Sheconomics: The Psychology of women and money

1. Sheconomics: The Psychology of women and money Karen Pine University of Hertfordshire Simonne Gnessen Wise Monkey Financial Coaching

2. Sheconomics Introductions • Who we are • How we got here • Overview of the session

3. Sheconomics Aims • To explore in an accessible and interactive way the psychology of money. • To demonstrate that our economic behaviour is not always rational. • To help you understand that emotional management is the key to good financial management. • To present strategies to help you improve your relationship with money.

4. Sheconomics Women and money: Some facts Women • live longer than men • still earn less than men • more likely to take career breaks • lower potential earnings over lifetime • take fewer risks and stay loyal • provide for others before themselves • come off worse in divorce • more emotional relationship with money • more at risk during economic downturn

5. How good are you with money?

6. “My relationship with money is a bit like the one with my cat. I like it. It’s a comfort. But I don’t understand it and I’ve no idea where it goes.”

7. Sheconomics The Ultimatum Game Imagine you and your partner have to split ten pounds between you. She’s been given the tenner and told to share it with you - in any way she likes. She can decide how much to keep and how much to give to you. There’s just one condition. If you refuse what you are offered, neither of you get anything. What would you turn down?

8. Sheconomics Psychologist Daniel Kahnemann was the first to show that many human decisions are not logical and rational (Kahnemann & Tversky, 1982). In research studies at least half the people would turn down anything less than £2.50

9. Sheconomics Science 13 June 2003, Vol. 300. The Neural Basis of Economic Decision-Making in the Ultimatum GameSanfey et alNeuroeconomics seeks to ground economic decision-making in the biological substrate of the brain. Sanfey et al scanned players’ brains as they responded to fair and unfair proposals. Unfair offers elicited activity in brain areas related to both emotion (anterior insula) and cognition (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). Further, significantly heightened activity in anterior insula for rejected unfair offers suggests an important role for emotions in decision-making.

10. Sheconomics Scenario A Imagine you’ve always found it hard to save, but two months ago you finally got round to setting up a savings account with £50 going straight in from your salary every month. Then today you noticed your favourite perfume brand has launched a new fragrance. It’s extortionately priced at £100 (but you’ve got £100 saved and you know it’ll make you feel fabulous). How likely are you to buy it? • 1.Not at all likely • 2. Not very likely • 3. Not sure • 4. Quite likely • 5. Very likely

11. Sheconomics Scenario B Imagine you’ve recently discovered you’ve been paying too much tax and have just received a £100 tax rebate in your pay packet. Then today you noticed your favourite perfume brand has launched a new fragrance. It’s extortionately priced at £100 (but you’ve received £100 tax rebate and you know it’ll make you feel fabulous). How likely are you to buy it? • 1.Not at all likely • 2. Not very likely • 3. Not sure • 4. Quite likely • 5. Very likely

12. Mental accounting The tendency to value some £££s less than others - and therefore to waste them. First identified by Richard Thaler (Thaler, 1985). Sheconomics

13. Sheconomics Mental accounting exercise 2 You are going to the theatre and, when you get there, realise you’ve lost your ticket that cost you £50. You have enough money on you but do you buy another ticket?

14. Sheconomics OK, again imagine you are going to the theatre but haven’t yet bought your £50 ticket. At the theatre you realise you’ve lost £50 cash.You still have enough money to buy your ticket. Do you? Research by Kahnemann & Tverysky found most people would not buy a ticket if they had lost a previously purchased one. But they would buy one if they’d lost £50 cash. Both scenarios offer the same outcome £100 out of pocket for a £50 spend…but they feel different

15. Sheconomics Law 1: Take emotional control • Examples of actions you could take: • Reframe purchases (e.g. no of hours worked) • Delay spending decisions • Create ‘pots’ in savings

16. Sheconomics Money messages What messages did you get as you were growing up?

17. Sheconomics Are you an under-earner? 1. Do you avoid asking for a pay rise or putting up your prices? 2. Do you work very hard for little money? 3. Would you think it unfair for you to earn a high income if other people work harder for less money? 4. Do you often give away your time for free, do jobs for people or put in extra time at work, for no extra pay? 5. Do you find it hard to think of ideas to make money? 6. Are you often in debt with no idea how you’ll achieve financial success? 7. Are you proud of the fact that you can manage on less money than most? 8. Does the idea of having lots of money make you feel uncomfortable or fearful? 9. Do you live in financial chaos, with little or no idea what you earn, spend and what debt you have? 10. Do you think that people who seek wealth are greedy?

