Midlife MavericksI’m 49. I studied Economics and Finance for six years and spent over fifteen years in investment banking. They taught me stochastic calculus, supply and demand, indifference curves. But nobody ever taught me the most basic thing of all. Financial literacy.
I spent years working with people who earned millions and were always one month from financial collapse. Earn it, spend it. Because most of them were men, I wasn’t particularly bothered. When they were women, I swear it made me sick.
So I’ll say this plainly: most of us were never taught the basics of financial literacy. Just because the system wasn’t designed for us doesn’t mean we have to lose the game.
Fair warning: this piece is going to piss a lot of people off.
Good.
That was the whole point. To bother you enough that you actually do something about what’s written here.
Here are 10 money rules every woman should know.
1. The person you marry is one of the biggest financial decisions of your life
I don’t care whether you get married at a registry office or a church. Or whether you just live together. I also don’t care if the person you choose is a John or a Julia. I’ve always believed in “your choice, as long as you’re happy.”
But marriage or partnership is not a pension plan. It’s a multiplier. For better or worse.
A financially aligned partner:
- talks about money without drama
- takes responsibility, doesn’t pretend
- builds long-term goals with you
- respects your work, regardless of what you earn
A passive or irresponsible partner:
- spends like there’s no tomorrow
- takes offence when you bring up money
- hides debts, habits, decisions
- expects you to “sort it out” when things go wrong
A relationship isn’t only about love. It’s also about compound effect.
Over 10, 15, 20 years, an aligned partner multiplies what you build together. A toxic partner destroys your time, your energy, and your financial future.
2. You need to know all the numbers
Even if you live as a couple, earn less, and even if “he’s better with this sort of thing.”
Freedom requires money in your name, in your account, under your control. But before that, it requires something else: knowing exactly where you stand.
I know plenty of women who earn more than their partners and have no idea what their household finances look like.
“Oh, he’s better with that stuff.”
For the love of God.
You’re not “bad with numbers.” You just weren’t trained.
So here it is. You need to know:
- your net worth. What you own minus what you owe
- what you actually earn each month, after tax
- what you spend on average across 3 to 6 months
- all your debts, with amounts and interest rates
- whether you have any investments or pension. And how much they’re worth
The problem doesn’t disappear because you don’t look at it. If you don’t know where you are, you can’t make good decisions about where you’re going.
3. Your job is just one leg of the table. It’s not the whole table
A job is a source of income. Not your life plan.
Today you have a contract. Tomorrow there’s a restructure, a new manager, a merger, a closure, outsourcing.
Real security comes from three things:
- savings
- investments
- the ability to stay employable, not just “employed”
In the medium term, you can add to your salary:
- a side hustle
- freelance work
- parallel projects that could grow
None of this happens overnight, and you don’t need five income streams by tomorrow morning. But “working here forever,” in 2026, is not a strategy anymore.
4. A good salary won’t save you if you have no assets
A good salary is great, but it’s not enough.
Income is what comes in. Net worth is what’s left after you pay everything.
You can earn a lot and be two months from zero. It happens to more people than you’d think.
The internet is full of LinkedIn and Instagram “success stories” with lifestyles financed on credit.
The goal isn’t just to grow your salary but to accumulate assets. Things that hold value or generate income. Savings, investments, a business, sustainable property, your own human capital.
Earning well is the starting point. Having assets is the safety net.
5. The 65/20/15 rule
A comfortable life is good, but there’s a difference between comfort and a gilded cage.
How much does it cost, per month, to keep your current life running? What’s your burn rate?
If that number means:
- you can’t afford to lose this job
- you can’t leave this relationship
- you can’t say no to anything because “it won’t stretch”
then you’re not free.
One of the simplest rules out there is the 65/20/15:
- 65% of net income on essentials
- 20% on pleasure
- 15% on “future me.” Savings, investment, extra debt repayment
If you don’t have an emergency fund yet, you can temporarily cut the pleasure slice to strengthen the 15%. This doesn’t have to be forever. The goal isn’t to spend your life counting pennies until you’re 80. It’s to build enough structure that you can relax without fear.
