It’s hard to talk about money.
Some 41% of women say not investing more is their biggest regret, according to a survey of 2,638 women released Thursday by Merrill Lynch BAC, +1.09% Women cite lack of knowledge and confidence as their two biggest challenges to achieving financial stability. In fact, 61% say they’d rather discuss details about their own death than talk about their money.
Talking about it is critical at work. Over a 40-year career, women stand to lose $403,440 because of the pay gap between women and men, and that figure rises to $867,920 for black women and over $1 million for Latina women, according to the National Women’s Law Center. The number of women who ask for pay raises is on the rise, but studies suggest they face more resistance than men.
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“We have more opportunities and choices when it comes to family, education and career, but we’re so busy taking care of other people and other priorities, we often don’t take the time to invest in ourselves,” said Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder and senior vice president of Age Wave, an Emeryville, Calif.-based company that focuses on issues facing the country’s aging population.
And the industry with the biggest gender pay gap? Personal financial advisers. Female advisers make 56.4% of men in the same job, while across all industries, women make 83% of what men do, according to a 2017 analysis by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization.