MEET WADZANAI NENZOU:

Wadzanai Nenzou is the Founder & CEO of Herconomics, a mission-driven company that is focused on empowering women to build their personal wealth. Herconomics utilises the tools of education and storytelling to accomplish this goal. They offer investing courses for beginners, events were women share their personal wealth building stories and the #1000moneystories project to amplify women’s wealth building experiences.

Growing up in Zimbabwe she saw the limited choices open to many women due to a lack of personal wealth. Even as a young girl she knew she wanted more for herself and other women.

Passionate about the empowerment of women and girls, Nenzou thinks it’s time to close the gender pay gap, and that for females to take control of their finances and put themselves in a position to succeed, we need to improve their financial literacy, and get women and girls to step up, skill up and grow their money mindsets.

The bad news is that the current state of women’s financial literacy in Australia is pretty bleak right now.

Women are more likely to live longer than men, earn less than on average and are more likely to take time out of paid work in caring roles.

Furthermore, research suggests that women are less confident than men in their ability to plan their financial future and have a lower level of financial literacy.

In fact, according to an ANZ Survey of Adult Financial Literacy in Australia Report, women had significantly lower scores on average than men when it comes to basic financial knowledge and numeracy. And the COVID-19-induced economic crisis shows women disproportionately represented in the unemployment statistics: recent research from The Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that between mid-March and mid-June 2020, payroll jobs held by women saw a decrease of 6.5%; whereas, payroll jobs held by men decreased by 5.8%.

But the good news is that all change starts with education! So even if you’re starting from zero when it comes to understanding how finances work - you can kickstart your financial future by committing to lifelong learning, a growth mindset and empowering yourself with knowledge.

To help you with this,  Wadzanai shares her tips for getting started.

TOP 3 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR FINANCIAL LITERACY TODAY!

1: Just START!
It doesn’t need to be a huge step but all you do need to do is just start. Baby steps are allowed! Soon enough you’ll be confident enough to make financial leaps and bounds.

2: Tap into available resources
Use the resources that are available to you free and online, or reach out to someone you know and admire who is financially ‘fit’ and ask them questions. Here are are favourite financial literacy resources below: 

• Check out Herconomics to learn more about their financial literacy education courses, resources, and Free Wealth Builders Webinars!

• Check out MoneySmart for tips to help you get on top of your dollars :)

• Get your hands on a few financial literacy books. One of our favourites is the global bestseller The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape!

• Listen to podcasts like She’s On The Money or one of these 12 of the best money, investing and finance podcasts for 2020! 

• Girl Guides Australia has launched a new financial literacy program for girls and young women, and in case you're wondering, yes it comes with a badge! The Guide Your Money Program, funded by Financial Literacy Australia, encourages girls and women to be mindful of the role of money and finance in their life.

3: Join women’s organisations focused on financial empowerment
To help you hit your money goals and get savvier with your finances, keep committing to educating yourself, and even join an organisation that focuses on financial empowerment. These provide access to amazing educational tools and resources specifically tailored to young women. A few great examples include - Herconomics and Money Girl and She’s On The Money.