I had lunch with a couple of friends today. We met to talk about a possible trip we might make together. One friend, recently widowed, is itching to go just about anywhere and the other two of us were supportive and also eager to think about going somewhere to escape the heat which will soon be over us like a very hot tent.
All of us, retirees and financially secure, had such different takes on the delightful possibilities of travel. More or less, all of us could afford to spend the money on a short and nice vacation.
Janet, the recent widow says that she gave all her paychecks over the years to her husband who invested it in the future. They lived only on his salary. I wonder if he gave her an allowance? She was not aware. And now she sees all the results and is eager to spend.
Carol, the other friend, and her husband have always been frugal day to day, and managed to save enough from their work to take fabulous trips around the globe.
I wanted to make enough money so that if my very prosperous spouse dived off a cliff leaving the family bereft, I would be able to keep the three kids in food at least. That scenario never happened, we have been moderately frugal, so we are O.K in our seventies.
How people, especially women, deal with money and how they feel about it is of great interest to me. The topic of sex is all over the media, no holds barred. Sex and money sometimes intersect as in hush money and trafficking. But the #Me Too has not yet addressed the thorny issues of money. Of course there are stories about not enough women in executive positions.
I would like to know how women deal with money. How do women of all ages think about it, figure out the future with it, and figure out how they will deal with money in this #MeToo world?
If you are part of a couple, how do you allocate the money? Do you think that men should be the primary monetary provider? Who does what financially in your relationship?
I'd love to hear your input. Maybe together, this could become a book.
