This post may contain affiliate links and WPF may earn money or products from companies mentioned. Our guest post plugin stopped working! Please note that the authors listed may not be accurate here :( More info
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 and nonbinary folks, 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 #63 (Actually, 202)
1. Are Houses More Expensive Today, or… Way Bigger? Money With Katie
“One of my favorite pastimes is arguing with people on the internet about the unaffordability of housing and how the home ownership calculus has changed over the last 15–20 years—that sure, buying a home in the 1980s was a great proposition. Today? Not as much. (This week’s podcast episode is a deep dive into the rent vs. buy decision in 2022’s ~interest rate environment~; don’t miss it!)
I used to enjoy going to bat for Team Rent with the fury of a thousand exploding suns, wielding not-so-fun realities, like the fact that if the median home price had increased at the same pace as median income since the 1970s, the median home value today would be $133,786—a far cry from its current $433,100.
Recently, I started to consider another aspect of how housing has changed: It’s a hell of a lot bougier than it used to be.”
2. The Ostrich Strategy – A Cure For Market Anxiety? Chief Mom Officer
“Sometimes people on the internet will tell you that if you’re anxious by your account value dropping, maybe you shouldn’t be in stocks at all. But I personally don’t feel that way. I have a lot of empathy for people who have never invested in a real market crash, or a flat market that lasts for years. Many of them have been sold on the promise that investing will make them wealthy. When they learn it’s not a straightforward path to riches, and that they actually can lose money, it can make them anxious. And I understand.
Sometimes you just need to keep your automatic contributions going, stop looking at your balances, and go enjoy your life. Your accounts will be there later. And taking a break from looking at the balances may be just what you need to keep your strategy going.
So no, being anxious about your balances doesn’t make you a bad investor. It makes you human.”
3. My Boyfriend Strongly Believes Tipping Is “Optional” Lillian Karabaic via Slate
“American tipping culture is due for a complete overhaul. Tipping justifies businesses underpaying workers, it makes servers more vulnerable to sexual harassment, and is discriminatory. Which service positions receive good tips is arbitrary; I made a pittance in tips as a barista and $10 per hour as part of the tip pool as a dishwasher at a fancy restaurant.
Every culture handles tipping differently, but it might work to frame tipping not as cultural practice in the U.S., but as part of our economic system, like taxes.”
BONUS. It’s Happening! I’m Retiring At Age 29 With $650,000 Financial Mechanic
“In case you haven’t noticed, $#!t is going down. We’re still in a pandemic. Interest rates are rising. Energy costs are skyrocketing. Experts debate whether we are already in recession or if one is looming. Headlines warn of job uncertainty globally, and locally I experienced the same: hiring at my company froze, thawed out again, and then layoffs swept through.
Personally, I watched my net worth drop $150,000 from the beginning of the year with no sign of stopping, the market eating up my paychecks and spitting out red.
Despite all of this, I quit my job and retired early at the age of 29.”
Thanks For Supporting These Creators!
As always, if you’re looking for a categorized list of self identified women and nonbinary folks writing and speaking about personal finance, here is the comprehensive guide to the Women of the Financial Independence Community.
Love what we do here at Women’s Personal Finance? Want to support that effort so we can continue to do the awesome work you love? Sign up to be a Mission Supporter / Join the Insiders Club.