What the future holds for women makes it imperative that their present include financial preparation, according to speakers Wednesday at the Women & Business Conference at the Grand America hotel in Salt Lake.

First and foremost, women need to take care of themselves, Elizabeth Lockette, a financial adviser with Smith Barney, told an audience of women at the conference. That includes planning for the retirement they desire and ensuring that they will not have to depend on relatives for support in their later years.

"Take care of yourself first," she said. "You will be in a better place to take of everyone else if you are prepared yourself."

To help with the planning, Lockette laid out 10 steps to follow. The first two steps are primarily organizational, including filing important documents in a safe place and taking inventory of the individual or family financial situation.

After that, and before crunching hard numbers, women should look at their values and goals. People often will do this after they create a financial plan, which is a mistake since the plan is supposed to help them reach their goals, not determine their goals, she said.

"When I really think about money, I take money out of the equation," she said. "I think about what is valuable to me, what I want to accomplish in the future."

Next is the actual development of the plan, which should include short-, intermediate- and long-term goals, she said. Although often ignored until they happen, unexpected events — especially divorce, death and disability — need to also be part of the preparation.

Other tasks include creating living wills and securing life insurance policies. Finally, women should stay informed and engaged in family financial planning.

Lockette said that the steps are really "no different than tackling a weight-loss program or training for a marathon."

The seminar was part of a daylong conference, sponsored by the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce. The chamber presented its Athena and Pathfinder awards to several women. The conference also featured a panel discussion by four women executives about what it takes for women to succeed in what is still a male-dominated corporate world. Additionally, other seminars were held that focused on female entrepreneurship and balancing work and personal life.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com