What the 1% Knows That Women Were Never Taught
Understanding the system that shapes women's financial lives and how to change your future starting now.
At a recent party in Hoboken, I slipped out to the roof deck to catch a quiet moment. Manhattan’s skyline shimmered across the Hudson, and my nephew joined me. Curious as ever. “What have you been working on lately?”
I told him that I’d been focusing on financial literacy and that an investment firm had invited me to speak on their podcast.
Then I leaned in and said, “It’s about what the one percent knows that women were never taught.”
The lights danced on the river and, in that moment, I realized something important: It’s time women learned the rules of a game they were never invited to play.
The K-Shaped Economy
The U.S. economy today looks like the letter K. One arm goes up. The other goes down.
On the upward arm sit the wealthiest Americans. Their stock portfolios grow while their real estate appreciates. Their assets generate more wealth, creating a self-reinforcing cycle.
On the downward arm sit everyone else. Working and middle-class households. People without large investment portfolios or million-dollar homes. People who are working harder than ever yet falling further behind.
This isn’t a temporary inconvenience. It is a restructuring of economic power.
The top 1% of Americans, mostly white men, own more wealth than the bottom 90% combined.
My nephew raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you have a problem with men”.
I shook my head. “No, I have a problem with the system.”
The Growing Wealth Divide
Talking about gender and wealth often makes people defensive. Naming the imbalance can feel like assigning blame.
But this isn’t about men versus women. It’s about asset owners versus wage earners.
And the truth is that women, in particular, have been systematically kept out of asset ownership for generations.
Meanwhile
Over 1 million jobs were cut this year, the worst since October 2023.
Homelessness among adults over 50 is skyrocketing, expected to triple by 2030.
This isn’t about whether you earn a good income.
It’s about whether you own anything that can grow without you.
Women and the Retirement Crisis
Because women, for decades, weren’t taught to build assets, they enter retirement uniquely vulnerable.
Women over 65 are 80% more likely than men to live in poverty
They retire with about two-thirds of the savings of men, yet live on average five years longer.
Gen X women have 34% less in retirement accounts than their male peers.
Single women over 50 are the fastest-growing group entering homelessness.
About 25% of divorced, separated, or widowed women have less than one months of savings.
Seventy percent of married women outlive their husbands. The median age of widowhood is 59.
Divorce worsens the gap. Women’s household income falls 50 percent after a split, and retirement assets are often overlooked or undervalued in settlements.
This is not a lack of discipline
This is a legacy of exclusion
1974 and the Generational Wealth Gap
Here’s something my nephew probably didn’t know:
Until 1974, women couldn’t get a credit cards, mortgage, or business loan without a male co-signer.
1974. Not ancient history. Within many women’s working lives.
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) finally banned discrimination, but the damage was already done.
Women were taught to:
Budget
Save
Stretch
“Make it work”
But they were not taught to build.
The generational gap is alive today.
What the One Percent Knows
The one percent understand a fundamental truth:
Assets work for you, so you don’t have to work forever
They buy real estate that pays them.
They invest in businesses that produce cash flow.
They own dividend-paying stocks.
They multiply their wealth in their sleep
Meanwhile, most women were taught a completely different script:
Get good grades.
Get a stable job.
Contribute to a retirement account you barely understand.
Pay down debt.
Avoid risk.
Be responsible.
Be grateful.
Be careful.
That isn’t wealth building. It’s economic survival.
And survival is not sovereignty.
The Shift: From Paycheck to Portfolio
When I talk about women and wealth, I’m not blaming men.
I’m naming the truth:
Women face specific, measurable, documented financial disadvantages.
But there’s teh good news. Women can change the trajectory.
Here’s how
1. Learn the language of money
Assets put money in your pocket. Liabilities take it out.
Start with the classics:
Borrow them from your local library.
2. Educate yourself consistently
Learn about index funds, dividend stocks, dividends, and multiple income streams.
Follow credible influencers.
Use Investopedia as your financial dictionary.
3. Track your money
You can’t transform what you cannot see.
Tools like Origin Financial help organize and illuminate your finances.
4. Know Your Accounts
Have direct access.
Know your passwords
Understand where your money is and how it’s invested.
5. Think in assets, not income
A raise is an opportunity to buy assets, not a better lifestyle.
6. Build an emergency fund
Three to six months of expenses in your own account creates safety.
7. Start small, but start
Buy one share of an index fund
Start a tiny side business
Invest $50 a month.
Momentum matters more than perfection.
8. Plan for retirement early.
Use tools like Boldin.
Consult a Certified Financial Planner (CFP).
Consider your future self as someone already real.
9. Teach the next generation:
Show your daughters, nieces, and mentees how money actually works.
10. Build community:
Talk about money.
Share resources.
Normalize investing conversations
Women rise faster when we rise together.
The Real Conversation
My nephew sees the world from his vantage point: young, hardworking, doing everything right, yet struggling to afford a home or start a family.
He isn’t imagining it. This is what happens in a K-shaped economy. His generation is carrying the weight that older generations didn’t have to.
Talking about women’s financial vulnerability isn’t blaming men. It’s naming the system.
Because the system depends on financial illiteracy to keep people — especially women — in survival mode.
The solution isn’t to argue over who has it worse. The solution is to break the cycle.
To learn what the one percent knows.
To stop working endlessly for money.
To start making money work for us.
The data is clear. The history is documented. The path forward is available.
Let’s change it. One asset at a time. One financially empowered woman at a time. One generation at a time.
The system didn’t teach you this. Now you know.
What you do with that knowledge is yours to claim.
Disclaimer: These ideas are meant to inspire awareness and empowerment, not financial advice. Trust your own wisdom and seek professional guidance when needed.
If this resonated, share it with a woman who deserves financial freedom. Let’s talk in the comments. When women talk about money, we all rise.