Experts clear money blocks for women in financial masterclass

More than 140 women gathered at Macquarie Bank in Martin Place to hear from money mindset coach, financial expert and keynote speaker, Julia Scott.

Love Luck Wealth financial mentor Julia Scott is a chartered accountant, tax advisor and wealth management specialist. She’s also certified in money mindset and feng shui.

Her passion for financial empowerment led her to address the gap in the market for female sensitive financial education and advice, “I want to bring the magic and excitement of money to women.”

“When my marriage ended after 10 years I realised that, despite being an expert, I would have to start making financial decisions on my own,” Julia said.

“My husband had been making all the financial decisions in our relationship; my career was dormant, I had two kids and I was stressed. Your IQ halves when you’re stressed. I had an overwhelming fear of making the wrong decision.”

Julia believes women and men approach money very differently.

“Women view money with an emotional lens, which stems from intergenerational financial trauma experienced by our mothers, grandmothers and the women before them ,” Julia said.

“Money is a relatively new experience for women - it wasn’t too long ago that a woman couldn’t get a credit card or a home loan without a co-sign from a man. We weren’t trusted to manage money, and this meant we didn’t trust ourselves to manage money.”

Julia said that, for women, money is about safety and for men it’s about power.

“I wanted to teach women how to feel safe about money and trust in their decisions. Once you feel safe you can start being excited.”

“Always pay yourself first, even before debt. If you pay yourself first, you build your confidence and self esteem, and you’re creating a safety net. Once your safety net is built, you can start to think about investing,” Julia said.

“Move past bad money decisions you’ve made in the past and forgive yourself. There’s an unlimited supply of money available to you now but you need to believe that it is coming to you.

“Write down your financial goals. Ask yourself what you want financially and be serious about it.

“You’re 42 per cent more likely to achieve your financial goals if you write them down and revisit them regularly.”

Julia is also a feng shui expert and says it feeds into your mindset towards money, career and life in general.

“Your surroundings influence your thoughts, therefore your actions and therefore reality.

“When you surround yourself with the right people and the right things, and you start paying attention to what’s going on around you, you have the power to take control of your reality,” she said.

The panel, featuring host Kate White from Loan Market, Jackie Clark, National Education Manager at Colonial First State and Rebecca Hudson, a mortgage broker with Loan Market, joined Julia on stage to continue to answer questions and simplify complicated financial issues many of us confront every day.

Jackie said women approach, and indeed need to approach, super differently to their male counterparts.

“Statistically, women will take career breaks related to parenting, study, and travel at higher rates than men.

“We’re not always going to be in the workforce, and a man isn’t your retirement plan. When you’re taking time out for whatever reason, you need to be taking charge of your super,” Jackie said.

“Take advantage of the lower super tax rate and government co-contributions. You can make a positive impact with your take home salary today.”

In terms of home loans, Rebecca sees that the women coming to her for advice who want to borrow in their own right are always more cautious about making the decision.

“There are many opportunities to get a loan or buy a property. There’s avenues and the door’s never closed - you just need to seek out some advice. And brokers are always free and are there to work in your best interest,” Rebecca said.