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Welcome to the Women’s Personal Finance Wednesday Roundup! We started this series back in 2018 on TreadLightlyRetireEarly.com to showcase the fabulous women in the online personal finance community who are talking about money online. Even now, there is a perception that women aren’t good with money, don’t care about money, or don’t understand it on a granular level beyond perhaps knowing how to coupon and score a good shopping deal.
These roundups are our way of doing a small part to change that perception. There is no shortage of women online doing their part to make it clear that they DO understand money, and these posts are meant to amplify that fact.
Why does it matter? Because representation matters. Because reading and hearing stories from those who (may or may not) look like us show us that yes, we too can figure out this money thing, that we too have important stories to tell. And that we too know quite a lot about money and are experts worth listening to.
Since Women’s Personal Finance has grown up to get its own website, it’s time to transition these roundups over here to the dedicated website. Same great content, new home!
Our Women’s Personal Finance Facebook group on Facebook also has a sharing thread on Fridays, and that’s the place to read all the blog posts written by members over the previous week. If you’re looking for more articles written by women, that’s a great place to continue reading (plus we have plenty of great discussions on finances the rest of the week as well!).
If you don’t have the time or inclination to go searching down myriad posts, though, we will be continuing this series every week to showcase some of the best of the new content we read. If you ever read a post you think we absolutely need to consider for this roundup, please let us know! We are always open to reading new blogs and want to celebrate those newer voices as well as the more seasoned ones.
And with that, here is the best (in our opinion) content by women and nonbinary folks this past week. Let us know what you think in the comments! We love discussion.
Table of Contents
Women’s Personal Finance Weekly Roundup #48 (Actually, 187)
1. Did We Retire At The Worst Possible Time? Eat Sleep Breathe FI
“In November of last year, we reached FIRE, and my husband M retired. Since then, the world has faced a lot of turmoil, and it seems as if everything is crashing down around us.
Today, I’m taking a deep dive to answer the question, did we retire at the worst possible time? In the post, I’ll share:
– A blow-by-blow account of what’s happened since we FIREd.
– How our retirement’s been affected.
– Whether we regret our decision to retire.”
2. Why Is Financial Advice For Women Different Than For Men? TwentyFree
“Women are spenders and men are savers”
It is often assumed that women love shopping and tend to be bigger spenders than men. In reality, both men and women enjoy shopping, and spending habits vary widely between individuals regardless of gender. Would you be surprised to find out that men and women spend approximately the same amount on shoes, or that men outspent women in most categories measured in this study?
“Women are better at non-promotable tasks”
Time is money, but in our society, we don’t safeguard women’s time like we do men’s time. In the workplace, women are still expected to do the majority of non-promotable tasks – things like taking notes in meetings, sending out reminders, and organizing social events. Women disproportionately shoulder this unpaid emotional labor, and it takes away from the time they could be used to further their careers. As a result, women often end up stuck in low-paying jobs with less opportunity for upward mobility. “
3. College Savings, 529’s and Market Panic – Should You Sell? Chief Mom Officer
“Savings and investments for college are different than other investments you might have. Unlike retirement, the date you’ll need to start withdrawing money is relatively fixed and known. And unlike an emergency, you can likely foresee when you’ll need the money. The drawdown period is also short – four years (maybe – we’ll talk about that later). It’s not , the decades you likely will withdraw retirement money. This means your ability to wait out a market correction is more limited. This feels especially urgent if you only have one or two years left until your child goes to college. A significant market correction can wipe out your investments right when you needed them most.
Today, I’m going to talk about times in my investing life where I was faced with volatility, what my family did, and what I learned. I’ll also refresh you on my “Ostrich Strategy”. For fun, I’ll also calculate how it would have worked out today for two theoretical 2018 readers. And I’ll discuss some tips on planning for, and thinking about, savings (and spending!) for college in more helpful ways.”
Thanks For Supporting These Women Creators!
As always, if you’re looking for a categorized list of self identified women writing and speaking about personal finance, here is the comprehensive guide to the Women of the Financial Independence Community.
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