Savvy Writer and Director Robin Hauser said the film, through personal stories, explores various real-life situations involving women and money.
“So, whether it's credit card debt, student loan debt, financial fragility, living paycheck to paycheck, you know, or not being ready for an emergency like a spouse dying, financial abuse, sadly, is something that women deal with all the time. They don’t have access to money; they don't have enough money to get out of an abusive relationship. So, my research team and I did a lot of deep diving to find stories and women who would share their personal stories.”
She hypothesizes that there are discernible reasons women tend to let others manage long-term investments and retirement planning. Hauser said the film highlights the unique issues women deal with regarding money.
“Women have a particularly interesting relationship with money because we earn less than men, we spend more time out of the workplace to care for children and elderly relatives. We live longer, so therefore we have a longer life with less money to fund it.”
Hauser said women abdicating their role in financial planning to men is not limited to previous generations. She said her research shows millennials more than ever leave it in the hands of others. She said societal norms might drive women to push investment decisions to their male partners.
“Maybe some of us don't want to emasculate the man in our life. Maybe we have so much else on our plate because we handle the children and we might have, you know, a job or part-time job and we do all the volunteer hours at the school. If we can abdicate one thing, right if we can just sort of like delegate something, it's often the finances.”
Hauser said if a woman decides to delegate family financial management to someone else, they must know where their money is, how much they have, how much they spend, and how they can access it. Hauser said having basic knowledge about finances is for every relationship.
Her research shows it’s rare that couples, gay or straight, sit down and deal with long-term finances together. She said women often feel shame about not attending to their financial future.
“They might be handling the household finances. That's very different than understanding long-term finances, right? Where's your money saved? Where's your money invested? How much do you have to live in retirement?
The film highlights American financial trends, which Hauser said are disconcerting. She said yahoo finance statistics show 69% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. 28% have no emergency savings at all.
The documentary film Savvy shows at the Jim Santy Auditorium on Thursday, 3/17 at 7. Tickets cost $8.00 or $6.00 for students, but the director said if you can’t afford a ticket, find her, and she’ll make sure everyone who wants to see the film can. A discussion panel will follow the screening.
