The one big risk women are taking with their finances

When Elizabeth Bozek sits down with female clients in her role as Director of Estate Planning at BMO Private Wealth, she sees a familiar pattern. They are engaged, curious and clear-eyed about what is at stake. They listen. They ask questions. They want to understand the full picture.

So why doesn’t that always translate into action when it comes to long-term financial planning?

Women are often seen as careful stewards of their wealth. Research consistently shows they tend to be more risk-averse than men when investing, favouring stability and long-term security over aggressive growth. It’s a sound instinct and one you might expect to carry across every part of their financial lives.

But it doesn’t always play out that way. Only 36 percent of women business owners have a detailed transition plan in place, compared to 43 percent of men. And a recent BMO survey of women business owners found they were less likely than men to have detailed plans across virtually every financial category, leading with estate considerations – gaps that can expose assets, businesses and families to unnecessary risk.

Bozek suggests that, if there is a disconnect, it is not due to a lack of interest or capability, but a lack of bandwidth. 

Between managing household finances, caring for children and aging parents and, in many cases, running a business or managing the demands of a paid job, there is usually something more immediate demanding attention. Estate planning is easy to defer when it doesn’t feel urgent.

“If you’re carrying the mental load of the family and a business, something that’s as remote from your immediate purview as how your assets will be distributed upon your eventual death is not going to receive the same attention – until it has to,” she says.

How to close the planning gap

One way to close the planning gap is to reframe estate and transition planning not as a single, overwhelming task, but as a series of smaller, finite decisions that can be tackled over time. A healthy starting point is to separate preparation from execution.

The first phase can be done in short bursts and often without professional help at all. It typically involves gathering basic information: a list of accounts, major assets, key people in one’s life and broad intentions around who should be looked after.

Next, look for time to translate your thinking about your estate into formal decisions with your lawyer and advisor, says Bozek. Often this part of estate planning is far more manageable than most people expect.

Another strategy to ensure your estate planning doesn’t become overwhelming is to anchor planning conversations to real-life transitions rather than focusing on abstract scenarios that may happen in the future. Changes such as the sale or growth of a business, a divorce, the birth of a grandchild, or the onset of elder‑care responsibilities can create a natural opening to revisit documents and intentions.

The value of an estate plan

An estate plan is a living picture of your intentions for your money and assets – one that evolves alongside your life. It encompasses every significant financial decision made across a lifetime, from helping a child buy a home and funding the grandchildren’s education to making charitable donations, planning for business succession or determining who makes decisions on your behalf in the event you are no longer able.

Each of these decisions carries legal and tax implications and shapes what you ultimately leave behind for the people you care about most.

Bozek notes that it’s surprisingly common for clients to arrive with a Will drafted decades ago that no longer reflects their current reality. The kids are grown and have families of their own and the once-humble business is now worth millions. Yet that old out of date document is still considered legally binding: while a Will doesn’t necessarily “expire”, it might become stale and need a refresh.

“Even if a document no longer reflects your intentions, if it was validly executed, it’s still going to be followed,” she says.

Bozek recommends revisiting a Will whenever something significant changes in life, like a big change in income, marital status, or the birth of a new child or grandchild. As a general rule, she suggests reviewing it every three to five years just to make sure it still reflects where things stand in life.

It’s never too soon to start planning

A big hesitation Bozek often encounters in her client discussions is the belief that everything needs to be perfectly thought through before sitting down with a lawyer. Clients tell her they are not ready, that they haven’t figured it all out yet, that they want to wait until they have a clearer sense of what they want. She understands the impulse – but gently pushes back.

“Your plan doesn’t have to be perfect today,” she says. “Similarly, your plan doesn’t have to be complete before you go to a lawyer. There is no way to foresee all the future has in store, and your lawyer’s job is to help you work through the details.”

That mindset shift – from perfection to progress –can make the transition from intention to action feel far less daunting.

An approach she finds helpful is to ask clients to take a moment to visualize the end of their life story: the estate has been settled, money and property have been distributed, and the family has gathered. How does it look? What did you leave behind? Who is taken care of, and how?

That picture – however rough or incomplete – is a solid starting point. The estate planner’s job is then to ask the right questions, introduce the right options, and help map out how to get there.

It also helps, she says, to let go of the idea that legal concepts need to be mastered before the conversation can begin. Clients often know what they want to happen, even if they don’t yet have the language for it.

She recalls a client who was convinced they didn’t want a trust set up – only to describe, in their own words, that they want their wealth protected for their children until they are older and ready to benefit from it. That, she explains, is exactly what a trust is designed to do. The intention was clear all along.

The goal, ultimately, is to reframe the entire estate planning exercise. Yes, it involves confronting one’s mortality. But more than that, it is about thinking about one’s legacy – the careful, considered expression of everything you have built and everyone you want to protect. Done well, it is one of the most meaningful financial decisions a person can make.

“Are you leaving a mess or are you leaving behind instructions that can actually be followed – so that your family can focus on grieving and remembering you, rather than sorting out what you might have wanted?” says Bozek. “It’s never too soon to start planning for the legacy by which you will be remembered.”

 

 

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