, or shift money away from other goals to pay for it,” according to BadCredit. “Those other goals could be saving for a home or building up an emergency fund, important goals in their own right.”
Bottom line: Financial goals for women need not be all-or-nothing propositions and sacrifice doesn’t need to be the order of the day. Advisors can help women navigate this road with reduced peril and increased confidence.
