Female Breadwinners: Prioritize Your Estate Strategy

The Center for American Progress found that more than 40% of women are their family’s sole or primary breadwinners. An additional 20% are co-breadwinners, meaning they are responsible for between 25 to 49% of total family earnings.*

A Different Focus

Male and female breadwinners have a different focus on career and finances.** Men prioritize their careers and tangibles, such as acquiring specific assets. Women are generally more intangible in their thinking, placing their financial focus on multiple objectives: financial independence, the comfort and well-being of family members, long-term care, and passing on a legacy to their children. These characteristics make an estate strategy essential for all women and breadwinners, in particular.

What to Address

Women haven’t reached equity. While many of your estate needs are the same as your male counterparts, you also have to address factors more unique to working women. Some things that will affect your estate still fall more heavily on women.

Balancing Career and Motherhood. Many young women think about whether they should prioritize having children or their careers. With children, you may choose to turn down a promotion or take time off to care for your young children. These decisions can affect your estate strategy.

Divorce. Ending a marriage, especially with children, may create more pressure on the woman to earn more. Having an estate strategy in place can help reduce stress, knowing you’ve provided for a more secure future for your children.

It’s important to consider your overall financial situation, especially if you’re divorcing later in life and were depending on spousal financial support and joint retirement income.

Longevity. On average, women live six years longer than men.* Your estate strategy must address the possibility of a longer lifespan and the security and legacies you want to provide for surviving loved ones.

Take Action

If you don’t have an estate strategy, talk with your legal and financial professionals about implementing one. You’ll want to coordinate your strategy with your spouse or significant other.

*The Center for American Progress, 2023, updating a 2019 study.
**Trust and Will, 2024