GMA: Expert Offers Financial Advice for Women

May 7 -- If you are an American woman, the sooner you learn about investing your money, the better off you will be.

U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that three out of four poor elderly Americans are women, and recent studies indicate that women who do invest are too timid and overly conservative, particularly about stocks.

Good Morning America contributor Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Capital Management, a Chicago investment firm, has some tips to keep women from becoming one of the statistics. First off, she explains, women tend to lag behind financially because of their roles as caretakers.

The Mommy Tax

"There's an enormous amount of time and money lost raising children," Hobson said. "For every year a woman is out of the work force and at home caring for a child, she must work five extra years to recover lost income."

The average woman spends 15 percent of her career out of the paid work force, caring for children and parents, according to the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement. For each child that a college-educated working woman raises at home, she loses the equivalent of $1 million, author and economics reporter Ann Crittenden wrote in a new book, The Price of Motherhood.

Experts call it the "mommy tax," a combination of lost wages, including presumed raises and promotions. But there's another reason women lag behind in financial savvy: the white knight syndrome, Hobson says.

After marriage, many women defer all investing decisions to their husband — to their detriment.

"They may buy the diapers and pay the household bills, but they steer clear of the family's investment decisions," Hobson said. "The average wife outlives her husband by seven years. And for a growing number of American women, that white knight never even comes along. More women will stay single or become single than ever before."

Safe vs. Savvy

For many women, learning to invest is often prompted by a crisis in the household, such as a divorce or a death. And women who do invest seem to be timid about it, often choosing safe rather than savvy forms of investment, Hobson said.