It is estimated that women currently control 50 percent or USD 14 trillion of personal wealth in the US and are expected to control USD 22 trillion by 2020.

Shocking? I  know.

But what is even more shocking is the way that women are not taking full advantage of this influential position to make an even greater global impact.

In light of this and other statistics, Amanda Steinberg was motivated to invest in women. We journey with her through her own life and her relationship with money.  Being a serial entrepreneur, she was eventually moved to create personal finance website, Daily Worth to help fellow women address their biggest money issues: having financial safety nets, financial literacy, life investments and being a classic underearner.

At the heart of her book, Amanda focuses on the importance of understanding one's money story -one's unconscious beliefs about money-how you should earn it, what it means to want it and what it means to have a lot or a little.  For Amanda, she believes that the root of all our money problems is using not adapting  our personal narrative to the different stages of our lives:

I had been following the personal narrative I'd written in adolescence but I hadn't edited it for adulthood. I hadn't listened when my inner wisdom was cueing me to shift focus, to re-engineer the arc of my story to form a bridge to authentic freedom-not a slide to self-destruction.

Having a particular story or money memory will influence how you handle money as an adult. In Ms Steinberg's case, her parents' divorce as a child and her mother's struggle to keep her and her siblings afloat made her serial entrepreneur and inspired her to support women struggling with personal finance issues.  Hence, being in touch with your money story will enable you to understand your self-worth and propel you to achieve financial independence and build your net worth.

From her experience, she has seen a lot of women allowing other people to handle one's money that leaves them in a vulnerable position and they end up in a money coma. Amanda says:

...Your freedom and "sovereignty", your dreams and security are in the balance, Lulling you into a deep daze, your money coma makes it seem totally okay to drop out of the game. It's not when you're in that daze, you're going to make decisions that do not prioritise your highest good, They are going to come from a place of fear, desperation or plain unconsciousness. Plus, staying in a money coma does not protect us. It leaves us vulnerable.

To snap out of a money coma, women will have to educate themselves on money issues,  be willing to live way below their means but not shy away from negotiating her salaries and wages. In addition, they will have to save enough in the emergency funds and carefully consider their "root" life investments such as  businesses and mortgages

Honestly, it has been a quite a while since I have taken copious notes from a  personal finance/self-help book. I enjoyed her anecdotes when she made the case for the different investing options especially her unconventional thoughts on home ownership.  Steinberg addresses pertinent issues without bogging down the reader with heavy technical terms. Though, this book is basically geared to a US-based audience since she stresses the importance of retirement accounts like 401 (k)  but one can basically it adapt it to one's national situation.

This book would be a great read for women who need a mental shift in personal finances.

Shed the Shame, Drop the Blame, Play the Game

Merge the topics of women, self-worth, and money together and I am there. This alone is one of the main reasons I loved Steinberg’s book Worth It. Just the fact that someone is writing and speaking out on this topic is huge. Steinberg is the founder and CEO dailyworth.com, an online financial site for women. I have been a member for about eight months greedily consuming the useful articles and tips so that I can better face my own money story.

Worth It is a useful and unique to women compilation of getting clear on our money story, releasing any shame and blame around that story, building on positive self-worth through the main artery of saving, managing our money, and staying consistent by staying in the game.

Her advice is straightforward and no nonsense but not too tough love. Forgive yourself for your past money transgressions and it’s never too late to start increasing net worth are frequent refrains. She offers a number of helpful resources without being overwhelming.

Though she offers several real life women and money stories, I wish she would have been more representative and inclusive of those women whose situations and experiences fall outside the white life of privilege that stands out among these pages. However, I do believe that much of the knowledge she imparts can be applied to other financial situations and I plan on putting it to my own test.

Again, simply getting this topic into the mainstream is a very big deal. As Steinberg states; “Let’s share financial information as easily as we share tips on restaurants ad child rearing.”

With two-thirds of US wealth in the hands of women by 2030, it is about time we opened the dialogue.

BRB Rating: Own It