Are "money-smarts" dependent upon gender?

[Thaddeus]

Two things bring this to mind.

 

The first is another poster's admission that she's not terribly good with the finances.

Bingo. I'm ashamed to admit that I am not very good with money, never have been. So my H has graciously taken on that responsibility. I have other skills I bring to the table, but thats not one of them.

The other is an MSN article, written by a woman, the introduction of which reads,

Men and women tend to handle money differently, which is to say men are more likely to save, pay bills on time and live on less than they make. We can do better.

See Time to take money seriously, gals.

 

I sincerely don't ask this with an ulterior motive or in an accusatory fashion. I'm just interested in seeing what the board thinks.

 

My first wife was very good with money - we were working on a solid investment and savings plan that was going to see us retired by the time we were in our early 50s, and it was all coming together very well until her untimely demise.

 

My second wife hid her inability to maintain control of her spending until after we were married. (I can honestly say that, in my entire life, I have never, EVER seen one person with so many pairs of shoes!) When it became a problem, I'd end up on the end of a vitriolic attack and have to listen to things like, "I DESERVE it!" and "You just want to CONTROL ME!!" and all the rest.

 

For the record, we had a joint account for household expenses but individual accounts to use as we pleased. Yet she'd always - and I mean weekly - dip into our joint account to buy herself yet another pair of shoes or another outfit or some pampering at a spa, leaving our mortgage account short. And if I called her on it, suddenly I was the bad guy.

 

So what's your experience been? Is the article's author correct? Or is she full of it?

[2sure]

Regarding the article, in all honesty the number polled (3500) is way too small to account for the many other variables that come into play regarding finances. It just is.

 

I'm the woman who is historically bad with money and paying bills, regardless of how much I have. I hate to think I am representative of my gender. Stereotypically, women spend more on shoes, clothing, etc. Men on sports including events , gambling and other vices. Stereotypes, yes but to some degree true. In my house for sure.

 

I think some variables are education level, income level, and children. Who is the main bread winner, who writes the actual checks? And these variables can change the results depending on how they are mixed.

[carhill]

IMO, it has nothing to do with gender. It's genetics and socialization.

 

Also, IME, nearly everyone I know, including myself, views themselves as fiscally responsible. Reality is another matter I was guilty of some irresponsibility myself for a couple of years recently. Two or three out of 50 isn't a death sentence, is it? I'm back on track now that I'm back to being single. I won't make those mistakes again.

 

I think a person's basic setpoint on money never changes. That's why is such an issue regarding compatibility, especially how issues are communicated and what emotions are tied to money.

[Trialbyfire]

I can't say if the article is correct or not. I can say that you're never too young to start saving for your retirement and never too young to be fiscally responsible, in that it helps to be disciplined with your lifestyle.

[laRubiaBonita]

well take the responsibility to pay our bills, cause i do it on time!

 

my husband is notorious (to me) for paying late.... he pays his car payment- and i can tell you just about every month he get's up early on a saturday to go to the bank to make his payment or it will be late.

 

he is kinda the master of disputing late charges.

 

i think a lot of how people handle money is based upon what they observe from their parents and friends.

 

and seeing bad money skills can either rub off or sway one to do the opposite.

 

i also think a lot of it has to do with the personal situations.

 

i incurred well over $180K in hospital bills by the time i was 18; tyhen i had a job where taxes weren't deducted so i owed the IRS a few thousand dollars...

 

needless to say for much of my young adult life i was living paycheck-to-paycheck... i bounced checks- i was even told by a bank they didn't want me as a costumer.

 

then there is my sister and husband who got credit cards as younger adults and they incurred thousand in credit card debts...

 

i think it just depends.

[sally4sara]

Anyone who thinks men are genetically better at managing money needs to meet my ex-husband, his brother, his father, his uncle, a few of my roommates, my brother, my fiance's ex-roommates.....

 

More non-productive gender war crap.

[norajane]

A lot of it is learned behavior, and mostly learned (or not) from the parents.

 

My sister and I are both great with money - saving, investing, saving to spend, financial goals, the whole bit. That came from our dad who managed the finances, and our mom who managed within them. They rarely, if ever, bought anything on credit, except for their first home back when houses cost $30k (well, in our part of the big city, at least).

 

It's too bad high schools don't teach money management courses, and require passing it for graduation. So many people have no clue how to balance a checkbook, nor do they understand compound interest on credit card balances.

 

It's funny - I taught a Junior Achievement class to 1st grade kids last year, and Money was the topic. The class tried to teach the connection between jobs (mail carrier, teacher, etc.) and purchases (grocery store, bicycle, etc.). I actually had to inject my own lesson in there - you can earn money and SAVE it. You don't have to spend it right away. And you can save it to buy things like a college education - money is not just for buying stuff.