In part I of Girlfriend to Girlfriend Money Chat, we read that many women feel uncomfortable discussing money topics with their friends.  We also gained some insights into why women generally refrain from talking about personal finances with those they’re close with.  Then, I shared some of the internal struggles I’ve been experiencing and my vision for my girlfriends (and other women around the globe) as related to their financial confidence and sense of empowerment. In that post I also shared with my readers a plan for actions so that my behaviors align better with what matters to me.

Today, we’re going to explore additional strategies to spread financial education and support women’s financial empowerment. I’m currently using several of them and seeing great results. As you read, think about what’s applicable to you and your circle of friends. There’s no natural order to follow. The strategies are meant to be causal and subtle so hopefully your friends won’t even notice what you’re trying to encourage. Also, some conversations can flow in ways allowing two or more strategies to be used together. If that’s the case, even better!

Take Advantage of Context:

I already discussed this strategy in Part I of Girlfriend to Girlfriend Money Chat and shared couple examples. Think about the life stages where you and your friends are at (e.g., fresh out of college and climbing up career ladder? planning for a wedding? raising young kids? saving for your kids’ college education? having to provide for your parents financially? getting ready to retire?) and take advantage of those common grounds when starting conversations on money topics. There’s no doubt that (almost) every aspect of our lives involve money. Find out what you and your friends can learn from each other.

Volunteer Information First:

During your get-together with friends, usually you get an opportunity to talk about yourself. Take advantage of moments like these and share with your friends what’s happening in your financial life. Are you having a hard time keeping up with your student loan payment? Are you about to receive some inheritance money and you would like to spend that money to pursue higher education? You’re a frugal person, but your boyfriend is not? You want to buy a new refrigerator this year, but your husband wants to wait until next year? Once you start sharing, you’ll be amazed how much your friends will open up about their money situations, too.

Share Knowledge:

Here are some ideas to begin these conversations: (1) “I recently learned about this [topic], have you heard of this before? What do you know about it?”; (2) “My boyfriend and I were discussing this […] the other day, did you and your boyfriend have a similar talk?”; and (3) “My financial advisor said I should be doing [this] and [that], what do you guys think?”

Ask for Recommendations:

If your friends are like mine, they love to give advice and recommendations. You just need to ask! As you’re about to do this, remember the power of opening up and getting vulnerable. We go to our close friends for all kinds of advice and support. Allow money discussions to be part of that, too.

Join a Book Club:

Joining a book club is a great opportunity for you to recommend reading materials. When it comes to your turn, pick a book on personal finance! Spend a good amount of time preparing for the discussion session. This is your moment to steer your friends toward becoming financially savvy. 

Display Published Financial Materials Where Your Friends Can See:

Whenever I visit a friend’s home or my colleague’s office I take note of what’s on their coffee tables and desks. I also like to browse other people’s bookshelves. You bet if I get in your car and I see a book, I would ask you about it. So if your friends are anything like me, then using this strategy is very subtle and most likely will work. Take advantage of your display areas. Be ready to discuss the reading materials. Mentally prepare yourself in advance as to how you will want to direct the conversations. For instance, you can say something like this, “Oh, yes, that book (or magazine)… I recently got interested in learning about personal finance, so I decided to check out some books from the library. Have you read any personal finance books that you recommend? …I really like this book. My favorite chapter is…the authors presented some concepts I can relate to…”.  

Recommend a Blog/Magazine/Website Dedicated to Financial Topics:

It’s very likely you and your friends are sharing online contents several times throughout the day. Why not take this opportunity and share personal finance contents with them a few times throughout the week? In the beginning you can do this sparingly and see how receptive your friends are to receiving this kind of information. After you do this for a few weeks, your friends might’ve taken note and ask you about your new interest. If so, take this opportunity to share more and discuss your personal financial goals with them. Even with the friends who don’t say much about your new behavior, there’s still a chance that those friends still click through your shared contents once a while as the contents show up on their screens. As for magazines, nowadays we have the option to send anonymous subscriptions to people’s addresses. So if you know your friends’ addresses, you can give them the gift of financial education! Two of my favorite financial magazines are Money Magazine and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.

Discuss Financial News Headlines:

This is a great activity to do with your friends over brunch, while out walking the dogs, getting your nails done, when running errands together, while out shopping, sharing a ride together, or when preparing a meal together. You can randomly bring up any financial news headline and just start talking about the content. Or you can be more strategic and plan ahead. Think about what’s going on in your friend’s life recently and see if you can find a published personal finance article that’s relevant for later discussion. For example, if your friend recently got engaged and will begin planning the wedding soon, search for personal finance articles on paying for wedding expenses. Read through the articles and be prepared to discuss the articles with your friend.

Invite Friends to Attend a Conference/Workshop/Lecture on Personal Finance:

I’m sure you and your friends like to do a lot of things together. Take advantage of this opportunity. Ask a girlfriend if they would be willing to attend an event on personal finance with you. Let them know that you recently got interested in learning about personal finance and that you would really appreciate it if they can go and support you. During breaks and after the event, bring up some of the materials discussed and gauge how receptive your friend is to having further discussions. For example, you can say, “Have you heard about that budgeting software the presenter showed us? She made it seem so easy to use! This evening l am going to speak with my husband and see if he’s onboard to start tracking our money. As you know, we’re currently saving to purchase a house. It would be very helpful for us seeing where our money is going each month. I feel like I’m ready to tackle this…Do you and your husband have a budget to track your money?”

Set Goals Together:

Invite a friend to tackle a goal with you. This can be a financial goal (e.g., saving for a bike) or financial learning goal (e.g., learn about robo advisors by the end of this year). This strategy usually works best once you’ve identified a friend who is also interested in learning about personal finance. You two can exchange ideas in terms of what goals you would like to tackle together. Or you can do this with a friend who is open to taking on advice from you. For instance, if you are aware that a friend has been struggling to save so that she can buy a flight ticket to visit her family over Thanksgiving and you’ve also made a goal to save 30% of your income for the remaining months of the year, you can suggest that you two work together to accomplish both of your goals. For instance, you both can read about tips and strategies on savings and share them with each other. Be creative and think about how you and this friend can continue doing this kind of learning and sharing beyond this particular goal.

Readers, do you see yourself practicing any of the strategies aforementioned?  Which one(s) do you feel more comfortable using?

Which strategies are you currently using?

Do you have anything else you would like to add to the list (whether it is a strategy or additional examples)? I would love to hear from you!