MoneyWiseWomen

Welcome to Money Wise Women Blog

I created the Money Wise Women Blog to educate and empower women to live financially healthy. Money Wise Women also offers free monthly teleseminars with professional experts on a variety of topics. Learn more and listen to the teleseminars online at www.moneywisewomengetsmart.com .

This year marks the 10th year for Money Wise Women Educational Services. More than 6,600 women have attended 70 Money Wise Women Conferences in Washington, California, Idaho and Oregon in the past 10 years. It's been an amazing, exciting and fun journey, but as the Kenny Rogers song says "You need to know when to fold 'em". The Money Wise Women Educational Services Board has decided 2013 will be Money Wise Women's last year.

Registration is open for our last event -- Day of Empowerment and Celebration on September 21, 2013 at the Kitsap Golf and Country Club in Bremerton, WA. We decided to have our last event in Kistap County because this is where we hosted the first Money Wise Women Conference in November 2002. We hope you'll join us for this inspiring, empowering and motivational day. Details online at www.moneywisewomen.net.

The Money Wise Women Blog is here to help continue your financial education. It contains education, empowerment, advice and support from other women -- financial, business and professional experts and women who are asking questions, sharing their challenges, success, tips and tools.It is a safe, secure place to ask questions, share your challenges and successes and learn from other women by adding your comments to posts or by sending your questions by email to any of our guest authors that have a featured bio. You will find lots of money related topics written by financial and professional experts that serve as our guest authors.

Enjoy and keep learning. Know that ...

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lau tzu

Warmly,
Marcia Brixey

 

Challenged or in Over Your Head — When a Positive Attitude Isn’t Enough

During a tough job market, it is not uncommon to find two extreme versions of propaganda. On one hand, we might read about the absence of any jobs, and on the other hand, we might find academic institutions promising paths to riches by obtaining a degree or the latest certification in underwater basket weaving. Each scenario gives job seekers something to hang on to: hopelessness or a vision. Neither extreme is accurate; the problem lies in that each statement is believable and may be taken at face value, with very little questioning about the relevance of the statement to any particular person’s circumstance. There are several other factors to be taken into account.

Financial Literacy and Stress Awareness Month

I think it is wonderful that Financial Literacy Awareness Month and Stress Awareness Month are both in the month of April. I think it makes perfect sense because money is the number one source of stress in people today according to the APA’s Stress in America report. 

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/index.aspx 

Money came in ahead of relationships, family, health, and job stability. In a recent poll on Stress 7 out of 10 people said they were “very stressed” about money. 

So how does the financial stress we are feeling affect our health? Stress can lead to health problems. It can affect your cellular level and if stress is long term it can lead to many illnesses.  Extreme stress or stress over long periods of time (called chronic stress) can damage your emotional and physical health. When was the last time you had trouble sleeping, struggled with tiredness, headaches, backaches, upset stomach or irritability? Did you know that these are all symptoms of chronic stress?  

Are You Serving Your Customers or Just Doing Your Job?

One way or another, we all have customers. We may be supporting co-workers and managers or we serve external consumers or business partners. How we approach our work may make a huge difference in our effectiveness and the perceived value of what we actually deliver. All in all, the only control we have over doing what can seem like a thankless job is changing our outlook on why we are doing it.  If you are unhappy in your current situation, the following steps may help lead you to a new understanding of your role or to a new way of thinking.

Understand your motivation. Are you:

• Providing a service or simply completing tasks?
• Earning a paycheck or changing lives?
• Energized by finding solutions?
• Fueled by the successes of others or focused on your own?
• Encouraged by challenges and opportunities to learn, or are you feeling like you are in over your head?

Happy National Walking Day! Walk and Reduce Financial Stress

For years I have enjoyed daily walks for my health.  But not only do I walk for my health I love to walk because it is a time that I get to be by myself, which is something I relish as a mom of four and step mother to two. The other thing I love about walking is that it helps reduce any stress I might be feeling. When my walk ends I feel stronger physically and emotionally.

