Series 5, Episode 5 - "The Motherhood Penalty". Sophy Norris in conversation with Maike Currie, VP of Personal Finance at PensionBee, Author and Award-Winning Financial Commentator

In this episode we are talking money, or at least how we, as women, need to become more financially literate and future-focused. We are, as we all know, living longer, sometimes much longer, lives. I suspect many of us are preparing for financial security until we are 85, but the truth is, many of us will live well past that. What happens then? These are the sort of questions the smarter amongst us are preparing for now. Which is why our host Sophy Norris is speaking to an expert on personal finance, and pensions in particular, and someone who happens to be pretty dangerous! Maike Currie is an author, award-winning financial commentator, and advocate for improving women’s financial resilience. With more than two decades of experience in markets, money, investments, and pensions, she has held senior roles across the investment industry. She is a familiar voice in the media, regularly appearing on TV, radio and in national newspapers to explain what’s happening in the economy - and what it means for your money.  In particular, Maike specialises in helping women take control of their financial futures, with a particular focus on pensions, investing and closing the gender wealth gap. She is also a working mother with two children, an expat living far from home and like so many of us, juggles work and life!  Sophy and Maike discuss all of this and more in an educational episode.   Just some of the areas they cover include:  The importance of women taking control of their own finances; it empowers us and enables us to make our own choices  Women can create wealth; we just need to get comfortable talking about it , especially as we live longer! Investment has been, and still is, male-dominated - there is no female Warren Buffett  The Gender Pay Gap remains at 18%, while the Gender Pension Gap is 37%. On average, women have £100,000 less in their pension pots than men.  And this is thanks to the career breaks women find they have to take How genders think about wealth differs: women think about what they have to share, whereas men think about how it defines them  The insidious nature of the "pink tax"  Women are far more likely to inherit 2x, once from parents and once from partners, so it is to our advantage to take control, even when it means moving outside our comfort zone, or into what can feel awkward  The power of global citizenship, and the broader perspective it gives us  Financial education and literacy should start as early as 7, once a child knows they can spend, and must be baked into school  Links: Maike Currie LinkedIn PensionBee UK Sophy Norris LinkedIn The Alligator Pi Agency LinkedIn Romi Savova LinkedIn The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel Untamed by Glennon Doyle