Since our journey with money is tied to Emotional Financial Security (EFS), defined as the degree to which one worries or has concerns about their future finances, regardless of their current financial standing. So high EFS isn’t about the size of your bank account, brokerage account or the size of the business you own, it is a state a mind. As women, our EFS isn’t tied to a dollar amount. So then how do we achieve an elevated sense of well-being and high EFS?

When asked about their emotional relationship with money during recent DyMynd events women (N=160) reported that 65% are somewhat or very concerned about their EFS.

How Women Feel About their Emotional Financial Security (EFS)

• Very Concerned 15.1%
• Somewhat Concerned 41%
• Neutral 18%
• Not Concerned 14%

Key money messages and gender biases that perpetuate the myth that women are not as financially literate as men, and the holistic factors that women take into account when thinking about their financial future, can be trigger for women and their EFS. As women, we “ding” ourselves because we may not know it all. There is a bias in the traditional financial model that treats EFS like it is a number so when women show up without their EFS being tied to a dollar amount, financial advisors don’t know how to respond. At DyMynd we acknowledged that EFS is driven by 5 key factors.

DyMynd Model for Emotional Financial Security (EFS)

• Retirement
• Lifestyle
• Health
• Care Network
• Community

DyMynd Also acknowledges that there is no one size fits all model for EFS. That each woman and her Money Style will drive how she feels about the various components of her financial security. From the DyMynd Roundtable discussions in 2015 women identified the following key drivers of their EFS:

Women’s Core Triggers For Low Emotional Financial Security (EFS)

• Feeling like there is no “safe” zone
• Worry about the what “if’s”
• Desire to have more money to care for others
• How she was socialized to deal with money (e.g., past money messages)
• The bag lady affect and feeling like she could lose it all tomorrow
• Is their financial plan comprehensive or is there more that they could be doing

From Triggers to An Opportunity for Her to Engage

These are very real concerns that can cause a woman to feel emotionally financially insecure when she thinks about them, or someone asks a question about her financial standing.  At DyMynd we have found that when a woman has a question or experiences a barrier that there is an opportunity for her. Instead of staying in a place of insecurity we can leverage financial identity and experiences to drive a more holistic model of financial engagement that meets her needs. When we think about turning barriers into opportunities then we can sit side by side with women and partner with them on how best to use investment strategies to address their greatest needs.

When asked about what they need to feel financially secure, women share that they need to know that they are not going to go into deep poverty, that they can cover unexpected medical expenses for the people in their care network, that there is a backup plan if something goes wrong, and how they can maintain independence as they age. So, it is one thing to prepare a financial plan based on her net worth today, but finance also has to account for how she felt yesterday, and all of the people that she is looking to support in her financial future. Join us as we continue DyMynd Money Talks for we are going to do just that. We are going to help women to explore angel investing and how it meets her needs for supporting the women she cares about while addressing her values and engaging in causes that are important to her community.

To gain a better sense of your emotional financial relationship with money and identify the key factors that drive your financial security take the DyMynd Financial Identity Profile. We also invite you to visit our website www.dymynd.com/blog and to continue to follow our money talks.

In our next post, Money Talks will transition to focus on a new topic: angel investing. Click here to share your thoughts below!