Women have historically been left out of financial conversations and barred from basic financial rights.

The financial gaps are even worse for women of color, who face additional bias and challenges.

Women today can be empowered to control their own finances and improve their sense of security.

Women have historically been kept out of the conversation on personal finance.

In the U.S., it wasn’t until the 1960s that women could open their own bank accounts, and in 1974, women were legally afforded the right to manage their own finances and apply for loans without the need for a male cosigner, thanks to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

To this day, men are reported to possess greater financial confidence (Davydov et al., 2024), and women tend to score significantly lower than men on financial literacy tests. Though the average life expectancy of women is longer than that of men, women tend to accumulate over $100,000 less wealth, impacting their financial security in later years (Conley, M., & Liao, H.-W.).

Intersectional research shows that women of color often face compounded disadvantages—Black and Hispanic women experience both the gender pay gap and racial and ethnic gaps, impacting retirement savings, credit access, and investment opportunities (Yakoboski et al., 2020).

Amanda Holden began her career in investment management in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis and stock market crash. “My job was basically letting old rich guys yell at me about their money,” she said. “It was a wild experience for a 25-year-old woman.”

Realizing that all of the wealthy investment account owners were men inspired Holden to dedicate her career to empowering women with the financial knowledge needed to successfully secure a future of their own. “My goal was to make investing education accessible to folks who have historically been left out of conversations about money and building wealth,” she shared.

Her book, How to Be a Rich Old Lady, is the culmination of the most commonly asked questions of the more than 25,000 students who have come through Holden’s educational........

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