Financial skills seminars for women

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) and ANZ has announced a series of free financial skills seminars to be held in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide for women to help boost their confidence when dealing with money issues.

The ANZ Be Money Confident seminars will be held as part of the FPA’s Financial Planning Week, 25 – 31 May 2009.

The seminars have been developed following research by ANZ that revealed women generally have lower levels of confidence when making decisions about money. Almost two-thirds of women surveyed (62%) said they do not have a plan in place to achieve their financial goals because they felt ‘overwhelmed’ about their finances or ‘did not know where to begin’.

FPA CEO, Ms Jo-Anne Bloch said it was important for women to feel confident when it comes to money, especially in this challenging economic environment. ANZ found only 17% of women surveyed are very confident about their future financial security and almost 60% worry they will not have enough money to live comfortably when they retire.

“Now, more than ever, it’s important for women to feel empowered about their finances. The seminars being held during FP Week with ANZ aim to provide women with the tools they need to feel confident in investing and should help them take control of finances as soon as possible,” Ms Bloch said.

Certified Financial Planners® who are members of the FPA will present at the seminars in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. Three seminars will be held in each location targeted at three different age groups, and will cover areas such as budgeting, tips for young professionals, financial makeovers and retirement.

ANZ Head of Customer Marketing, Carolyn Bendall said: “As a bank it makes sense for us to have
confident customers who feel in control of their finances. Given our research indicated that only three
per cent of women want to talk to their bank about money concerns, it is clear we need to do more to
engage with women.”

For more information or to register for a seminar visit www.bemoneyconfident.com/seminars