This Week In Your Wallet: Tall, Dark & Debt-Free
Okay, so you didn’t win last month’s Powerball. How’d you do in your Super Bowl pools? I ask because Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and, like Halloween, this is another holiday for which spending is on the rise. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average person celebrating will drop about $147 — up from $142 last year. On what, you might ask? Flowers and candy, natch. (A question for my readership: Do you think if I bought my husband his favorite small batch of nonpareils today from our local chocolate shop they’d still be fresh on Sunday? A related question: Do you think I would eat them all before then?)
But that’s not all. The NRF finds that while 50% of consumers are with me — going with the delicious yet decidedly unoriginal (candy) — 40% will splurge on a night out and 20% will buy jewelry; clearly, some people will be getting and giving some combination of the above. Strangely, just about half of people said they buy Valentine’s Day cards (the romantic in me hopes the rest of you make them — I still think that’s the best part).
And for those of you who haven’t met “the one” just yet? One of the more interesting surveys out this season comes from RetailMeNot, which shows the amount folks are willing to spend on that all-important first date correlates with how the two first met. People who made contact via a mobile dating app, like Tinder or Bumble, spend an average of $19, while those who met face-to-face, say in a bar, spend an average of $35. And if mutual friends introduced you, then you’re looking at a costlier night, at an average of $46.
The Best Way to Celebrate: Free!
No, I’m not talking about quality time between the sheets (although that ranks second on the list of things RetailMeNot found recipients expect to get from their significant others — dinner was first). I’m talking about conversation. According to PNC’s annualWealth and Values Survey, nearly six out of 10 millionaires fully disclosed details of their financial lives before moving in together or getting married — and 93% of them said the conversations were helpful in creating a life together. Think a romantic conversation about money is impossible? You’re wrong. Talk about what you see yourselves doing together one, five and 10 years down the road. Then, talk about how you’re going to make those dreams a reality.
‘Til Debt Do Us Part
Ready to settle down? Not having any luck? Try paying down your credit card debt,according to Reuters. Your ability to land a partner (and, by the way, secure a job) can be significantly hampered by being swamped in credit card debt. A NerdWallet survey shows that 51% of women and 46% of men are wary when it comes to committing to someone otherwise wedded to their plastic. (Student loans and mortgage debt don’t carry such a stigma.) The stigma of having credit card debt is worse if you’re 65-plus, and not as bad if you’re a millennial. For more, read our friend Chris Taylor’s story here.
It’s Reigning Men (Where Some Salaries Are Concerned)
Over the course of 40 years, a full-time working woman loses $435,480 to the gender wage gap, according to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Money reportsthe average woman would have to do the equivalent of 11 years of work just to catch up with her male counterparts. Also impacted: Pensions and Social Security, which are tied to wage history. TIME’s new site, Motto, has introduced a pay gap calculator, in which you can calculate the income disparities for different genders in different industries. A 30-year-old male financial analyst, for example, makes 43% more than his female counterpart, and 50-year-old male editors and news analysts make 27% more.
Have a great week,
Jean
