Chicks and Their Money

I did a little bit of non-scientific research by asking my male and female friends/acquaintances and through random Google searches to find out about the general consensus on women and money.

It's not good.

Seems that us Chicks have a bad rap when it comes to money! People think we blow it all on clothes and makeup. They think we are flighty and don't know how to make informed money choices. Some even think that we just don't care.

Personally, I think that's total crap.

Many of my friends are concerned about money. Maybe we don't state is as directly as some guys. Maybe we are shyer about discussing it, but we definitely care about it! And maybe we like buying clothes and makeup, but I know lots of guys with crazy quantities of techo-gear that they don't need. Techno-gear is way more expensive than makeup. Point being: I don't care what your gender is, you blow money on stuff that you don't need and you have the potential to make both good and poor money decisions.

Fortunately, there is a trend towards incorporating more women into financial management and personal financial planning. The uninformed stereotypes seem to be declining, but all the advice out there for women seems to be mostly trite and trivial. Oprah tells us to stash away $10 each day for a rainy day. Cosmo and other magazines have the occasional article with basic info. If you look at the information geared towards men, it's much more robust and detailed. Their men's magazines talk about mutual funds and investments. One major exception to that is, Ms. Money, a website that I highly recommend to all you Chicks out there. But, seriously, that's about the only high quality women-centric money website.


I understand where the misinformed stereotypes come from. Back in the day women would get married and focus on the home and family while the guy would focus on the job and money. Well, Chicks, it's the 21st century and we are starting careers. Many large cities actually are starting to see young women earing more than young men as a result of our increase in education and drive. Chicks today need to understand as much about their cash as their male colleges and classmates.

According to Mary Farrell, managing director of Paine Webber and author of Mary Farrell's Beyond the Basics,80% of women will be responsible for their own finances at some point in their lives. So obviously, we need to know how to do it!


Come on, Chicks! Let's get to it!