Magazine

Why Does It Feel Like Menopause Doesn’t Exist?

By Sallie Krawcheck

The world has done an excellent job pretending that menopause doesn’t exist. 

For example, did you know that most OB/GYN residents only learn about menopause care for one to two hours during their four years of training? (That’s not a typo.)

For a biological life stage undergone by more than half of the population … 

Who can experience symptoms — sometimes debilitating — lasting seven to 10 years.

There’s no standardized training for menopause care either, which leads to wide knowledge gaps among professionals. In one 2017 survey, only 12 of 177 OB/GYN residents surveyed reported feeling adequately prepared to manage women experiencing menopause. 

Shocking, right? 

Well, not really: This is widely known among business leaders. A 2022 survey of OB/GYN residency program directors revealed that their own satisfaction with current OB/GYN menopause training programs averaged 3.75 on a scale of 10 (10 indicating most satisfied). And their perceived effectiveness in preparing OB/GYN trainees to manage menopause beyond residency was a 3.83. 

Based on my own personal experience, that low average feels about right.

I’m in my 50s and have had the same OB/GYN since my mid-20s — a gentleman who looks straight out of OB/GYN central casting. He was there for me when my first marriage fell apart. He helped me through an early miscarriage. He delivered both my kids. 

But we’ve never, literally never, said the “M-word” to each other. 

He never brought it up, and I honestly never thought to ask about it. He changed my “birth control” prescription a couple of times and I got the new prescription filled. 

Did I sweat in my sleep? Yes. But I happen to come from a family that isn’t afraid to sweat, so I didn’t think too much of it.

Did I have hot flashes? Maybe. But I just thought I was hot, since I’m not a big air conditioner girl.

Did I have brain fog? I don’t know. Maybe??

And here’s the thing: My experience here is so ridiculously similar to something we think about all the time, which is how women engage with their money. That it’s an off-limits topic, something that we don’t talk about in polite company, something that is viewed as overly complex and complicated.

As a result, so many women have a financial advisor who “does” the money for them. She may not ask a lot about it because she may feel like she doesn’t even know where to start and what to ask. He doesn’t talk her through it — because he actually doesn’t know what she’s going through. She just sort of finds her way through it.

In both instances — managing menopause and managing money — she may come through it “just fine.” And in other instances, she may suffer. 

It’s time to change both. It’s time to talk about both.

One example of this is the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, a piece of legislation introduced in May of this year by a group of women Senators and actor Halle Berry, who’s been outspoken about her experience with menopause. The legislation would put $275 million toward menopause research and education. Fortune reported that “Several senators said [...] they hope the bill will also encourage doctors, women, and men to speak more openly about the health milestone all women experience.”

Same.

Of course, women should not have to fight to get funding for research and education on a health stage that causes so much disruption to our well-being and livelihoods (even before the stigma comes into play). They should also not have to fight to speak more openly about it. (It remains a NSFW word.) But as the population of women experiencing menopause grows — and as the Feminization of Wealth rolls on — more and more women are using their financial power to demand better. 

Some women are making it their literal business to fill the void of menopause care. Businesses by women, for women experiencing menopause are creating a booming “menopause industry.” Companies like Maven, Evernow, and Elektra provide companies with personalized care and a community of other women for their employees. 

As the founder of Ellevest, I know community with other women is critical. Not only is it more difficult for individuals versus groups to create change, it’s simply demoralizing to go through tough things — be they menopause-as-we-know-it or managing money — alone. Women can’t feel seen or heard, supported or treated when we’re told something that unifies us … doesn’t exist. 

If it’s up to us — and it is kind of up to us — ‌then let’s show up. For ourselves and each other. 

“Together, we can uplift and inspire each other with grace and dignity,” Halle Berry writes on re-spin, a digital space dedicated to “rethinking everything we know about menopause.”

We wholeheartedly agree. We can.

And it’s also well past time to talk more about money. 

That’s why we have an all-women team of financial planners, who are here to help you plan confidently for this — or any — life stage. Book a complimentary consultation here.


Sallie Krawcheck Signature


Disclosures

© 2024 Ellevest, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

All opinions and views expressed by Ellevest are current as of the date of this writing, are for informational purposes only, and do not constitute or imply an endorsement of any third party’s products or services.

Information was obtained from third-party sources, which we believe to be reliable but are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness.

The information provided should not be relied upon as investment advice or recommendations, does not constitute a solicitation to buy or sell securities, and should not be considered specific legal, investment, or tax advice. Nothing contained herein may be relied upon as a guarantee, promise, assurance or a representation as to the future.

The information provided does not take into account the specific objectives, financial situation, or particular needs of any specific person.

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Ellevest, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Ellevest fees and additional information can be found at www.ellevest.com.

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Sallie Krawcheck

Sallie Krawcheck is the founder of Ellevest. In a sea of financial services sameness, Ellevest manages more than $2 billion in assets, and stands apart with its mission to get more money in the hands of women. Prior to Ellevest, Krawcheck was one of the only financial executives of her generation to have held C-suite roles at the largest global banks — as CEO of Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, US Trust, and Sanford Bernstein and as CFO of Citi. Today, as a venture-funded entrepreneur, she’s beat impossibly long odds to raise $144 million in venture capital funding. Fortune Magazine has called Krawcheck “The Last Honest Analyst,” Barron’s considers her one of the “Most Influential Women in US Finance,” and Vanity Fair has named her to their “New Establishment List.”