Gift of Knowledge

I saw this story about mothers talking to daughters about financial matters on NBC News last night. The basic premise was that a subset of moms consider themselves the CFOs of their households and make it a point to discuss finances with their daughters. That is great, but the story does point out another very important reason why women in particular should be financially literate. You live longer than us men do and given that difference in life expectancy, as the piece says, 90% of women will be alone at some point in their lives. So by all means teach away about the timeless tenets of personal finance – how to make money, spend less than you make and put the difference someplace safe – but include sons too. It’s knowledge they won’t get at school so you are the only, or at least the best source. And it’s knowledge that will pay dividends over their lifetime. If you know it's important to discuss but don't know where to begin send Jim or I an email; we have some ideas about how to get the conversation started.