Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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FM 100's Jill Atwood ReportingYou may recognize her from the Today Show, or from one of several books she's authored. In today's Smart Woman Jill Atwood interviews Financial expert Jean Chatzky on smart money. Chatsky says specifically to women, it's time to stop making excuses.
The ability to save is there, it's the excuses getting in the way.
Jean Chatzky, Today Show's Finance Editor: "Gosh I wish I could manage my money, but I don't like numbers, or I don't have time or my husband does that, or I can handle money, but investing is a little perplexing."
Financial expert Jean Chatzky spoke at a Smart Women Smart Money conference recently. She says women especially suffer from financial avoidance, in other words not paying attention to what's coming in versus what's going out.
Chatzky says a simple solution is to change a few habits.
Jean Chatzky: "We can start to pay our bills as they come in rather than waiting with a big stack to pay them once a month. People that pay their bills as they come in have more in savings, less in credit card debt and they are happier."
This bit of info is important because women are starting to step up when it comes to handling household bills. In fact, new research shows 30 percent of women now outearn their partners.
Jean Chatzkey: "I think thats giving us the courage, the encouragement, but mostly the courage and the feelings that somehow we are more entitled to know where everything is going and how it is being used."
Women are also daring to try the investment game, although still overwhelmed by all the choices. Chatzky suggests your company's 401k and the Roth IRA; she says those two are no-brainers. Beyond that....
Jean Chatzkey: "There are a ton of resources out there for people who are sort of DIY, do it yourselfers. There are magazines there are books there is TV is out there for you. You just have to look at yourself and say, 'Am I actually going to do?" And if you are, great, read up, do it, you are perfectly capable because this is not rocket science. If you're not then you hire a financial advisor."
Chatzky also says 95 percent of women will have to manage finances at one point in their lives, so it's best to be prepared now.
