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The Currency of Care: Planning for the most Human phase of life
It is not hyperbole when I say that the caregiving phase destroyed my family relationships. It happened on both sides of my family. I had an idyllic family dynamic growing up. My grandparents all lived in the same town as we did when I was growing up, and we were always with them – spending…
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All the Single Ladies
45% of men ages 18-25 have never approached a woman in person, according to a recently published study. Almost HALF. I was floored to hear this just last week. Now, like any statistic or factoid given on it’s own, it’s wise to take a few minutes to step back and consider the context and other…
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What happens when we change
Over the past 3 years, I’ve been making steady changes to my life in the health realm. I’ve lost 63 pounds in those 3 years – on a 5’2” frame, that’s about ⅓ of my prior body weight. Now more than ever, people make comments about it. I respond with platitudes, thanks, it’s hard work…
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The Holiday Hangover
You might think of the physical hangover of the holidays – your body readjusting from so much food, so much wine, and a full calendar. There’s a period of detox that has to happen. It’s like that for me with money. The holidays have long been a period of very free, somewhat frenetic spending in…
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Technical Complexity
I’ve been listening to a podcast for a couple of days now, from Dr. Peter Attia, on women’s health. It’s a long episode, almost 2 hours, and the level of detail and specificity is both interesting and frustrating. I love listening to Attia and Huberman, hearing their guests discuss all of the ongoing scientific research…
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Hiding your money (in a 401(k)!)
When I explain to clients or prospective clients how to save, I have an approach I like to call my “Next Dollar Policy.” The policy exists so that I don’t have to think about it – when I get to a world where there’s extra, I know exactly where it will go. Here’s a high…
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Why Women MUST BE Investors (spoiler alert: For our daughters)
I met with a girl last week who is in her twenties, working for a large investment firm. She is polished, professional, well spoken and incredible at sales. She had also been taken completely aback at a recent conference when someone cited that women could not have their own credit card (by the way, they…
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Feminine Morality & Money
I’ve been reading The Feminine Mystique for the first time, by Betty Friedan. First published in 1963, Friedan creates a much more reachable picture of the 1950s housewife. She felt the mystique herself – the “something missing” beyond roles as wife and mother. If you haven’t read it, as Arianna Huffington quips on the cover…
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Back to School, Back to Budget Basics
A trip to Target just cost me $300. Most of the cart was filled with “back to school” – not really supplies, but things like new pjs for girls who outgrow everything in 6 months, lunchboxes, new dance shoes, whiteboards for bedrooms because my kids love to write down their own routines for the days…
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How do we carry our kids?
“Mom, aren’t you on a diet?” Reagan commented as I ate TWO bites of her chocolate chip pancakes this morning. “Nope,” I said, “who told you that?” Of course the reply was something mumbled, my suspicions lay with Grammy, Papa or Daddy… but I replied with the same thing I’ve said to them a hundred…
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Wealth: The First Generation
No one will understand that title but me, but Trekkies are my people. When writing my last post about money avoidance, and specifically thinking about how that script came to be a dominant one for me, I have thought a lot about firsts. I haven’t ever been the first woman to do anything, but I…
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Money Avoidance
Have you ever looked at a thin or fit woman and thought to yourself “Well, she’s not happy. She can probably only eat lettuce and she can’t have a cocktail and it’s way better to be me?” Ok, maybe you don’t think exactly that. But maybe something along those lines, the point being that we…
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Make sure you’re part of the Great Wealth Transfer
Women stand to control around 67% of stock market wealth by the year 2030. That’s only FIVE years away. This unprecedented shift is being talked about constantly in the Wealth Management industry, but beyond that, I don’t think this is common knowledge. Like most things though, hearing a prediction doesn’t often cause anyone to behave…
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Does your diet impact your money? Part 2
Maybe the more obvious way that diet impacts money differently for women than men (although this gap is possibly closing), is Diets with a capital D. You know, the difference when you say “I’m on a Diet” versus “My diet consists of…” The Diet industry, this multi-billion dollar behemoth, can’t necessarily be characterized as good…
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Does your diet impact your money?
(I think yes, and not the way you think) I’ll get straight to the point. None of us know, honestly, exactly how our nutrition impacts our bodies. Not to any detailed extent. We know some things, but there is so much disagreement out there that “know” is still a pretty strong term. Many women have…
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Can you rewrite your money story?
I believe in rewriting ANY story we want. I believe that we each have the authority and even the responsibility to pay attention to our thoughts and to change our direction to the good. Knowing your money story matters. You have to understand where you’re starting out, and then you need to understand that your…
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The privilege of failing
Leaving a tap class in tears wasn’t exactly on my bingo card, but it happened. I’ve danced since I could walk, and tap class is my happy place. But now, at 44, it’s simply… not the same. My brain doesn’t hold on to choreography quite the same way it did at 18. My feet don’t…
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The journey of never enough
How did I get into this race? When I started my job at KPMG, a prestigious, well paying job for a 23 year old, I remember thinking about getting to an income of $100,000 a year. When that happened, I thought, I could probably just go ahead and go part time. 80%, 4 days a…
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On Tithing
I was in a meeting several years ago with a young financial planner, and I had added “Discuss Tithe” to the client agenda. I’ll never forget the fact that my planner did not know how to pronounce the word. I was taken aback, given that this is a concept that I’ve been familiar with for…
Girl Meets Money 