Welcome to your weekly Boomer Women Inspiration Series

Chapter Five - Their Finances: The first half of the community has seen us touch on a range of emotive topics within the lives of our Boomer Women; hopes & fears, motivations, aging, trust and decision-making to name a few. These foundations set us up to venture into their feelings and attitudes towards what can potentially be a divisive topic: Finances.

In this week's edition, expect to read about the emotional role of household finances, how decisions are made in this specific realm and their most valued financial tools, and perceptions and attitudes towards a specific financial consideration; wills.

First, let's take a look at the most common words associated with the phrase 'Financial Decision Making':

Security, Safety, Risk, Cautious

Boomer Women see themselves as risk averse in the world of financial planning. This is partly a function of their age - they know they don't have as much time to earn money back should something happen - but also due to life experiences.

Financial downfalls - many have experienced, or witnessed, significant financial loss over their years, making them far more wary of decisions in the here and now with retirement looming, or present.

Their Parents' Saving Habits - most feel they were raised in homes where saving was prioritised as a matter of course, as a consequence of tough war-time economic environments.

"I am not a risk taker, especially with money. I think this stems from my upbringing where we didn't have a lot of spare money and both my parents were careful about budgeting and saving. I like to shop around for the best deals e.g. house and car insurance." - Helen, 57-66, Divorced, Full-time Employed

"My parents have been a massive influence on my attitude to money. They emphasised the importance of saving at least twice your monthly salary for a rainy day. My father, who was interested in setting up businesses was my inspiration." - Rita, 67-77, Married, Retired

"I would never buy shares, bonds or any other product where there was the slightest risk of losing money. My ex-husband and I lost everything in the recession in the early 90s and I could never, ever risk losing money again." - Pat, 67-77, Divorced, Self-employed

Feeling like they are fully informed of the risks involved is crucial to building belief in financial decisions

"As long as I understand the risks involved I will take limited to moderate amounts of risk - but I clearly need to understand the pros/cons and timescales involved." - Josephine, 57-66, Separated, Full-time Employed

"My attitude to risk and money has changed since I've got older, I now try to invest sensibly where my finances allow and scour the internet for better deals. This change of thought has definitely come about because I'm 60 this year." - Julia, 57-66, Single, Full-time Employed

Read on to discover some of the Financial Tools most valued by our women.

Martin Lewis, and Money Saving Expert, is the undisputed king of financial advice and wisdom for Boomer Women. His impartiality, caring commitment to fighting for financial justice, proven and practical down-to-earth advice and website functionality are all core reasons behind this unanimous fandom:

"I use Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert website because I believe he is only interested in saving people money and giving good solid advice. He is independent, meaning he is not tied to any bank, insurance company or companies." - Bernadette, 57-66, Married, Retired

"I like the practical down-to-earth advice and information. I use their energy club, money saving blogs and if I want to change supplier. I scan their forums for more ways to save, I check my credit score with them and I check info when I want to buy a new financial product. E.g. at the moment I am toying with the idea of changing bank account." - Mary, 67-77, Single, Retired

Comparison websites, such as Money Saving Supermarket or Compare the Market, are very popular with this cohort. They speak to the need for information and research that we've already identified as being very important for Boomer Women decision-making:

"This tool provides me with an overview of all products across the market and I can make a well informed decision before I make my decision." - Sandra, 57-66, Married, Full-time Employed

"This website does a price comparison to find the cheapest insurance. If it comes up with an insurance company I have not heard of I will also look at the insurance company website and perhaps Google for reviews." - Anne, 57-66, Single, Full-time Employed

Finally, we prompted our Boomer Women with an open discussion about Wills, albeit not from the explicit point of view of charities yet (this will come in a subsequent week's activity).

There are a number of emotions that arise when confronting these prospects, often in a familiar sequence. We've attempted to unpack each of these below:

1. Death, and wills, can still be seen as a taboo topic for some. However, resistance to these conversations is more often driven by their children, rather than our Boomers.

"I have already made one and have talked to the children about it. I have also set up a POA. The children aren't particularly keen to talk about it as they don't like to think about me dying and just say 'whatever I want to do is fine'. I don't think they want to be seen by me as being materialistic. However, it is important that they know and understand reasons I have for anything I have done." - Alison, 67-77, Divorced, Semi-retired

"My initial response is that it seems so sad. The page had so much information on it seemed rather overwhelming. The idea of chatting about my will seems quite difficult when it involves people you love. In fact I wonder if they may feel more upset about it than myself." - Brenda, 57-66, Widowed, Part-time Employed

2. Experiences of their own parents dying has steeled Boomers for this reality, and often prompted them into action.

"Having lost both my parents and having dealt with their estates, making a will is not a big deal to me." - Tracey, 57-66, Married, Retired

"I think that because I've had to deal with this when both my parents died I realise the amount of work that's involved. It IS going to happen one day so I want to make it as easy as possible for everyone." - Anne, 57-66, Single, Full-time Employed

3. But the closer the press of one's own mortality feels, the more emotive it can become.

"Even though I can understand and accept it logically it is still emotional to think about. We wrote a will many years ago when it seemed a sensible thing to do but wasn't emotional because it all seemed a long way off. Now it's all a lot closer and revisiting it needs to be done but is more challenging. Death seemed a long time away when we first did our wills. Now it's much closer." - Patricia, 57-66, Married, Stay-at-home Parent

4. However, the desire to make things as easy as possible for those left behind overrides any emotional conflict - a feeling often rooted in tragic personal experience.

"My recent experience dealing with my dad’s estate reinforced simplicity as the way to go! Despite him having a very simple will, and a very modest estate there was still a bit of sibling wrangling, which could’ve been avoided, so lessons learnt!" - Alex, 57-66, Co-habiting, Full-time Employed

"A lot of people don't like thinking about wills because they have to face their own mortality and they think it's tempting fate, but it's silly not to make a will because it causes complications at a time when you're emotionally vulnerable." - Joy, 57-66, Married, Full-time Employed

A Good Conversation Thought Starter

Lastly, our Charity Thought Starter. This is a small seed of an idea that we've stumbled upon that might have the potential to turn into something bigger down the line. It's something we'll be keeping our eye on throughout the remainder of the community to track its development, but wanted to share it with you now to mull over.

This week's seed is: Boomer Women place trust in individuals and personalities they can trust, especially when it comes financial matters.