Singapore’s First Ever Female Financial Conference Is Happening In April. We Had A 1-On-1 Chat With The Lady Behind It All

Men are from Mars and women are from Venus.

At least that’s what the title of the popular book written by John Gray suggests. The idea is that both genders communicate differently.

And that’s not only applies to the relationships we manage, but also our finances as well.

It’s because of this that Anna Vanessa Haotanto, founder of The New Savvy, decided to organise Singapore’s first ever female finance conference.

The Future is Female conference, taking place on April 8, Sat, is organised by The New Savvy, a women-focused financial literacy platform in partnership with the Singapore Exchange (SGX). The speakers for the conference include senior representatives from several financial institutions, venture capitalists and successful women entrepreneurs.

We took some time to have a chat with Anna to find out more about this event, and the reasons that prompted her to organise it.

DollarsAndSense.sg (DNS): Finance conferences are organised all the time. What was your inspiration behind organising this women-focused conference?

Anna: The New Savvy initially organised a fortnightly financial sharing session to share our experiences and answer each other’s financial concerns. But it was not scalable and I felt that there were subject matter experts who would be able to contribute more on these discussions.

Why women only? We did a survey with our female readers and 84% responded that they want a women-only environment.

DNS: Even among women, it’s a big group. Who do you specifically hope to reach out to?

Anna: Ideally, ALL women!

I think it’s crucial for women to be active in managing their finances. I believe that all women, regardless of occupation, income levels, lifestyle or life stages should learn to empower themselves financially.

Women are earning more money, saving more but not investing and managing their money. Most women are savers or leave it to their spouses to manage the money.

Women need to make sure that they take care of themselves and be protected against unfortunate circumstances. What happens in the event of death? Or divorce? Or disability?

Women are not necessarily competing for the most returns or to make the most money but to be equipped to make informed decisions. In terms of investing, we want to protect ourselves, insure ourselves against unfortunate incidents, protect and provide for our loved ones – parents, children and family. And to make sure we have enough funds for retirement, divorce or death.

Also, being on top of their finances will help women to have more control of their lives. It will also boost their self-esteem and confidence.

DNS: What will attendees be able to learn from this conference. What’s the take home that you hope to communicate through to them?

Anna: The idea is to start early, learn and get to comfortable with investing. Many people tend to overthink or procrastinate by saying that they will invest when they have a certain sum of money. That shouldn’t be the way. You should start as early, even if it’s a small sum. Do it consistently to enjoy the benefits of compounding and dollar cost averaging.

DNS: Obviously not every lady in Singapore will be able to join. For those who may not be able to attend, what’s the message that you hope to inspire them with?

Anna: Empower yourself financially through education and knowledge. Don’t be afraid, don’t invest blindly and never put your future or finances in someone else’s hands.

Here are some additional tips:

# 1 Know your objectives – what are your financial goals? Most people don’t even know what they want, it’s hard to work for something when you have no idea what it is. Most of us have career goals – we want to get promoted or achieve certain milestones in life. But we don’t focus on what and where we want to be financially.

# 2 Income, value and growth investing. This makes it easier to pick investments that suit your needs.

# 3 Don’t invest in anything you do not understand.

Here’s How You Can Win Tickets (Worth $375) To The Future Is Female Conference 8 April 2017

In collaboration with The New Savvy, DollarsAndSense is giving away one pair of tickets (worth $375) for The Future Is Female conference for you and your BFF (best female friend) to learn more about finance together (because we know nobody wants to learn about finance alone!).

To win these tickets, simply leave us a comment on our Facebook page and share with us on why you think financial education is important. If you have been reading DollarsAndSense frequently, this would be an easy question! And don’t forget to also tag your BFF that will be joining you in this event in the comments as well!

You can find out more about the conference on its website.

Top Image Credit: Singapore Computer Society

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