Comments on: Starting a series on women and personal finance — please send me your stories

By: January

January — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 12:45:47 +0000

Hi, I think the articles should encompass all age groups and not 18-30yrs. I also disagree with the notion that women are not taking care of their finances. I work with a multinational organization within Nigeria and I can confidently say that in a team of 26 men, I’m the only woman who does not rely on my salary before I can eat. I save 70% of my monthly income which is invested in the stock market, private placements, mutual funds and money market. I have a tidy sum socked away for retirement. I just clocked 30.

By: Simone's Butterfly

Simone's Butterfly — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:04:12 +0000

My husband would send links to your blog after while I added you to my RSS. Now his wondering if I am actually reading it! hehehe

By: serpah

serpah — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:42:20 +0000

I’ve noticed that there are still a lot more “frivolous” things marketed towards women than men. This is changing more lately, but it’s still skewed. Women have tampons/maxi pads, make-up, plus all the “special for her” items. I don’t think that these items are at all different than the ones marketed for men. Most fashion magazines are geared towards women and have a very aggressive “trends” schedule.

I’m starting to work on managing my money better. So far, I put aside 10% of my gross wages, plus I own a triplex with my fiance. I used to spend more without thinking, putting money on the credit card when I ran out of money in my bank account. Now I have to change that habit and it’s hard. I’m lucky enough to have inherited investments, but it’s hard to stop myself from spending it all.

It doesn’t help that I’m getting married this year and we’ve had to do some extensive renovations on the triplex. But that’s not really an excuse, since it’s only going to get worse with time.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:03:50 +0000

I agree with the other posters, women’s concerns and issues with money are very similar to men’s. A women who didn’t receive proper financial education at home didn’t receive it for the same reason men didn’t — their parents never had a proper grasp of money and therefore were unable to teach it to their children.

By: I Will Teach You To Be Rich » The I Will Teach You To Be Rich series on women and personal finance begins

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:41:57 +0000

[...] I’m launching a short series on women and personal finance as announced here. Why? Part of it is wanting to balance out the ratio of male and female readers. Part of it is [...]

By: Margo

Margo — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 23:46:00 +0000

I’m 24 and I’ve got the numbers aspect of my financial life sorted out – but I’m still battling some emotional issues with money. The major issue for me is how thorny the money topic is when it comes to dating. If I were married, the guy and I would have to work it out or consider a divorce…but when we’re just dating, both of us gets hurt b/c there’s little impetus to come to a compromise.

I’d be interested in doing a profile.

By: Ramit Sethi

Ramit Sethi — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:37:54 +0000

That’s exactly why I’m doing research before I post.

By: Nil

Nil — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:31:58 +0000

I think Suze Orman is focusing on women, but only for the same reason that Ramit might be – to get some additional followers.

I don’t want to knock the idea before I see the implementation, but I just don’t see how women’s finances are different than men’s. One of my favorite things about investing is that it doesn’t matter who is doing it – saving and investing wisely yields results. Balancing your personal budget and getting positive cash flow helps you to build wealth. I don’t see how gender matters.

My girlfriend and I watched the Suze Orman special on women and money together, and I think she would’ve thrown the tv through the window if she could’ve. Suze basically overgeneralized women and assumed they were all nurturers and protectors, etc. and treated them like they were all selfless creatures who always gave their money away to make others happy. A lot of pandering, really. It all looked like a giant self-help sales pitch with no financial substance. Don’t even get me started on her ‘Save Yourself’ plan…

Ramit, I hope you handle it better on your blog because my girlfriend can definitely throw my laptop out of the window.

By: InvestEveryMonth.com

InvestEveryMonth.com — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:58:35 +0000

I think cable financial news is partly to blame. Sometimes the macho testosterone emanating from cable investment shows makes me think my television is about to blow.

Suze Orman is focusing on women, but I prefer to turn off cable television to find female investment thoughts on numerous qualtiy blogs and forums such as this one.

By: Steven Place

Steven Place — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 17:34:49 +0000

Slightly OT, but there is a recently published HBS case about Madam C.J. Walker, one of the first black female entrepreneurs. She was born in the middle of the US Civil War, and created a beauty products for black women.

Linky: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5662.html