Westport-based investment advisory firm Catamount Wealth Management is partnering with the Westport Library for an event billed as “Women and Finance” at 6:30 8 p.m. April 30 at the library downtown. The event is free.
Mahnaz Mahdavi, distinguished Smith College professor of economics and the Ann F. Kaplan ’67 director of the Smith College Center for Women and Financial Independence, will speak on the need for improvement in women”™s financial knowledge.
The event celebrates April as Financial Literacy Month.
Mahdavi will share the findings of a study she conducted on the state of financial literacy of educated women. Her data reveal a gap exists between women”™s financial knowledge when compared with men in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Women tend to live longer than men but are less likely to have investment plans, Mahdavi said. Women are also more likely to move into and out of the workforce to raise families, presenting more of a challenge for them to develop steady savings habits.
The evening”™s conversation will highlight the importance of understanding one”™s own financial picture and needs for retirement or other financial circumstances. “Women seem to be moving more slowly than men who are investing,” said Mahdavi. “It’s not that they can’t do it, but there’s a psychology in society that seems to get in their way.”
Catamount Wealth Management “provides high net worth individuals, small business and institutions with investment solutions that create, build and preserve wealth.” Its stated goal “is to educate and empower our clients, prospective clients and community members so they better understand their financial circumstances in order to make better investment decisions.”
