Hello ladies and gents,

The Female Gap! The reason I started this in the first place.

We are sad to report that when you google “The Female Gap” this is what pops up:

So let's finish that last sentence^* .

In the 21st century,…it is sad that “Thigh gap” is the first result on Google when you type in “The Female Gap”.

But not to worry, I won't be offering you additional advice on how to get that in-between-thigh-gap wider or smaller. Whatever works.

I am writing this for a different reason.

I was never formally educated about money and finance. I started earning my own money when I was 16 and since then I have been (sometimes better, sometimes worse) managing my own money. And like many other women, I had to figure it out by myself. And I am still figuring it out. But I have learnt a thing or two so far.

This past year I was working in a fintech startup and while doing some research I noticed a couple of things:

• There is a lot of information available that is written in a very complicated and boring manner

• A lot of girls and women do not know the basics of how money, finance and economy in general works

• Because I started reading a bunch of interesting newsletters, I found out they are a great way to learn things and spread useful information

And that is how the idea for TFG was born!

TFG mission is the following:

I'll try to tackle as many gaps as possible - the financial literacy gap, education gap, wage/pay gap, and then we'll move on to the investment gap, entrepreneurship gap, retirement savings gap, and so on. There's a whole lot to cover, but I'm up for the challenge and I hope you are too!

^*That sentence actually continues like this - In the 21st century, some people in the West have begun to consider the thigh gap a special feature of physical attractiveness and physical fitness in women.

LET’S COVER THE BASICS

Lesson 1

Let me explain in a very short phrase what is the first lesson of our financial journey that lies ahead of us - Money is power!

Fun fact - when I wrote “money” into the Giphy search, this was the first one that popped up. Which I quite like. If someone knows that money is power is definitely Kim K. 

No, but really.

Were you ever in a situation where an unexpected car damage happened? Or you simply didn't want to think twice when buying that overpriced matcha latte? 🍵

Well, all those problems could be solved by either earning more money, budgeting (yes - that 🍵 latte can be a part of your monthly budget), saving, investing and in general having a good grasp over your money situation.

But understanding money is not only about buying stuff that you want. It is so much more!

• It's the option to take that day off work when you really need it.

• Invest in your mental health and go to therapy.

• To not stress when you need to pay that increasing electricity bill each month.

• Go and work remotely during winter months (January trip to Mallorca🌴 sounds great).

• Help your parents out when they retire. Because good daughters do that😇

Like we said before - Money is power.

So this is first lesson completed. Yay!

Wasn't that hard was it?

In next editions I’ll dive into topics such as how does the economy work, how to make a monthly budget and stick to it, can buying a Banksy make you rich🖼️, we’ll talk about inflation, recession and all the other things that you should definitely know about.

GLOSSARY

• recession - a recession is a significant, widespread, and prolonged downturn in economic activity. Think of a recession as the "low battery" warning on your economic device – everything starts running out of juice.

• inflation - is a rise in prices, which can be translated as the decline of purchasing power over time. It essentially means that your already overpriced matcha latte will be even more expensive. This is a veeeeery simplified explanation of inflation. I’ll dive more into inflation in on of the upcoming newsletters.

You can find recession and inflation also explained on TFG Instagram - check the highlights section.

CLOSING THE GAP

Not to pick favorites but, this might be my favorite section of the newsletter.

Each week, I'll shine a spotlight on a badass lady who's making moves to close the gap in various industries - finance, fashion, art, food, or racing. 

And the women of this week is - drumroooll

Susie Wolff

If there are any Formula 1 fans among our readers, you already know who she is. For those of you who haven't seen Netflix’s “Drive to survive” series (and have not yet fallen in love with Daniel Ricciardo 💖), here is a little something about Susie.

As mentioned on her website, she's a total boss as the Managing Director of F1 Academy. But before she became a CEO, she had an impressive career in motorsports that lasted for over twenty years. Susie made history at the 2014 British Grand Prix by being the first woman to participate in a Formula 1 race weekend in 22 years!

Since then, she's been the team principal (in racing terms this means CEO) of not one, but two racing teams. And now, she's calling the shots at F1 Academy, which is all about empowering young female drivers and helping them level up in the competition.

Not too shabby Susie, we must say 😏

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Psychology of Money

by Morgan Housel

The premise of this book is that doing well with money has little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave.

In the first chapter it talks about how your personal experiences and opinions about money highly depend on factors such as when and where you were born, which create your own unique view of how the world, including money, works. Hence we go through life making very different decisions about money. What seems crazy to you, might make sense to me.

He points out, which I agree with, that human beings are fairly new to the modern financial system (debt, retirement, credit cards etc.). Retirement funds, hedge funds, credit cards are only between 20-50 years old, so it should come as no surprise that we often don’t know what we are supposed to do with money, especially since money is a topic that is highly influenced by emotions, which is something he repeats several times throughout the book.

My favorite story in the book is about two guys at a party and one is bragging about how much money the host of the party made in a single day. The other one simply responded “Yes, but I have something he will never have…enough.”

This chapter continues listing a couple of very useful things to remember:

1. The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving.
   In life we all strive for happiness. But life isn’t happy without having the sense of enough.
   

2. Social comparison is a problem.
   The ceiling of social comparison is so high that virtually no one will ever hit it. So it’s better not to do compare yourself with others. But it’s hard. 
   

3. “Enough” is not too little.
   “Enough” is realizing that the opposite - an insatiable appetite for more - will push you to the point of regret.
   

4. There are many things never worth risking, no matter the potential gain.
   Reputation is invaluable. Freedom and independence are invaluable. So are family, friends and happiness.
   

The rest of the book is to be continued in the upcoming editions of the newsletter so stay tuned. Or just buy the book.

SOME NEWS

• Taylor Swift - can she be a better billionaire than Bill Gates and others?

• Planning your next vacation? ✈️ These might be some fun neighborhoods to go and see.

• Jacquemus really knows how to do marketing. Care for a new bag? In the size of a house maybe?