With many women issuing the final word on financial decisions,marketing to this group seems to be taking off at creditunions.

From microsites tailored to women between the ages of 28-55 andcreating entire programs just for mothers to developing programsaimed at helping divorced and single women, credit unions continueto try to connect with this group that, according to consultingfirm A.T. Kearney, determines 80% of consumption, purchases 60% ofall cars and owns 40 % of all stocks.

Despite this, a “Financial Fitness Report: Gender Gap inFinancial Literacy,” found that women were significantly behind invirtually all areas of financial knowledge and faced morechallenges in meeting their retirement and other long-term goals.In addition, only 25% of women felt confident about how theirinvestments were allocated compared to 42% of men and 63% of womenfelt as though they have a handle on their cash flow each monthcompared to 80% of men.

“When it comes to financial security, women have so many moreobstacles than men in dealing with finances. They earn less, butthey have to save significantly more since they live on averagefive years longer than men and have higher health care costs inretirement. This puts a lot of pressure on their ability to becomefinancially secure to begin with and also lowers their confidencein whatever knowledge they do have. It also creates a sense of'learned helplessness'–the attitude that 'I'm so far behind thatI'll never be able to achieve financial security, so what's thepoint of trying,'” said Liz Davison, CEO of Financial Finesse. “Westill live in a society where women are usually the primarycaregivers–even if they work full time. As a result, women becomeaccustomed to putting others' needs before their own and their ownfinancial security takes a back seat to making sure their familieshave what they need today, and that their children are set forcollege.”

She added that when it comes to proactive financial management(investing and financial planning) most resources are not designedto appeal to women.

“The financial media tends to focus on short-term market andeconomic news, as opposed to providing the ongoing financialeducation and support women need to make the right decisions forthemselves and their families. For the most part, they don't hit onwomen's priorities so women tune them out, which only added to theproblem,” said Davidson.

She advised that financial education programs should makefinances “about people and their families, not just about themarket.”

“When we do this, we will engage women at a much deeper, moremeaningful level; that's where you'll see the biggest changes,”said Davidson. “It's already happening. You are seeing financialinstitutions increasingly shift from a transactional mentality to amore broad-based financial planning mentality. There has also beena growth in the number of fee-based financial planners who approachfinances holistically. Companies are starting to move away fromtraditional benefits communication where employees are bombardedwith technical information on benefits and toward holistic benefitsplanning which starts with an employees' financial goals first,then looks at how the employee can best manage their benefits toachieve these goals. These are all huge steps forward. Now, it's amatter of continuing the progress on all fronts so we don't losethis momentum. The biggest risk we face is complacency.”

Lourdes Cortez, president/CEO for North Jersey Federal CreditUnion, earlier this month teamed up with Debra Taylor, principal ofTaylor Financial Group LLC, a full-service wealth management firm,to kick-off a financial empowerment workshop series fordisadvantaged women at the Oasis. Oasis helps women by providingthe educational resources and skills needed to obtain meaningfulemployment and to break the cycle of poverty.

Cortez and Taylor have committed to teaching monthly workshopsfocused on financial planning and management to the Oasis women'sgroup through the end of 2011.

“Women are moving up in the workplace and need to become moreconfident, informed investors. More importantly, women have moreeconomic clout. However, most of us don't realize the power we holdin making decisions about money,” said Taylor.

Topics covered ranged from how credit unions are similar anddifferent than banks and the basic uses for financial institutions,to building wealth and taking the first steps to planning for yourfinancial future. Goal setting was a big theme, as both presentersrecognized that setting realistic goals will help the women planfor themselves and their families.

Other areas covered include adjusting goals when facingchallenges, defining cash flow and net worth, tracking your money,creating a household budget, debt management, creating a monthlybill organizer, checking credit reports, and using credit cardswisely.

“This workshop takes a step beyond the typical financialempowerment message. This will combine the knowledge of wealthbuilding basics with using a financial institution as your startingpoint to save,” said Cortez.

Davidson said the gender gap also has huge implications foremployers that could affect the bottom line.

“If women don't accelerate the rate at which they are saving,and as a result don't get to where they need to be when they're atretirement age, they'll end up needing to delay retirement andremain in the workforce,” said Davidson. “Studies show the cost forone employee who delays retirement is anywhere from $10,000 to$50,000 a year. When you have a lot of women in your workforce,there's a much higher chance of this happening. Employers also facethe risk of having female employees who are not satisfied withtheir benefits or their jobs. This leads to low morale and lowerproductivity due to financial stress which, in turn, means higherhealth care costs. There are a host of risks employers face iftheir employees don't get on track with their savings and financesin general.”