When Prevention Magazine posed the question “What Makes You Want to Walk?” to a number of walkers a few years back, they expected to get answers like "to lose weight" and "to get in shape." But they were delighted by the number of people who commented on walking's emotional benefits; in particular, its ability to relieve stress.

Start Investing NOW! Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late!

One of the most important things women can do to ensure their financial fitness is to just start investing – now! Don’t wait because time is not in your favor. And, women think we have to be perfect and know everything before we start to do anything. Many people think you need a lot to start investing, but you can invest as a little as $10.00 per week.

It’s important to understand the difference between savings and investing. Saving money won’t make you rich, but it will be there when you need it. Savings are when you put your money in checking accounts, savings accounts, certificate of deposits, money market accounts, U.S. Savings Bonds, etc. Investing involves more risk, but if you make good investment decisions, your investments will yield higher returns over time than savings. Investing is when you put your money in stocks, mutual funds, bonds, etc.

A Word on Multi-Tasking

There has been a rumor going around asserting that it is “impossible to multi-task.” I suppose a declaration of this kind allows those who aren’t skilled at multitasking to feel triumphant, but very common examples of real life multitasking prove this theory incorrect. If we couldn’t multi-task, then:

• When driving, we couldn’t look both ways and behind us at an intersection, activate a turn signal and apply pressure to the brakes (all within 15 seconds).
• A mother couldn’t hold her child on her back while she walked to the store or while she was making dinner.
• We wouldn’t be able to guide cloth through a sewing machine and watch to ensure the stitching is straight, while also accelerating the pedal that runs the motor.
• Musicians couldn’t sing while they play an instrument, let alone dance while they are doing both.
• A police officer wouldn’t be able to direct traffic and be cognizant of the crowd around him/her.

Will Social Security be there for you?

Although I worked for Social Security for more than 26 years I spend a lot of time talking about it and it’s important. Some of the things I heard:

• Don’t count on it, because it won’t be there
• Retirement and old people
• It’s going broke
• Social Security takes a lot of money out of my paycheck

What I know for sure is that Social Security is the backbone of our country. I’m sure it will never disappear, but it will look different than it does today. The program and benefits have changed a lot over the years. There has been a variety of changes: elimination of student benefits; the $255 Lump Sum Death Payment is only paid to widows or children; Social Security benefits are taxed, and the full retirement age has been raised to age sixty-seven. And those are just the things I can remember—I’m sure there are more. Social Security will survive—but don’t think for one minute that your monthly Social Security benefit will sustain your current lifestyle. No way! Nor was it ever meant to. One frightening statistic – 80% of widows living in poverty were not poor before their husbands died.

Go Red for Women Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary - Learn and Live!

The American Heart Association celebrated their 10 year anniversary of the Go Red for Women Movement on February 1, 2013! Hundreds of women across the nation wore red on that day to help create awareness about the fact that heart disease is the number one killer in women, causing 1 in 3 deaths each year. My heart goes out to everyone who has lost someone or knows someone who has heart disease.  It is important to also know that 80 percent of heart disease is preventable. How many diseases can we say that we have that much control over?

Stop Waiting for a Job and Go to Work!

An epiphany hit me recently after reading an article about the current status of job loss in Washington State. Reporting “no jobs” does not necessarily mean there is “no work available.” The term “jobless,” doesn’t have to mean “without work.” When I think about it, passively waiting for a job to open up when there is so much work around us to be done may not be the best approach to what could be a dire situation. Too many people are trapped in the mindset that a job is the only way to find income. I think there is another way we all could be looking at a “jobless” economy.

Giving Your Spending a Reality Check

We’re a nation of spenders and we spend unconsciously for all kinds of reasons. But, with the price of gas going up daily and food prices escalating most of us are struggling to make ends meet. How can we survive the tough economic times?

Begin by tracking your spending for at least two weeks. Try not to spend any differently, just write it all down. Write down everything you buy, whether you use cash, check, debit card or credit card. Use a blank checkbook register or small notebook. At the end of the time review your expenditures to see where your money’s been going. My prediction is you’ll discover dollar dribbling—things you’re spending more on than you thought. Simply writing it down will probably prompt you to spend 10% to 20% less.