MSN offers anecdotes and sterotypes to prove that boys are savers and girls are spenders. Look, kids! It's science!
The article muddles the nature and the nurture aspects of trait development in a way that is really not useful, but the underlying point makes sense: kids whose parents talk to them about money in an age-appropriate way and who model good financial decisionmaking are more comfortable with money management as they get older. And if parents treat boys and girls differently in how they address these issues, then of course their boys and girls will learn different lessons about money. What a revelation.
I owe much of my confidence, financial and otherwise, to my dad. I was an aggravatingly independent kid, and he tapped into that to educate me about money. I had a passbook account when I was a kid that I could put my allowance and birthday money into, I understood how interest and delayed gratification worked. I got to make decisions about what spend on and what to save for. As you might imagine, I was a big saver, but oh how I loved the She-Ra castle I bought with my own money. As I got older, I got a set amount of money to cover back to school clothes. I went shopping at thrift stores and spent the difference on CDs and concert tickets. When I started babysitting and later working at Wendy's, he started talking to me about retirement accounts and helped me set up a Roth IRA. The last time I saw my dad, a month or so ago, he buttonholed me about the need for Shiner and me to get life insurance after we get married. My brother is about a decade older than I am, which means we were never getting the same financial advice from my dad at the same time. We just weren't in the same circumstances--my brother was dealing with student loans when I was saving up for my She-Ra castle. But my dad has always expected both of us to be independent, financially responsible people. I never got a pass for being a girl. Thanks, dad.
10.07.2008
Boys v. Girls, Allowance Edition
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My dad's advice was never that sophisticated, but my parents set aside a minor amount of money for me (and my sister) each month to spend on clothes and when we'd go out to shop, would tell us how much we had to spend (and lay down any rules about what we NEEDED -- if you owned no unripped pants, you needed to buy pants). We were allowed to choose what we wanted, which meant my sister buying less, more expensive, brand-name stuff, and me buying more, but cheaper, stuff. Easy, early lessons in budgeting and planning. Very, very useful.
In many ways I had similar experiences learning about money, and it shows in the contrast between my saving/spending style and those of my friends.
By the time I reached double digits Dad took me to open a joint account. He would contribute a little of each of his paychecks to a regular savings, and a small percentage to a "Christmas Savings Account." The latter was so I would have money to buy gifts for my family. The money was "locked" until November and while it didn't yield a higher interest or do any other tricks, it was my first experience with a savings account that was not accessible for deductions for a set amount of time and was aimed at a specific savings goal. I don't know if he did this with my sister and brother because they are respectively seven and 10 years older than me -- and our saving/spending styles are as far apart as our birthdays.
My mom, on the other hand, taught me to shop at thrift stores and discount stores and never ever ever pay "retail." She also taught me that in-store credit carries a way higher APR.
In addition to money smarts, I learned work ethic from Dad and social responsibility from both my parents.
I'm glad my parents never skimped on my financial education, but I know this is far from true for many young adults, boys and girls alike. On the flip side, I hope those parents out there who are teaching their offspring to balance a check book are also teaching them how to be charitable and that (cliché alert) money isn't everything.
My dad taught my younger brother how to run the riding lawn mower, but I ended up being the one who mowed the lawn dang it. But when I went into finance, we gained up on my brother about investing for his future...heh.
Errr... so, leaving a comment here, after reading yours on Get Rich Slowly. I'm not quite sure what to say to all that... I like Offbeat Bride as well, it's my favorite wedding website, hands down (I obviously don't count my own, since it isn't something I can well, read, to help keep me sane). I just wanted to let you know that 1) I use the same advertiser model as Ariel. She also writes clearly labeled advertorial content, and her sponsors have various price points (and she makes more doing it. deservedly so) and 2) I clearly label all my sponsorship posts (and I make very little money off them). All the rest of my content is just my own thing. I do try to turn away sponsors that don't seem to be a good match for readers, but everyone has different price points, so I can't shoot people down just based on that. The whole point of my site is, after all, that it's up to each couple to make their own decisions.
Anyway, I just wanted to drop you a line to say that. Just because you love Offbeat Bride (and really, who doesn't? She's amazing) doesn't mean you need to hate my site, or well, tell people they should hate it. We're all working hard for little to nothing, to provide resources for those of us with a dearth of wedding resources that have anything to do with who they are and what they want. I'd be the first to say that OBB is the best wedding site on the net, bar none.
De Beers, the diamond company, actually started popularizing surprise proposals in their ads because they found that when women chose rings they would spend less money.
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