Women Need Confidence to Manage Their Financial Lives, Says CFP Board's Consumer Advocate in New Book

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Jun 03, 2010, 10:33 ET

WASHINGTON, June 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is pleased to announce that its Consumer Advocate, Eleanor Blayney, CFP®, has published a new book, Women's Worth: Finding your Financial Confidence. The book offers practical advice and easy-to-complete exercises to help women gain financial confidence, learn the fundamentals of financial planning, and seek the advice of competent and ethical financial professionals. To obtain further details, visit www.CFP.net.

The goal of achieving financial well-being is shared by both men and women but research shows that women can have different life experiences that can impact their financial situation. A 2008 Pew Research Center survey found that women are more likely than their spouses to maintain the family finances. Not only do women tend to spend less time in the workforce due to childbearing, they also outlive men an average of five years. Moreover, women tend to invest their funds more conservatively than their male counterparts and gravitate towards "safer" less well-paid careers. As a result, women often face the prospect of a retirement nest-egg that falls short of both expectations and needs. These challenges make it quite clear that women should begin the financial planning process early and intelligently, with the guidance of competent professionals to help them plan for a healthy financial future.

Kevin Keller, CFP Board's CEO, said, "CFP Board is committed to educating the public about the benefits of financial planning, and this new book by our Consumer Advocate offers women much-needed guidance on how to secure a successful financial future. It encourages women to ask the right questions and to seek advice from ethical and competent CFP® professionals. We applaud Eleanor in helping arm consumers with the confidence to take control of their personal finances."

"There's no doubt that the economic power of women is growing - and growing quickly," said Blayney. "Women today are better educated, hold positions of higher professional responsibility, and have more wealth than ever before. But too many still want to delegate -- or worse, abdicate -- their responsibility for financial management. A women's financial well-being is like her health. She must be vigilant if she wants to improve and maintain it."

A holder of the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification and a financial planning practitioner for over 20 years, Eleanor has played a pioneering role in building and shaping the financial planning profession. She has taught for the College for Financial Planning and has helped to develop practice standards and ethical requirements for CFP^® professionals in the US and worldwide. As CFP Board's Consumer Advocate, Eleanor provides much needed guidance on what to look for in a financial planner and encourages consumers to seek out CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals, who meet rigorous professional standards including the obligation to provide financial planning services with fiduciary accountability.

About CFP Board:

The mission of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. is to benefit the public by granting the CFP® certification and upholding it as the recognized standard of excellence for personal financial planning. The Board of Directors, in furthering CFP Board's mission, acts on behalf of the public, CFP® certificants and other stakeholders. CFP Board owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements. CFP Board currently authorizes more than 61,000 individuals to use these marks in the United States. For more about CFP Board, visit www.CFP.net.

CFP^® - The Recognized Standard of Excellence in Personal Financial Planning