6. An emergency fund is non-negotiable
We’ve all been there. Something out of nowhere that flips your life upside down. A car that breaks down. A job lost. A medical bill. A prolonged illness.
The point is to stop an unexpected event from becoming a financial catastrophe.
The classic rule, because it works, is to have roughly 3 to 6 months of essential expenses set aside. Nothing extra. Just rent, food, basic bills, transport, school fees, minimum debt payments.
That money should stay liquid, in a standard account or simple savings account. It’s not there to “earn.” It’s there to give you peace of mind.
And a credit card is not an emergency fund.
7. Not all debt is the same
Some debts are tools. Some are handcuffs.
Credit is everywhere now. Klarna, “buy now, pay later,” credit cards, instalments. All sold with the wrong question.
“How much can you afford per month?”
Nobody talks about how much you’ll pay in total.
Think about it this way. You could end up paying more in interest on a car than the car itself cost.
You always need to look at:
- the total interest rate
- the total amount you’ll end up repaying
If you have debts, do this:
- List all your debts
- Write the interest rate next to each one
- Order them from most expensive to least expensive
Anything above roughly 7-8% is urgent. Personal loans, credit cards, those “interest-free” purchases with a ridiculous APR.
Credit cards are fine if you pay 100% of the balance every month. If you only pay the minimum, you’re financing their profit with your sanity.
If you can, make overpayments, even if it’s just an extra £20 or £30 a month. That’s interest you don’t pay later, and life you won’t spend working for your debt.
8. Saving without investing isn’t enough
“A penny saved is a penny earned” — that’s what we were always told.
But that’s half the lesson, and nobody gave you the other half.
If you leave money sitting in an account earning almost nothing for years, inflation eats it slowly. Every year your money buys a little less.
The only way to stop that is to invest. And investing is not just for “the rich.” It’s for anyone who wants their money to work while they sleep.
Start small: £50 or £100 a month, automated, in simple diversified products, like index funds or ETFs.
If you keep waiting for “when I have more,” you’ll be waiting forever. The decisive factor isn’t how much you start with. It’s how many years you’ve been invested. Time is the biggest return driver.
Healthy sequence:
- build the emergency fund
- eliminate expensive debt
- start investing with a horizon of several years
9. The more you earn, the higher your savings rate should be
If your income goes up and your savings stay the same, your present self is winning. Your self twenty years from now is still broke.
Simple rule. Set a minimum savings and investment percentage. Say, 15%.
Then every time you get a raise:
- increase that percentage before increasing your lifestyle
- automate the transfers so you don’t have to rely on willpower
Don’t wait to see what’s left at the end of the month. Decide upfront.
More money should mean more security. Not just more holidays, more dinners out, and more things you won’t even remember in three months.
10. Managing money is a habit like any other
It seems complicated. But what works is simple and repetitive. Like brushing your teeth or keeping fit.
It doesn’t happen with one big decision. It happens through dozens of small choices. It doesn’t happen in a month. It takes years. And it doesn’t happen without consistency.
It’ll be a bit rough at first.
Habits that change everything:
- reviewing your numbers every month
- paying your credit card in full
- automating savings and investments
- protecting your emergency fund like it’s sacred
- saying no to some of the things you buy purely for quick validation
- doing an annual review of your financial life. Alone, with a friend, with an advisor, whatever works
You can’t control the markets, the economy, or other people’s decisions. But you can control what you do with the next pound that hits your account. And decide that your future freedom is worth the hassle of looking at numbers and making hard choices.
Oh, and that Chanel bag the woman next to you just bought? Go for it, get the bag. But only after you’ve cleared every debt with high interest attached, built your emergency fund properly, and invested, in the markets, at least the value of the bag.
After that, do whatever you want. The bag is no longer in charge of you. You are.
You can always choose to bury your head in the sand like an ostrich. But that doesn’t solve the problem.
At the end of the day, it’s simple. The less dependent you are, the more room to manoeuvre. The more room to manoeuvre, the more options you have. That’s what money is for.
Comment below. What’s the one money rule you wish someone had handed you at 25? I read every response.
This article was first published in Portuguese in my weekly column Oh pá, não me lixem! for Executiva.
