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Marcia Brixey is
founder and president of Money Wise Women Educational Services.
Read more of her advice at moneywisewomen.net,
moneywisewomenblog.net
or themoneytherapist.net.
 According
to Women
Investing in Security and Education, more women file for
bankruptcy than graduate from college, only 34 percent of
women have some sort of retirement account, the median debt
for women has doubled in recent years and 40 percent of the
average woman’s income goes to service mortgage debt.
Why are there so many women who don’t have their financial
act together? Here are the top ten reasons women experience
money malfunctions.
| 1. |
Too Busy Nurturing Others—Many
of us take care of everyone but ourselves. We take care
of our children, husbands, partners, grandchildren and
parents. I think it’s because we’ve been programmed
to give to others first and wait to see if there’s
anything left over for us. For years I thought I was selfish
if I did something for myself. It took forever to get
past that feeling of selfishness. It didn’t change
until I read this definition: Selfish is when you are
not doing something someone else wants you to do. |
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| 2. |
Maintaining the Appearance. Feeling
like we need to act cool and confident at all times puts
some of us behind the curve. By the time we realize there
are resources out there to help and guide us, we’ve
lost a lot of valuable time. And this costs us financially.
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| 3. |
The “I’m Not Smart Enough”
Syndrome. Too many women underestimate their ability
to make financial decisions. Yet studies show that women
often make better investment decisions than men. We do
a more thorough job of researching the possibilities before
investing our money. We’re also slower to cash in
or move our investments if they’re underperforming.
We give them time to yield a good return. |
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| 4. |
The F Word! We don’t make investments
because we’re afraid we’ll fail and lose our
money. The reality is we probably have more to lose by
not taking any action. Eleanor Roosevelt spoke to this
when she said, “You gain strength, courage and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear
in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot
do.” |
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| 5. |
The Damsel in Distress. Unfortunately,
society has encouraged many of us to believe that we all
want/need/will marry a man who will balance the family
checkbook and make us all rich. But the bottom line is
that, whether we’re happily married, happily single
or happily in any other kind of committed relationship,
there’s a good chance we will be the sole person
responsible for our finances at some point in our life.
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| 6. |
The Rosie the Riveter Complex. If
we’re not waiting for Prince Charming, we may head
to the opposite side of the spectrum and proclaim that
we can and should do it all on our own. Did you learn
a foreign language alone? No, you probably took a class,
took tests and read books to master the language. The
same thing goes for becoming fluent in the language of
money. Find a good financial advisor to coach and educate
you about financial issues. |
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| 7. |
Retail Therapy. We’ve all heard
this saying and probably most of us have tried it at least
once in our lifetime. You need a trip to the mall because
you had a bad day at work and you need a pick-me-up. Or,
you just got a promotion and celebrate by spending money
on yourself. The reasons for shopping are numerous. But,
the bottom line is shopping without a reason or plan can
easily derail your financial future. Find another method
of caring for yourself and celebrating. |
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| 8. |
Out-of-Sight Out-of…What Was That
Again? We’ve convinced ourselves that if we don’t
think about our finances, everything will be okay. The
reality is bad things happen every day to good people.
If you and your partner don’t have a will and he
or she dies in a car accident on the way to work, you
could easily lose your financial stability and have a
mountain of problems for years to come. Or, if you lose
your job and you’re knee deep in credit card debt
with no savings, what will you use to sustain yourself
until you find another job? |
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| 9. |
Busy Bodies. Most women are busy
doing any of the millions of things that women end up
doing. But, we really need to take time, even if it’s
just one hour a week, to get educated and involved in
our family finances. Carve out time with your partner
or a friend to learn together. You’ll hold each other
accountable and learning with someone else is a lot more
fun. |
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| 10. |
There’s Always Tomorrow. Time
is not on our side when we don’t take any action.
One of the biggest potential losses is the gift of compounding
interest. If at age 20 you begin investing $10 per week
($520 per year) at 8 percent return, you’ll have
$228,563 at age 65. But if you wait just 10 years (age
30) to invest $10 per week you’ll have $99,402 at
age 65. Starting 10 years later will cost you $129,161.
The bottom line is that simply doing nothing is not a
good thing. Take action and do it now! |
Ladies, it’s time to get involved in your finances
and start taking action. Just take one step at a time. Each
step will help build your pathway to financial independence.
And know that small steps can lead to big results.
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WINNER
- Website of the Year 
