You Have to Live Safely Before You Can Live Well
The Wealth Designers has recently been delivering a series of START WELL® financial literacy workshops to the Afghan Women’s Cricket Team — who were forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban regained power in 2021, and are now rebuilding their lives in Australia while continuing to fight for recognition on the international stage.
It’s been a privilege being welcomed into their world. And it’s reinforced something we believe deeply: before any of us can truly live well, we first have to feel safe.
Safety first
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that human beings can’t focus on growth, connection, or fulfilment until their basic needs — shelter, security, belonging — are met first. The same is true of financial wellbeing.
Most financial advice starts with aspiration. Where do you want to be in ten years? What does your ideal retirement look like? These are important questions — but they assume a foundation that not everyone is standing on.
For many women, the more pressing questions sound different.
What happens to me financially if this relationship ends? Do I have money that’s mine alone? Will I be able to afford to live?
Before these concerns are addressed, it’s difficult to think about much else.
The financial reality for women
Here at The Wealth Designers, our team is proudly 60% women, and we’re passionate about helping women create financial independence, opportunity, and long-term security.
We know that women are particularly vulnerable to issues around safety that can affect their financial wellbeing. The gender pay gap means women accumulate less superannuation over their working lives. Career interruptions for caregiving compound that further.
And in some relationships, financial control is used as a form of power — leaving women without access to their own money or their own financial identity.
What financial safety looks like
Living safely, financially, isn’t about a specific number in the bank. It’s about having a foundation that holds — whatever life brings.
That might mean an emergency fund in your own name, knowing what you own and what you owe, having your own insurance and estate plan, or simply knowing that if your circumstances changed tomorrow, you’d have options.
From safe to living well
The Afghan Women’s Cricket Team are boosting their financial education and working towards the future they want.
If you’re feeling lost or unsure, we’d love to talk – not about where you want to end up, but about where you are right now.
That’s always the right place to start.
Want to build your financial confidence and literacy? Download our START WELL App and listen to our START WELL Podcast.
Plus discover more about how we empower women here.