As we continue Women’s History Month and, after reading my colleagues’ thoughtful and empowering articles, I began to think about its origin and the meaning it holds to me. A quick google search and I learned that women’s history was first nationally recognized as a week-long celebration in 1980. Another year that comes to mind is 1920, the year that the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote.
What I reflect on most, however, is the fact that these two events happened not that long ago. My grandmother was born in 1920, after all. To think she participated in just the sixth women inclusive US election lingers in my mind for a bit.
Now, a little over 100 years after women’s suffrage, you’ve perhaps heard of the Great Wealth Transfer and how women are poised to inherit a large share of the $30 trillion that will be passed on in this decade. At the same time, women are increasingly building wealth on their own, further shifting the investment and wealth management landscape.
I am currently studying to sit for the Certified Financial Planner exam in November. A recent study showed that just 23% of CFPs are women. I think about how much change has happened in the last century, and I wonder what change the next decades will bring for women and this world. I hope I might help move that needle a little.
