By Joel R. Freedman, CFP®, CPWA® and Alex Freedman
Women today are increasingly breaking boundaries in business, taking control of their financial futures, and leveraging their wealth to create meaningful social change.
While challenges remain, the financial landscape is evolving to reflect the unique needs, values, and visions of women, particularly those who continue to rise as investors, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
This article examines essential strategies to help women build wealth and embrace philanthropic pursuits with greater confidence and success.
Bridging the Wealth Gap: Financial Strategies for Women
Historically, women have faced significant barriers to building wealth, including the gender pay gap, lower lifetime earnings, and longer life expectancies—all of which pose challenges when saving for retirement. Additionally, the average woman-owned business generates only 50% of the average annual sales of those owned by men.1
On a brighter note, American women are projected to control $30 trillion in assets by 2030, offering an opportunity to help mitigate these financial disparities.2 In addition, in 2024, there were 14.5 million women-owned businesses (39.2% of all U.S. firms) that collectively generated $3.3 trillion in revenue. 3
Here are three strategies to help women eliminate the wealth gap sooner rather than later:
1. Shift Your Mindset
The greater the levels of financial literacy, the more successful women can be in investing, managing their money, and growing their wealth.
That starts with women shifting their mindset and flipping the script on cultural roadblocks that can impede them from taking full control of their financial lives.
For example, while there are more women in leadership positions than ever before, too many women in the workplace continue to fear that being proactive about negotiating contracts or asking for raises will be seen as aggressive or selfish.
In addition, research suggests that past financial trauma can lead to underinvesting and emotional behaviors that can negatively impact decisions and wealth-building, even among financially savvy women.4
Whether you’ve experienced financial struggles or not, it’s crucial to recognize that fostering a mindset geared towards building wealth, investing without fear, and creating a legacy should be celebrated, not criticized.
Partnering with a financial advisor like Eclipse Private Wealth Management can help. It’s no surprise that 86% of women agree that having their investments managed by a professional makes life less stressful and 77% believe they’d be more confident about their financial future if they had a financial advisor. 5
2. Invest in Your Financial Future
The longer your money is invested, the more opportunities you have to take advantage of the power of compounding to exponentially grow your wealth. In addition, a Fidelity study indicates that women investors outperformed male counterparts by 40 basis points (0.4%) based on annualized returns of five million customers over a ten-year period.6
As women tend to have a longer life expectancy than men, that means the potential for even greater long-term outcomes for those who start early, plan holistically, invest for the long-term, and make consistent decisions across financial life. For example, establishing an emergency fund, creating a tailored plan and investment portfolio, mitigating taxes, and maximizing contributions to tax-advantaged retirement accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs.
Confidence is key, and although women still have a confidence gap compared to men, Fidelity studies show that 7 in 10 women currently own investments in the stock market7 and 71% of women felt more confident after they set up a financial plan.8
3. Prioritize Estate and Legacy Planning
Estate planning is a critical step for women who want to safeguard their wealth, transfer their assets to future generations, and strengthen their legacies. Without a clear plan—one that includes a will, powers of attorney (POAs), and trusts—your loved ones may deal with unnecessary stress, legal disputes, and unintended tax repercussions.
Here are some key estate planning considerations for female entrepreneurs and leaders:
- Succession planning is crucial for women who own businesses and want to maintain continuity while mitigating disruptions or conflicts. A thorough plan should identify potential successors, outline training and development programs, and create a framework for transferring ownership after you retire or pass away.
- Trusts are essential estate planning tools that can help bypass probate, protect privacy, shield assets from creditors or lawsuits, ensure the controlled distribution of your wealth to heirs, reduce the tax impact of transferring highly appreciated assets, and enable you to create a charitable legacy.
- Ownership structures like limited liability companies (LLCs), S corporations, and family limited partnerships (FLPs) can help protect your personal assets from business-related liabilities, avoid double taxation, and facilitate the transfer of your business interests to family members while minimizing gift and estate taxes.
Eclipse Private Wealth Management can coordinate with your attorneys, accountants, and other advisors to ensure an integrated and compliant estate plan that helps protect, manage, and distribute your wealth to your loved ones and charitable beneficiaries.
Women & Philanthropy: Transforming Charitable Giving
Women are expected to benefit significantly from inheritances passed down by their Boomer parents and spouses during the “Great Wealth Transfer” in the coming decade — with Millennial and Gen X women increasingly pursuing purpose-driven investments.9
In addition, women are increasingly investing their money in businesses, organizations, or funds that reflect their values—and supporting charitable giving in areas like education, healthcare, and economic empowerment.10
Women are also taking an active role in creating charitable foundations, partnering with other philanthropists, and investing in projects that champion social or environmental causes. In other words, women are leveraging their wealth, not only for financial gain but for the betterment of underprivileged communities and society as a whole.
Here are a few ways female investors can get started:
- Invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, or bonds that choose companies based on values like environmental stewardship, human rights, or corporate governance—and avoid investing in companies whose practices, services, or products you do not support.
- Invest venture capital in women and minority-owned businesses or buy shares of funds with clear social missions.
- Invest in donor-advised funds (DAFs), which are investment accounts that enable you to make an irrevocable contribution to a qualified public charity, receive an immediate tax deduction, and recommend grants over time.
Embrace the Pursuit of the Exceptional
As women continue to take control of their financial lives, overcome historical challenges, and use their wealth and influence to help foster positive change, the value of a trusted financial advisor can be essential to greater confidence and long-term outcomes.
Eclipse can help. We are an independent advisory firm that deeply understands the complexities of wealth and the challenges women face — and we’re committed to simplifying the process, alleviating stress, and aligning the right solutions to help you protect and grow your family’s wealth.
Let’s shape a brighter future together.
Sources
1 https://laconteconsulting.com/2022/08/05/financial-facts-women-business/
2 https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/women-as-the-next-wave-of-growth-in-us-wealth-management
3 https://smallbusinessresources.wf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/wells-fargo-2025-impact-of-women-owned-businesses.pdf)
4 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alejandrarojas/2025/03/13/whats-next-for-women-and-wealth-building/
5https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/about-fidelity/FidelityInvestmentsWomen&InvestingStudy2021.pdf)
6 https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/about-fidelity/FidelityInvestmentsWomen&InvestingStudy2021.pdf)
7 https://newsroom.fidelity.com/pressreleases/new-research-from-fidelity–shows-71–of-women-own-investments-in-the-stock-market/s/db3a5765-9b69-4e51-a315-66ecc51e0066
8 https://www.fidelity.com/bin-public/060_www_fidelity_com/documents/about-fidelity/FidelityInvestmentsWomen&InvestingStudy2021.pdf
9 https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2024/11/18/the-great-wealth-transfer-an-84-trillion-investment-opportunity-for-women/
10 https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexanderpuutio/2024/12/05/who-the-rise-of-women-led-giving-is-changing-philanthropy/