SALT LAKE CITY — When Tera Prestwich, 43, was growing up in Utah County, she was raised by a single parent. Coming up in a “scrappy, street smart” environment helped her cope in some ways but left her deficient in many others, including how to handle money.
She attributed some of her challenges to “intergenerational dependency,” in which new generations of families follow in the same pattern previous generations had taken, particularly as it relates to education and poverty.
“I started working when I was 13 years old,” she recalled. “But I was never taught how to use my money wisely because my mom was very poor and she was working all the time.”
That lack of guidance and information led to many instances of bad decision-making when it came to finances, she said. The oldest of four siblings, she said none of them were given the tools to properly manage money.
“I didn’t have a lot of support in terms of money or parental guidance,” Prestwich said.
Today, she is a mother of three children and a grandmother. While she was able to have some success professionally over the years, she also has been homeless twice.
“I had a business fail (and) a marriage fail,” she said. “Everything kind of fell out from underneath me.”
Despite numerous setbacks, she has been able to develop the skills necessary to become more responsible and financially stable. Now she is passing them on to the next generation of her family in hopes of breaking the cycle of financial illiteracy and dependency.
“What I do now is support them so they can have a successful (life) journey,” she said. “So they can have the information and the tools that they need to have success and not a whole bunch of failures like I did.”
Basic accounting and finance skills are key to the success people have in their lives, said Susan Madsen, professor of leadership and ethics at the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University. She said women can use their experiences as a mom and managing a household and transfer those skills into the workplace or community service.
“It’s important, even if you don’t think you are going to work for money, to know some of these principles and be able to manage your money,” she said. “And it’s empowering. Women that do not understand these things and give up all control to their husbands … don’t understand what it takes to run a household in some ways.”
Madsen, who is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said this is an issue that faces many females in the LDS community.
“(Women) believe they will get married at a certain age to a man who will always be faithful and never die,” she said. “There are these assumptions that are made.”
She said the challenge is to convey the message that “life sucks sometimes, so (women) should be ready for it” when things don’t go as planned.
“What we found in the research is that we have to start having those conversations more,” Madsen said. She said more women are working today than in previous generations, though many work part time.
The Utah Department of Workforce Services reported that the annual labor force participation rate for women statewide has equaled or slightly exceeded the national average each year since 2010.
“The bottom line is that true self-reliance comes from having the (spouses or partners) educated, prepared to support the family in all ways,” she said. Doing so also sets up the next generation for a greater chance of success, she added.
“There are many women that have no idea what is going on with their finances. They might know their checking account, but they don’t know what’s going on with stocks and bonds or their 401(k),” Madsen said.
Not all investments are complex, and motivated individuals who want to understand can learn much of it if they try, she said.
Pam Denicke, personal finance counselor and workshop coordinator with AAA Fair Credit Foundation — a Salt Lake City-based nonprofit organization that provides financial counseling, education, debt management and asset-building services — said taking advantage of local resources, many of which are free, can be a critical step in developing solid money management skills.
“Everyone thinks that they can’t save because they don’t have any money to save,” she said. “Once people start tracking their money, they find that they really do have money to save.”
She said learning the principles that help set financial priorities will help women develop good habits and improve their financial literacy as well as their prospects for long-term fiscal security.
“Women need to be prepared to step up … for (their) families,” Denicke said.
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