Do you know how to prepare properly for your retirement? During our latest Powerful Morning, we heard from our Head of Financial Operations, Maryna, who told us more about her professional background and had strong words when it comes to women in the world of finance. We also learned how to make smart investments from Dana, Head of Female Finance at the company Finanztip, and got some valuable tips on retirement planning. In this post, we will describe some of our key takeaways for you.
Another “Powerful Morning” was held at Kaufland e-commerce in mid-September. We regularly organise these 90-minute online sessions, which give people the chance to talk about inspiring and motivating topics. This time, the event focussed on finances – in particular, for women: “Empowered Finances – a female perspective.” Our great speakers were Maryna, Head of Finance Operations at Kaufland e-commerce, and Dana, Head of Female Finance at Finanztip. With over 80 participants, most of them women, interest in our Powerful Morning was higher than ever – showing us how important the issue of finances for women is, and that having the right framework within which to talk about it is essential.
Eva handled the intro to the event, and spoke about her personal journey to investing.
Maryna’s path to the finance world, and possible challenges
Maryna’s contribution to our Powerful Morning session was made during a loose interview format between herself and moderator Joyce. Maryna, who is currently Head of Finance Operations, started with us as an intern in Payment & Accounting (back when the company was called Hitmeister). Later, she moved to Controlling where she learned to “think beyond the numbers”, even in the financial area. This experience helped her to decide to expand her career in the finance sector – a decision that immediately bore fruit: After completing her degree, she took over the position of Head of Invoice Control here at Kaufland e-commerce, allowing her to gain important initial management experience. She has been our Head of Finance Operations since February of this year.
Despite her great résumé, Maryna’s career was not spared from the challenges that women face in the finance world. She told us that she often doubted whether the finance sector was right for her, especially since women in these positions still do not receive enough recognition. For her, the corporate culture at Kaufland e-commerce was a decisive advantage: Instead of being exclusionary, we highly value diversity and inclusion – so instead of doubting her qualifications, Maryna enjoyed a high level of trust from her supervisors and team colleagues, helping her to improve her confidence. However, that confidence itself became another challenge. She frequently wondered how to make sure she was being perceived as a woman who was strong without being labelled as “difficult”. Women in particular often encounter this challenge in the professional world. Maryna emphasised the culture of open communication at our company, which helps prevent these sorts of false perceptions.
What Maryna learned, and advice for her younger self
During her time in the financial sector, Maryna has learned a lot about adaptability. She emphasises how fast-moving the sector is, and how important flexibility, analytic thinking skills and management competence are. She found the topic of mentoring particularly valuable: “Mentoring showed me how important it is to support others and to learn from them”.
Working in finance has been instrumental in my personal and professional development regarding flexibility and adaptability. I have learned to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth and improved my analytical and decision-making skills.
And what has she done thus far to protect her own private assets? For Maryna, the deciding moment was when she discovered investing. She had only been familiar with saving in the past, but when she learned more about ETFs and mutual funds, she understood: Long-term investing is indispensable.
What is Maryna’s advice for her younger self? Start investing as early as possible, and make bold financial decisions. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – instead, see them simply as lessons. Let your money work for you!
If I could give advice to my younger self, it would be to start investing early and to be more confident in making financial decisions. When I was younger, I was careful and preferred the safety of savings accounts, thinking that investing was something complicated and risky, reserved for later in life. But the truth is, the earlier you start, the more you can benefit from it. I would also tell myself not to be afraid of making mistakes. Financial literacy is a journey, and it’s okay to learn as you go.
Lastly, I would remind my younger self that financial independence is not just about saving money; it’s about making your money work for you. Set clear financial goals, invest regularly, and maintain a balanced portfolio.
In conclusion, Maryna emphasised: “We are on a good path in terms of women and finance, but there is still plenty of room for improvement”.
Dana is Head of Female Finance at Finanztip, part of the charitable Finanztip Foundation and financial advisor. During the second part of our Powerful Morning, she showed us why it is so important for women to invest.
Germany still faces a 27 percent gender pay gap. The risk of falling below the poverty line during retirement, therefore, is significantly higher for women. To prevent this, it is essential to compensate for this gap – with the goal of receiving retirement income equal to at least 80 percent of your last net income.
Dana began her presentation by introducing us to the 4-pot principle.
Everyone should have these 4 accounts or resources:
- A checking account for everyday expenses and ongoing costs like rent, electricity, etc.
- A money market account for short-term savings goals, like your next trip, and for emergencies.
- A credit card to make payments abroad and on trips.
- ETFs as a secure retirement investment.
It is important to clearly differentiate between accounts for holding assets (checking account and money market account) and accounts for building assets (ETFs).
Dana’s tip for dividing your salary:
Setting up this kind of savings plan can be particularly difficult for women with children or women who only work part-time. Because of this, Dana emphasised the advantages of an ETF savings plan, which is a good choice even for people with low incomes.
- Outstanding flexibility: The ETF savings plan is a savings plan that adapts to your living situation. You can suspend it as long as you want (for instance when you are on parental leave), or make one-time payments if you have an inheritance, for example.
- Lower costs: You only need a securities account at your bank, and your savings plan will barely add any further costs.
- Low risk: You do not invest in individual shares or companies, but rather in a high number of companies – reducing the riskiness of your investment.
But what are ETFs?
One thing was particularly important to Dana: When you are saving money, remember you are making an investment in yourself. Your money isn’t “gone”, it’s growing over the long-term, until the day you retire or when you want to have the funds paid out to you. You should also always remember that long-term thinking is essential for an ETF savings plan in particular. It will only pay off if you do not touch the money for at least 15 years.
Start thinking: Pay yourself first.
Towards the end of the talk, we were able to take an active role and calculate our own pension gap – to find out how, read the Finanztip page or listen to the podcast “Auf Geldreise” (On a financial journey).
A safe space for finance-related questions
During Dana’s presentation, one thing quickly became clear to everyone present: This session truly is a safe space where everyone can feel free to ask questions. Participants certainly took advantage of the opportunity. From “Should I invest in ETFs for my children?” to “What should I think about when having my ETFs paid out in retirement?” all of the participants’ burning questions were answered.
We would like to thank Maryna and Dana for their important and thought-provoking words. This Powerful Morning was a complete success, and showed how important it is to talk about finance – by women, for women!