Going to a woman’s undergraduate college taught me that it’s okay for women to be smart. When I went to Columbia Law School, I found myself explaining that to a very brainy, beautiful classmate who told me she got more dates if she acted dumb. That was in 1978.
Women have come an enormous distance since then. Currently they serve as CEOs of 14 Fortune 500 companies, according to Catalyst. Among them: Indra K. Nooyi at PepsiCo; Irene B. Rosenfeld from Kraft Foods; Patricia A. Woertz of Archer Daniels Midland, and Ursula M. Burns of Xerox.
Still, for all we have achieved — with our careers, managing our finances, sharing child rearing and other household responsibilities — we’re not as savvy about estate planning as we ought to be. In fact, a recent survey by EZLaw suggests that women care more about losing weight than about protecting their financial assets.
Does this mean women have more will power when it comes to their waistlines, than when it comes to estate planning?
If so, it’s a shame, because estate planning affects women profoundly. Among Americans 65 and older, 42% of women, but just 14% of men are widowed. Women’s longer life expectancy, combined with their tendency to marry older mates and their lower lifetime earnings means they are far more likely to see their living standards compromised in retirement if proper estate planning isn’t done. And since it is women who most are often widowed, they usually have the last word about which of a couple’s assets ultimately go to family, charity or the taxman.
In a field still dominated by men, there’s a lingering tradition of paternalistic tools and techniques – such as locking inheritances up in trusts for widows who presumably can’t even balance a checkbook. Women who don’t speak up about estate planning might wind up capitulating to strategies that put them at financial disadvantage.
Perhaps worst of all is how a lack of planning can affect families of young children. Without a will, if your children are minors and you were a single or surviving parent, a court will appoint a guardian for them.
As I noted in a recent article for Forbes.com, “Estate Planning Fo