This Week In Your Wallet: Abilities vs. Attitudes
It seems like there’s a lot happening on what should be a slow summer Tuesday. (And I’m not just talking about the debacle that was The Bachelorette finale last night. Don’t judge.)
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Not to sound like a broken record, but Americans just broke a record — and it’s one to be wary of. A report released by the Federal Reserve on Monday shows we are now carrying the highest levels of credit card debt than ever before. In June, when the measure was taken, we topped out at $1.021 trillion, just a smidge higher than the $1.02 trillion level hit in 2008. And we all remember what happened then.
It doesn’t, however, seem like a cause to panic. MarketWatch reports that the reason for the rise is that credit is being extended to more people — 171 million consumers had access to cards in the first quarter of this year, topping earlier records — including folks whose credit scores are below average. That’s good news, as long as the credit they take on is handled responsibly. The takeaway: If you’re feeling as if you’ve gotten in over your head, take this as a nudge to reign in your spending and tweak your behavior. Make sure you’re paying every bill before it’s due, and try to use no more than 30 percent of your available credit lines at any time.
Men, Women, Math and Money
Joining the list of men we love: Wharton Professor and best-selling author Adam Grant, who took on the Google software engineer responsible for the 10-page (anti-)diversity memo that’s been making the rounds online. The offensive memo, which pointed among other things to higher “neuroticism” in women as a reason diversity efforts should be left by the wayside, raised Grant’s ire, as well.
“As a social scientist,” he writes, “I prefer to look at the evidence… Here is what meta-analyses tell us about gender differences.”
1. “When it comes to abilities, attitudes, and actions, sex differences are few and small.”
2. “In the U.S., boys aren’t better at math than girls. (Note: There are 4,000 studies on this.)”
3. “Where male advantages in math ability exist, they’re heavily influenced by cultural biases.”
4. “There are sex differences in interests, but they’re not biologically determined.”
Abilities vs. Attitudes
Of course, even where there are not differences in abilities, there are often differences in feelings. Young women today have a gloomier financial outlook than men do, according to a report by LendingTree. Contributing factors could be higher outstanding debt, higher student loan debt, lower levels of homeownership and lower overall income. (42.1 percent of women earn $50,000 or more per year, compared to 57.3 percent of men.) If student loan debt is your primary worry, here’s a how-to guide for women on getting a handle on student loans.
As for the longer-term? Check out this piece I wrote for The Balance about retirement planning for women. About 80 percent of us outlive our husbands, and it’s important to take an active role in the family finances sooner rather than later. Start the conversation now with something like, “I need to be able to take care of things financially if something were to happen to you.” Or: “We built this together — we should share in that, share the concerns, and problem-solve together.” Establish a relationship with financial advisor and practice the day-to-day of the family finances, including bill pay and accessing online financial accounts.
Have a great week,
Jean
