Women and Finances
Phyllis Zalenski and Sue Delaney

Problem:
Longer life expectancies, lower earnings, multiple family roles, and lower average Social Security benefits and pensions impact women in significant ways. They may need to have financial resources last longer, have difficulty saving and planning for the future, or be unprepared to take primary responsibility for finances. It is important for women to take control of their money.

Response:
Based on the identified need for financial programming targeting women, a coalition of women in Davis and Monroe counties planned and implemented “Women and Finances” classes. A five-session series was held in Davis county in February and in Monroe County in March. Speakers were ISUE staff and local financial professionals. Topics included setting financial goals and getting organized, taking control of spending, investments and retirement, insurance, and legal issues.

Impact:
Attendance in Davis county was 15 and in Monroe county 20 women attended. On the series evaluation, participants indicated financial behaviors which they had done during the classes, planned to do, or already had done prior to the course. Evaluations were returned by 25 participants. The table below indicates the responses from the evaluations.

	Yes	Plan to do	Did before course
Set specific financial goals (with a date and cost)	6	11	3
Established an emergency reserve fund	3	8	11
Organized financial records	10	5	9
Reduced expenses to “find” money to save and invest	8	6	5
Calculated personal net worth	1	13	8
Reviewed features of insurance policies	8	12	3
Changed or added insurance coverage	2	7	3
Investigated different investment options	9	4	6
Reviewed my investment allocation	9	7	4
Calculated what I need to save for retirement	2	14	5
Reviewed sources of retirement income	8	9	5
Consulted one or more financial professionals	4	12	5
Prepared a will or other estate planning document	0	11	13

Some of the other actions taken by participants to improve personal finances included update will, check into long-term care insurance, put records into fire-proof storage and inventoried safe deposit box, watching discretionary expenses more closely, studying my TSP rollover, taken charge of keeping checking account current, wrote down everything I own, revamped family budget, trying to be more aware of my spending habits and reduce using credit, and lots of thinking.

Comments about the classes:

•  Very good class. It was time well spent. I'll be sure to tell others about it. Great presenters.

•  I really, really enjoyed the class and feel I learned a lot.

•  Information was very helpful. I would be interested in repeating a program if offered again.

•  Very good and informative, a lot of information to act upon.

•  The resources (phone numbers, web pages, etc.) provided were worth the whole registration fee.

•  Have enjoyed finding a group that could openly discuss investments.

•  I really enjoyed all of these meetings. They were VERY informative and I feel much more comfortable about being knowledgeable about what I have and what I need.

Contact:
Phyllis Zalenski
Family Resource Management Specialist
605 E. Main, Anamosa, IA 52205
Phone 319-462-2791; Fax 319-462-4572
Email zalenski@iastate.edu