In this week’s guest post, Marina Shiferman dives into the subject of female empowerment as it pertains to financial independence.

Written by Marina Shiferman

As a woman, I feel so empowered to live the life that I want for myself. 

Female empowerment has come a long way since the beginning of the 1900s. Women have voices; women have positions of power; women command respect; women are seen and heard. Women are making decisions about how to live their lives, but there is still one aspect of life that many women shy away from – their financial life.

I am talking about money. I am talking about freedom of choice. I am talking about having financial and life goals and figuring out the right investments to get you there. 

I am talking about being the girlboss of your life, not just an employee.

The skills that a boss has are leadership, forward thinking, management, and courage.

Treat your life like a business and be the CEO.

• Step 1: Make a business plan for your life.

Take time and think about how you really want to live in 20 or 40 years. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• Do you want to travel? How much and where? How much will each vacation cost you? Think big.
• Do you want children? How many and how much money will you need to raise them the way that you dream of? Will you put them through college? Graduate school? Buy them a house?
• How many homes do you want to own? What type, where? How much money do you need to buy and maintain them?
• How many cars do you want? 
• Do you want to start any philanthropies, charities, or do volunteer work?
• Will you start or be a part of social communities?
• Do you have parents who are aging and might need help?
• What will you need in retirement?
• How much money do you want to save and invest?

These questions will bring you two types of answers: Life goals and financial goals.

You just stepped up and became the girlboss of your own life. Deciding what you want to do and have are the steps of a CEO, not an employee.

• Step 2. Make a plan.

How will you reach your goals? For me, the answer is investing.

There are countless ways to invest your money. I chose real estate.

Take the money you have worked for and let it work for you.

Have you heard of a wealthy person growing wealthy just by saving their salary and working 8 hours a day? 

Think of this quote by Aya Laraya: “When you invest, you are buying a day you don’t have to work.”

When I chose to invest in real estate, the first thing I did was buy myself something to live in.

It was important to me to stop paying rent to a stranger and start paying my own mortgage. Mortgage payments are returned to you fully when you sell and in some cases the interest on the mortgage is tax deductible.

After a few years of growing equity in the property and saving some more cash I refinanced my house, got some money out and invested that money into another property. I used that property as a rental to give me income every month. Who do you think pays the mortgage? The tenants do.

This is just my story of investing and being the boss of my life.

I encourage you to be the girlboss of yours.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any real estate or investing questions.

Marina Shiferman is a real estate agent in San Francisco. She focuses on empowering and educating women about investing in real estate and being the girlboss of their future. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, a member of the girlboss community, and a real estate investor. If you want to talk real estate just reach out to her! You can find her on her website and on her IG (@your_sf_realtor).