I’m a master negotiator.

However, as a woman, I often don’t get the respect I deserve, especially as an older woman.

For instance, I take the lead in negotiating my family’s vehicle purchases. My husband is in on the strategy. And though he’s more than capable, he knows I love the hunt for a deal.

But here’s what generally happens when we go to a dealership: The salesperson — usually a man — initially focuses on my husband, making far more eye contact with him than with me.

I let it happen, watching quietly, and wait. The men discuss the particulars of the vehicle. The salesman rarely notices that I’m holding the thick folder with information about the car, flipping through and jotting notes as they talk. I use that to my advantage.

Eventually, it’s time for the cat-and-mouse money discussion.

I smile, chuckling inside.

Then my husband turns to me and says, “Honey.”

It’s our sign that I should take over. I get a rush out of proving a stereotype wrong — that women aren’t as financially savvy in these situations as men. I’m fair and firm. Play games with me, and we walk.

Once, a salesman asked me what I wanted to pay for the car.

“A dollar,” I said.

“Ma’am, that’s not realistic,” he retorted.

At least he now realized I was driving the negotiations.

Men still overwhelmingly control Wall Street and the financial firms that hold and invest our money. They still dominate the financial planning business.

However, a major shift is coming, and firms are more responsive to women with significant financial resources.

By 2030, American women could control much of the $30 trillion in assets held by baby boomers, according to a 2020 report by McKinsey and Co.

Older women will be the new face of wealth, the report said.

Yet misconceptions still linger about women’s financial acumen despite increasing numbers of them managing the money in their households because they’re single, divorced or widowed.

I’ve covered this before, but as we start a new year, I wanted to revisit some long-held misconceptions about women’s financial capability.

Men are better negotiators

Let’s look at how folks negotiate their salaries.

Employed men make more than their female counterparts at every wage level, though the pay gap widens at the higher end of the spectrum. In 2023, women’s median weekly earnings were 84% of those of men also working full-time wage and salary jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

People often attribute the wage gap, in part, to women’s inability to negotiate a higher salary.

But being too intimidated to ask for money isn’t a gender thing.

When asked about their most recent hiring, “Most U.S. workers who are not self-employed say they did not ask for higher pay than what was initially offered,” according to a Pew Research Center survey.

Pew found that 60% of workers settled for the first offer. Among those who did ask for higher wages, men were slightly more inclined — 32% compared with 28%.

In 2023, women ages 55 to 64 earned $1,065 weekly, compared with $1,380 for men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Because women start behind men in the salary department, it’s important to note there’s still a pay gap even if they ask for more money.

Researchers at the University of Southern California used a virtual agent to test how participants negotiated for a software engineering position. What they found, regardless of gender: 43% of participants took what was offered.

“People aren’t good at negotiating in general,” one of the researchers said of the study results.

Men are less spooked by the stock market than women

Gallup found in a 2023 survey that 59% of men, compared with 62% of women, invested in either individual stocks, a stock mutual fund, or a self-directed 401(k) or IRA.

More women are investing in the stock market than ever before, including outside their workplace retirement plan, according to a 2024 report by Fidelity Investments.

Fidelity found that 71% of women invest in the stock market, up from 60% in 2023.

What’s more, women are slightly more likely to wait out market volatility than men, 33% to 32%, respectively, the report said.

Men are better investors

Many surveys show that women are less confident when it comes to investing.

“Women are more likely than men to describe their investing knowledge as ‘beginner,’” the Fidelity report said.

But that doesn’t mean men are better investors.

“While socially ingrained gender roles and other factors undoubtedly play a role in these self-reported measures, the gap between female and male self-confidence highlights the need for advisers to do a better job of helping women meet their goals and build trust in their own financial literacy,” McKinsey reported.

Investment is all about risk. Women tend to be more risk-averse with their money than men, which works in their favor.

According to a 2021 Fidelity Investments report, women lead men — albeit by a small margin — in investment returns.

That’s partly because women don’t trade as often as men.

An analysis of more than 5 million Fidelity accounts from 2011 to 2020 found that, on average, women outperformed their male counterparts by 40 basis points or 0.4%.

Over time, that slight difference can add up to big money.

I mean no disrespect to men, but there’s a financial revolution coming, and ladies, you’ll need financial self-confidence.

Contact Michelle Singletary: michelle.singletary@washpost.com or c/o The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071.