18. Sheconomics Law 2: Go beyond beliefs • Take one of your negative beliefs. Think about where it came from, and how it affects what you do. • Next replace it with a positive belief. Consider how you’d feel if this positive belief was true. • Finally, think of how you could reinforce the positive belief. What would you actually do? Commit to taking some concrete steps towards making this happen. Me, fail English? That’s unpossible

19. Sheconomics What we focus on matters Ever noticed….. …. when you buy a new car …you suddenly see that model everywhere?

20. We only focus on a small fraction of what is going on around us…. Our beliefs determine what we focus on

21. Sheconomics Women and spending NEWS: Shopaholic crushed to death by a pile of goods A shopaholic has been found dead after a pile of the goodies she hoarded apparently collapsed on her. Joan Cunnane's body was found in a back bedroom underneath a mountain of suitcases which had been stacked to the ceiling. Neighbours raised the alarm but her house was so crammed that police issued a missing persons appeal and sent in sniffer dogs.

22. Responses from women in our survey QUESTION Sheconomics Are you more likely to go on a spending spree and spend more than you should when: • You want to cheer yourself up • You want to treat others • You feel you’re looking good 79% 75% 61%

23. Responses from women in our survey HAVE YOU RECENTLY Sheconomics 70% 60% 55% 46% 35% 22% • Worried about money • Bought something on impulse • Spent at least £25 more than you needed to • Gone shopping for something and come home with something completely different • Felt shame or guilt after a shopping trip • Bought something you’re unlikely to ever use or wear?

24. RETAIL THERAPY? Spending is a way of regulating, or managing, emotions. (for a review of emotion regulation see Gross, 1998, Review of General Psychology, 2, 3.)

25. Sheconomics Law 3: Spend with power Actions • Take cash only • Careful who you shop with • Delay purchasing • Reframe the cost • Break the habit • Plan occasional spends See www.sheconomics.com for more tips

26. Sheconomics The evil credit card Buying something is a trade-off between the pleasure and pain areas of the brain. Credit cards delay the ‘pain’ of spending and so we spend more when using them. Knutson et al, (2007) Neuron, 53.

27. Sheconomics Law 4: Have goals • If you fail to plan you plan to…………. • Create compelling life goals • Fit financial goals into the plan • Financial freedom - universal goal • Take consistent action

28. Sheconomics Building your net worth

29. Sheconomics It’s not about what you earn, it’s about what you keep. What action are you taking to increase your net worth?

30. Sheconomics Law 5: Look debt in the face Good debt can make you wealthy Bad debt makes you poor

31. Sheconomics Compound interest If you put a penny into a jar on the first of January and then doubled the amount you put in every day for a month (2p on the second, 4p on the third, 8p on the fourth, etc) how much do you think you'd have at the end of the month? a) 62p b) £12.80 c) £10,737,418.00.

32. Sheconomics The true cost of debt £4,956 credit card debt @ 17.9% APR

33. What you focus on matters… Opportunitiesarenowhere Did you see Opportunities are nowhere or Opportunities are now here ?

34. When the winds of change blow, some build shelters… others build windmills. What will you do? ‘

35. Sheconomics Law 6: Share financial intimacies • No secrecy • No deception • Talk openly and honestly about money (avoid financial adultery….) See www.sheconomics.com for a quiz on whether you and your partner are financially in tune

36. What’s your purse-onality?

37. Sheconomics What’s your purse-onality? How did YOU score? Max. = 5

38. Sheconomics The story of June and Angie June and Angie have been friends since they were 12. June (left) put away a bit of money every month from when she was 21. At 30 she stopped to have her first child and never started saving again. Angie (right) didn’t get round to starting a savings plan until she was 35. But then she kept it up for the next 30 years, until she was 65. QUESTION If each saved £100 per month over this time - June for 9 years, leaving the savings untouched for a further 35 years, and Angie for 30 years - who do you think would be better off at age 65?

39. Sheconomics Law 7: Know tomorrow comes • Take action for a secure future • Don’t delay those all-important decisions.

40. Sheconomics £150 per month saved 5 yrs 20 yrs 30 yrs

41. Sheconomics The rewards of regular investing Source: Benefiting from Volatility: Pound Cost Averaging, www.torquilclark.com

42. Sheconomics Pension ball Throw the ball and call out a word that comes to mind when you think of the word pension.

43. The power of reframing Think of your pension as a gift to your future self……

44. Or how about a pension cake?

45. Sheconomics Sue’s pension cake

46. Sheconomics Recipe for a great big pension cake • Step 1: Pre-heat the oven • Step 2: Get all the ingredients together • Step 3: Top up the missing ingredients • Step 4: Keep an eye on the cake while it’s baking

47. Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Warren Buffet

48. Sheconomics Sheconomics Thank you www.sheconomics.com