Post author Amanda Steinberg is the founder of DailyWorth, a website about investing and saving that I wish I thought of. Its smart and relevant, but not too smart, not alienating. I’ve sent links for the newsletters to most of my lady friends because I feel this is information all women need. Girls need to know how to invest.
Even though I’ve had a Roth IRA for years, it’s because my dad started it for me. I contribute to my 401(k), but my husband helped pick out where my contributions go. I feel that I’m pretty good with investing, but better off because of the men in my life. I’m educated, but not completely independent.
And yet—I would never say, as Ms. Steinberg suggests in her post, that I am looking for a princess fantasy to save me from doing this on my own. I feel I do have an internal locus of control, and if I were forced to invest without the help of my dad and husband, I could still be successful.
However, I do think it is easy for women to see fathers and husbands and even sons “get” investing more than they do, and rely on their interest and knowledge in the subject. Partners in marriage regularly spilt tasks that one is better at or has more aptitude for—that is one of the great benefits of marriage: having help. But investing is not washing dishes or mowing the lawn. It’s your livelihood as much as your job is, gals.
I hope you read this piece, and maybe get a little angry. And then I hope you sign up for DailyWorth’s emails. And then I hope you start a Roth IRA and make sure you have an emergency savings fund. You don’t have to love investing, or even understand it all, but you do need to know its value. Because then you can be your own Princess.
