Financial Literacy for Women

I’ve witnessed for myself the power of financial literacy. Women who learn to manage their finances tap into something deep within themselves and discover a limitless reservoir of strength, confidence, and courage. This inner power helps us develop financial confidence and achieve our financial potential; it is instrumental in helping us to become financially independent. Financial literacy ultimately enables us to control our own destiny.

There are tangible skills that New Directions Career Center teaches our clients, like tracking expenditures, budgeting for the future, living within means, prioritizing debt repayment to minimize interest, and maximizing the benefit of each dollar for them and their families. Many of our clients are rebuilding their lives from scratch; some even have to make a choice between feeding their children and heating their homes. Each situation is unique, and we help each client to begin where she is in the current moment. The emphasis is on how to live right now and to set achievable short and long term goals with steps to work consistently and continuously toward reaching those aspirations.

More fundamentally though, at NDCC we help our clients to change their relationship with money. Most of those who seek us out are having financial difficulty, and that is a frightening and all-encompassing situation for anyone. It is hard to really see where we are financially when we are afraid to look -- for fear that it is even worse than we thought. Maybe it is worse, usually it isn’t, but facing the situation head-on is exactly what is needed to start controlling it, instead of letting it control us. Through improved financial literacy, New Directions Career Center helps women to do just that.

Of course, earning more money makes life easier. As a result, NDCC encourages and supports our clients to develop a career plan and work towards attaining employment that satisfies professional interests and provides a livable wage. However, it is when participants in our classes begin to understand how their money works for them that life changes are set in motion. When money is seen as the tool that it is, we can put it in its proper place in our lives, stop letting it define who we are, and then use it to achieve economic independence.

Thakor, Manisha, "Shocking Statistics on Women & Retirement," Forbes, February 18, 2011