Mind over matter? Try mind over money.
The more you believe you can accomplish your financial goals, the more likely you are to actually do so, suggests a newly published study that followed millennials over the course of 10 years, starting with their freshman year in college.
When researchers looked at subjects’ overall well-being, they found that the concept of financial self-efficacy (or believing you can accomplish your money goals) had the strongest correlation not only with financial well-being but also with peer relationships, psychological well-being and satisfaction with life. So, yes — believing you have the ability to meet your money goals could help you turn them into accomplishments. But more than that, it could help increase your happiness in areas like relationships, mental health and overall outlook on life.
It’s especially important for women to get in financial formation (sorry, Beyoncé). Why? The same study found that only 27 percent of women earned more than $60,000 per year, compared to 45 percent of men — and that’s on par with national figures suggesting women earn 17 to 20 percent less than their male counterparts. That gender pay gap can lead to less in retirement savings, which means less compounding interest, which means a smaller nest egg when we do decide to stop working and take a fair-weather cruise to Florida.
Since there’s no shortage of reasons why it’s vital for women to take control of our finances, we’ve rounded up four personal finance apps to help you do just that.
