YOU need to be responsible for your own financial health.
YOU need to be responsible for your financial knowledge.
YOU need to be aware of what it costs to run your own damn household. I don't care if your beloved pays all the bills, has a fantastic job and keeps you wrapped in furs, diamonds, pretentious, over-the-top, palatial, gaudy homes and assures you he's (or she's) got it all under control. You must know where the money goes. This, my sisters, is NOT an option. (Might I suggest online bill pay? Life saver.)
YOU need to have your very own money. I'm not saying hide it from the man in your life. What I am saying is it needs to be YOURS and yours alone. Open a savings and sock some away every chance you get until you have enough to make investments. And then open a 401(k) in your own name and contribute to it as often as you can. If you die ahead of the dude, fine. Leave it to him. But he can't touch it in the meantime. (If you think that for any reason he's trying to off you, now might be a good time to rethink your relationship...)
Know why? Because Life, the little vixen that she is, is ornery and cruel. You just never know what can go down: He may die before his time. He may have a bit of a gambling problem of which you're unaware (I promise, it happens). He may being watched by the feds for, oh, I dunno.....embezzling. He might just trade you in for a newer model. Say you: Oh, that would never happen!
Say me: The whole "mid life crisis" thing? Not just an urban myth.
And then where are you if you haven't planned? Up the proverbial creek without a paddle and saddled with that annoying social worker when you try to throw in the towel. Really, who wants that? I mean, the creek you can live with, but the social worker?
Here are some numbers. Again. (Sigh)
* 36.9% of divorced or separated women over the age of 65 live in poverty * The poverty gap between men and women is larger in the USA than anywhere else on the globe. * In ALL racial and ethnic groups, women are more poor than men
* Victims of domestic violence (who are overwhelmingly women) collectively lose 8 million paid days of work annually. * Occupations dominated by women are low paid (read: teaching, child care, um...social work). In 2007,
And we wonder why we get get the shaft?
Do I need to slap you around any more? The numbers aren't pretty and these are different than the last set of numbers I posted back in May.
Women get blasted on every front again and again and again.
Be proactive. Learn about money. Learn how to invest. Study your algebra. SAVE YOUR PENNIES. Hell, run for office. In the end, you've got no one but yourself. ->