I recently attended a women's seminar in Atlanta, Georgia. Jean Chaskey was the keynote speaker. Jean is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author and motivational speaker. She is the feature money coach on Ophrah's Debt Diet. Her latest book titled Make Money Not Excuses is right on target. As a money coach for women, I have heard a number of reasons why women don't take control of their finances. To name a few: "I'm too busy, I don't have time for that." Yes, we are all too busy, this is true especially for single moms. But somehow we find the time to eat out, shop, and get our hair and nails done. A good friend of mine, who recently quoted that statement, called me from a jewelry shop trying to decide what bracelet she was going to buy to match her new dancing outfit. This same friend has no emergency account and no IRA's. "I don't make enough money to invest." It's not how much you make, its how much you keep. When it comes to saving money a little goes a long way. Just imagine saving just $5.00 per day for a year. Do the math. That's $1,825.00 per year. That's the perfect start to a retirement account.
"I'm in too much debt, and I'm depressed." The reason you may be depressed could be related to your ever increasing debt. Your debt will not go away by ignoring it. It is so much easier to pretend that it doesn't exist, to wonder how you got yourself into this mess and to hope that it will go away without any effort on your part. Acknowledging this problem is a start. WORKING ON A SOLUTION IS STEP TWO. There are many ways to deal with consumer credit card debt but the most successful plan is called snowballing created by Dave Ramsey.
"My husband takes care of money decisions." Ok ladies, what's wrong with this picture? The first question you need to ask yourself is, WHY? Is it because you feel that he is a better manager than you or is it because he feels he is a better manager than YOU? Either way, you must be involved with the household money management decisions. Being in the dark about what you owe, what you own, and your retirement future, is not a safe place to be. Remember the statistics, "you are probably going to outlive your husband," and you don't want to end up in a panic because you have no clue about your finances or insurance. The time to learn is now, not when you are forced into learning due to a divorce or death. Making excuses for the lack of money skills won't make you rich, but it will most certainly keep you at the status quo level or worse. Why set these learning restrictions on yourself when it concerns your money or anything else in life for that matter.
..." Either way, you must be involved with the household money management decisions. Being in the dark about what you owe, what you own, and your retirement future, is not a safe place to be..."
Absolutely agree with this. It just makes good sense to know what's going on in order for married folk to be on the same page about the finances afterall this is a major cause of divorce. Look Shaq and his wife almost divorced over it recently.
Thursday, September 25th 2008 at 6:35PM
Jen Fad
