Most women can manage their day-to-day finances very well. In fact, according to some experts, they are highly skilled at budgeting and finding ways to reduce spending. This is really important, since women traditionally don’t usually earn as much as men do. Where their skills don’t match up to those of the menfolk is in the areas of investment and retirement savings. Nor do they understand financial terminology as well as men. But they are eager to learn and should make every effort to do so if they are to take full control of their financial future.
Reports show that many women don’t feel that money is necessary to be happy in life. And while this sentiment is admirable, it is also likely to cause them to have less money than they need as they get older and cannot work. If women were to work on building up their confidence in investing, they would find that the stress and boredom of handling money in this way would be gone and they would soon be able to see all the benefits.
Women have gradually broken down many male dominated barriers in the past; now they need to hone their skills in the area of money management and investments. But first they must change their attitudes. Money is not the be-all and end-all of life, but we do need a certain amount of it. And it’s only wise to work towards protecting your future. Women live longer than men, so they cannot expect to have a man around into their old age to take care of finances for them.
Women and Their Money
July 16th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
July 17th, 2008 at 12:11 am 1216253499
In other words, social norms expected the men to be the breadwinners while women were expected to be homebodies. Put yet another way, I would speculate that social norms and expectations was the cause to the effect of the attitude towards personal finances, rather than some gender per se.
If women were expected to be homebodies, then women have no choice but to be much more clever since they are not expected to earn income.
However, as noted, this is also breaking down with the agreed speculation that women are entering professional fields in ever-increasing numbers. Armed with incomes of their own, the traditional gender expectations, as well as the subsequent view towards personal finance can break down as well.
Whatever the who, what, when, and where is involved, I have agree that, in the end, personal finance remains a vital topic of self-exploration for people of all genders. Especially for women to ensure their financial independence, especially for men who are now discovering and re-discovering theirs.