Women, don't let the 'confidence gap' stop you from fulfilling financial goals

In the 1970s, there was an Enjoli perfume commercial showing a woman, clutching money, who proclaimed she could bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. The jingle empowered me. Whenever it aired, I would prance around singing it. That's right, even though I'm a woman, I can earn, spend, save, and invest like any man.

But decades later, even though women have moved ahead financially, a number of studies and polls indicate we still have more to achieve and sometimes we impede our progress by our own doubts.

In a poll by the National Women's Law Center, women respondents were more likely than the men to feel that they are falling behind economically.

For many women, the concerns are not unfounded. More than 14 million women live in poverty. More than 17 million have no health insurance. On average, women still earn only 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. If female workers earned the same as men who work the same number of hours, have the same education, age, and union status and live in the same region, their annual family incomes would rise by about $4,000 and their poverty rates would be cut by half or more, according to the law center.

Prudential Financial found in a study this year that women tend to have clear financial priorities but little confidence in their ability to achieve those goals. Prudential called it a confidence gap.

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America's latest Women, Money, and Power Study found more than half of all women want to learn more about retirement planning and entry-level saving and investing. Like other studies, Allianz found that despite their desire to learn more, many women postpone long-term financial planning because they're overwhelmed by short-term priorities, such as caring for children or aging parents.

All three of the studies offer recommendations to help women become better off financially. Prudential and Allianz want women to hire financial professionals to help them manage their money.

Yes, a financial adviser can help you develop a plan. But really, ladies, more of us need to stop fearing all things financial or doubting we can manage this stuff. To take control, start this way: