Shannon McBeen is a California transplant who recently got her Master’s degree in Information and Library Science from Pratt Institute. She’s a freelance writer, editorial assistant, and waiter.
I have to confess that, before I started to read Joanna Krotz’s 2008 Town & Country article “Women and Wealth,” I’d already cringed a little at the title. This cringe went unexamined until I came to this sentence near the end of Krotz’s introduction: “Women shy from the word wealth,” Krotz says, quoting legacy-planning consultant Barbara Culver (here I learned I also shy from the word legacy). Culver goes on to succinctly sum up the article’s message; “[W]omen typically need to change internally and reach a new level of awareness around the whole topic of money and wealth.”
Joanna Krotz
Though that in itself is not necessarily revelatory, the main points of Krotz’s article are comprised of many accumulated revelations, gained through an online survey of more than 2,000 female Town & Country readers whose ages, incomes, and marital status varied but who were largely employed and college-educated. Distilling the information contributed by these 2,000+ respondents, Krotz recommends seven steps that aim to address the most common issues women face when tackling money and the myriad complex emotions that come with it – including power, wealth, loss, fear and control.
- Lesson One: Put money in your own name
- Lesson Two: Identify your money phobias
- Lesson Three: Part of learning is losing
- Lesson Four: Share the decisions
- Lesson Five: Don’t settle for so-so advice
- Lesson Six: Inspire your children
- Lesson Seven: Stay up to speed
At the foundation of each of these lessons I found one message – be proactive. While for centuries men have established much of their identities in their work and the resulting financial gains (or losses), many women have yet to successfully integrate this fact of contemporary life into their own identities. The issues are complicated and real and have been built up over decades of external and internal instruction not to concern ourselves with financial matters, but as Krotz’s article makes clear, they need to be faced head on.
And contrary to my initial cringe, I found this demystification process not only reassuring but even a little exciting. Could this be, at the risk of sounding trite, what empowerment feels like? I don’t know, but I like it.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for this! I cringe at how much I need this advice. At least now I know I’m not alone.
I agree. But many a man I know is uncomfortable with wealth/money too. How about the dirty word- profit?
Rachel,
It’s absolutely true – being uncomfortable with money isn’t exclusive to women (thankfully!). But I do think the issues faced by men are often different than our own. Krotz found that when men and women argue about money, men see it as an issue of trust, while women felt it was about power and control… it’s fascinating (as well as troubling and understandable) to see how many complex emotions are triggered.
Thanks for your comment!
Shannon,
Your description of this article makes me think that it’s one that every woman should read. I love your personal style of writing and the way you distilled all of the important points that the author made. Thanks!
It’s easy to see men as part of the problem here, but as the father of two daughters I’ve tried all their lives to get them ready for a world where support from a man is a luxury rather than a necessity.
Brian,
I think responsibility for the problem is probably equally shared between the genders and includes many deep, psychological probings that this article, as Krotz points out in her summary, did not address. Regardless, your daughters are lucky they had you to help prepare them.
Thanks!
Wow. This is precisely what I should be thinking about right now. Thanks for this review!!
How relevant, I was having drinks with girlfriends and the topic of kids teaching money management came up! I can totally relate to Krotz’s seven steps because I used to be a total money-phobe. After taking control of my finances in my early 30′s, I’ve now begun to think of how to impart this knowledge on my daughter. I found her advice helpful and enlightening. I also stumbled across this post about teaching financial responsibility to your children insightful as well.
http://www.designmom.com/2008/02/urquhart-bank-%E2%80%94-by-sister-sara/
Wealth, abundance, actualization, go girl, bring it on!
Yikes-
Makes me think I need to send this article to both of my daughters, and reflect on the success of my efforts to “inspire” them.