Katie Piper: Here are five things every woman should know about money

Whether you’re married, single, cohabiting or dating, talking about money and knowing where your finances are at is vital. This can be one of the most awkward topics for people to discuss. You don’t want to offend someone, look greedy or mistrusting, or to emasculate your partner. But knowledge is key to financial independence. If you don’t know the answers, you can’t plan for the future. And while I think women are more susceptible to this, the following list is for men too. Shorts So ask yourself, how many of these do you really know? How much you have Have an admin day where you collate everything and work out exactly what you have: current accounts, savings, ISAs, pensions. Knowing what you have can help you feel more in control and to work out if you’re on track for your goals. If you’re in a relationship, make sure you know whose name each account is in. If it’s a joint account, are both your names on it? Make sure they are. Whose name is on the gas and electricity bill? You need to know because it will affect you if a payment is missed. How much you owe From the mortgage to the credit cards, you need to know what debt you have and whose name it’s in. These are difficult but essential conversations before you move in with someone. You need to know your partner’s financial history – have they ever got into gambling debt, do they have joint debt from a previous relationship, have they ever got into a financial mess with credit cards? If they get defensive or shut down when these topics come up, it could be a red flag. Knowing who you’re in a relationship with is important. Make sure you understand at what point someone else’s debt can affect you and your credit rating. Usually this is only on joint financial accounts, for example if you have a mortgage or credit card that’s in both your names, but it’s important to check. How great your earning power is The world of work is so different today than when I first started. Back then, we were told you shouldn’t move jobs too often because it makes you look unreliable on your CV, and you would never ever talk about your salary. Thankfully those attitudes are starting to change and people are realising it’s okay to pivot, evolve and change. It’s okay to ask for more, to say “my expectations have changed” or “I’m not satisfied”, and if your employer can’t meet you on that, it’s also okay to move on. This can be hard for women, particularly when you’ve had a career break to have children, because we tend to fall into the trap of being grateful for work and getting paid for something you’re good at. But we still have a situation where men are very often paid more than women for doing the exact same job. The more we talk about it and understand our own value and earning power, the more things will change. How much it costs to run a home You might have “pink jobs” and “blue jobs” at home, and maybe that works for the bins, but the family finances should never fall to one person. If one person is the breadwinner or manages all of the household finances, it can be really easy to lose sight of how much things cost. Firstly, it’s important that one person isn’t carrying all the mental load of running the house, because that leads to burn-out. And it’s not just the bills, it’s things like passwords and documents, where they are all filed. But it’s also important to know what things cost so you understand how much needs to be brought in to pay for it all. Knowing what it takes to operate a house means you are prepared in case you ever need to live independently too. Which brings me to my final point on the list… How prepared you are When you go on holiday you buy travel insurance, not because you think something bad will happen, but to cover you in a worst-case scenario. Apply the same mentality to your finances. No one in a happy, loving relationship thinks they’re going to split up, but you should have a plan in case you do. That means having some savings that can be easily accessed and are completely yours. You should have an emergency pot of money that you can access independently, privately and immediately if you ever need to. It doesn’t need to be a secret and it’s not you saying you think your relationship is going to end. Just like having insurance doesn’t mean you think you’ll have a bad holiday, it’s about having a backup plan for if things do go wrong. So if you’re not sure about any of these, have a conversation, do your research or take some time to think. Because knowledge really is the key to our finances. It gives us confidence, independence and choices – not just in matters of money, but in your whole life.