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    5 Signs of a Financially Healthy Woman

    Are debt, credit cards, or student loans controlling you, or are you controlling them? Are your finances a source of freedom or a cause of stress? These signs of a financially healthy woman will help you figure out if money is controlling you, or if you need to take control of your money.

    "Women need to develop a healthy, honest relationship with our money," says financial guru Suze Orman. "And we have to see this relationship as a reflection of our relationship with ourselves."

    In other words, our financial lives (mortgage payments, credit card debt, emergency savings fund, monthly budget, etc) are part of who we are as women. The serious debt or extreme wealth in our finances directly affects our emotional, physical, and spiritual lives.

    Here are five signs of financially healthy women...

    1. Financially healthy women are aware of their "money personalities." Did your parents invest in real estate, a secure low-interest savings account, mutual funds - or did they struggle with debt? Your saving and spending habits, investment style, attitude about money, and financial perspective is shaped in part by the way your parents treated money in your childhood. Your money personality directly affects your relationship with money - and the more self-aware you are, the more financial independence you'll enjoy.

    2. Financially healthy women take financial risks. A financial risk doesn't necessarily mean investing $10,000 in a friend's new business or charging a $2,500 dollar dress to a maxed-out credit card. Taking smart financial risks includes investing in your career by going back to school full or part-time, taking a mortgage on a small piece of real estate, or exploring ways to earn money from your hobby.

    3. Financially healthy women have their own checking, savings, or credit card accounts. So many readers make comments on my "Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Goals" blog about how they want to leave their common-law or married husbands, but can't because they have no money to support themselves. Having a separate checking or savings account is the most basic sign of a financially independent woman…and yet many women don't have their own source of money.

    4. Financially healthy women have both individual and couple money goals. Our goal as a married couple is to pay off the mortgage within a few months; my goal as a businesswoman is to earn $2,500 per month from my blogs. My husband has his own financial goals, mostly related to investing money in stocks and bonds. For a woman to have true financial independence, she needs to have goals that are separate from her partner's. If you and your partner see money differently, you might find Dealing With Different Money Personalities as a Couple helpful!

    5. Financially healthy women understand basic personal finance. This is where books about money for women are so important! I can't describe retirement investing, compound and simple interest rates, living trusts, home insurance, income tax strategies, etc here - but a basic understanding of money is crucial for women. The more you know about basic personal finance, the more independent you'll be.

    "Remember to stay involved with your money," says Suze Orman, "and to nurture a healthy relationship with it, for what happens to your money affects the quality of your life and the lives of all those you love."

    Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen is a full-time writer and blogger who created and maintains five "Quips and Tips" blogs:

     

    24 comments

    • Dismus  •  2 years 1 month ago
      am not a woman but like your sentiments,
      Somebody making me feel irritated in doing business.
      Ist i was importing a Nissan caravan from West carpark Japan i sent the Ist half but this guy tells me it was late and have cancelled the unit.
      So then we got another unit and have paid full amount USD6900 it is 26th of April the guy still says it will take long .Holding my money am worried what do i do with this Person?.
    • k8blujay  •  2 years 1 month ago
      I agree... I have many small student loans... it's a myth that student loans are 'good credit', simply because they are still loans and of course it's hard to put them all into a consolidation loan (after all the banks want to make all that money in intrest) so they see 8 loans (assuming you took out a stafford loan and a private loan for the school year) or more on your credit reports.

      I'm working my way back up the credit score ladder.... my credit tanked when I messed up with credit cards in college. We had to get an FHA home loan because my credit score is "fair".

      I have my own credit card (first one in 2 years) but I don't use it for anything more than gas at the moment. And I want to get my 401k and perhaps an IRA started for retirement... I also want to start saving a little egg nest of sorts and build up a high yield account or two.
    • cutebanker  •  2 years 1 month ago
      Ce-el student loans are not optional!!!! HTF should i pay for school? graduate school is over $700 a credit HOUR. i don't know about you but i make $40k a year. that doesn't allow for $10k a year to pay for school. and yes, i get $$ from my company. but at the grad level, you can't get grants. you either pay out of pocket or get loans. and there aren't really any scholarships unless you can be a TA and i can't because i have a big girl job.

      BTW i didn't cause the economic problems of today. i pay my mortage on time and every month. and i didn't get some stupid ARM loan that i can't afford. I'm not FHA or bad credit.

      i also never said i took the max in student loans the govt gives me- just that they approve the max. my whole point was that my mortgage and my student loans tanked my credit, despite the fact they are supposed to be "good" debt. i only have one credit card and it's small.
    • pkprq97  •  2 years 1 month ago
      cutebanker .. that's pretty much what my husband's mortgage broker told us ... even w/ minimal cc debt, a car loan and on time payments, it's the SL amount that makes us finanically undesirable for a house. dh by himself, perfectly fine since he has ZERO debt. i hate the fact that i drag us BOTH down b/c of SL.
    • pkprq97  •  2 years 1 month ago
      I was a financially healthy woman.. until I moved out with my fiance... my credit? down the drain..

      ***
      same here .. looking back i know where the downfall started. him 5-10% (if that)of his income went to household expenses. me 60% of my income went to household expenses. $1600 to someone making $7-8K/month is nothing, $1600 to someone making $3500/month is an entirely different animal. i only have myself to blame b/c i DIDN'T speak up.
    • cutebanker  •  2 years 1 month ago
      pkprq- yep i totally agree!!! when i get married i am putting the house in his name and my name on the title. we both have student loan debt but he makes more than me and thereby makes bigger payments and has better credit.

      but it amazes me that getting a house or a car or a cc can be a pain in the @$$ but the federal govt continues to give me the max in loans every year!!!!!
    • cutebanker  •  2 years 1 month ago
      my mortgage and my student loans TANKED my credit score. apparantley now my debt to income ratio is too high. awesome. so much for trying to do the right thing.
    • observer  •  2 years 0 months ago
      Over 5 years ago Ms. Orman said pay off your debt and scale back spending money you don't have. At that time I was dealing with two high interest credit cards, maxed out and spinning my wheels each month to make payments and get no where.

      By taking her advice, I made my final payment last month clearing it all away. I used a credit consultant and paid a fee each month for their services. Five years is a long time but if you don't start doing something you will go to your grave owing for dinners you charged fifteen years ago.

      I wish my parents had talked to me about finance, savings and money handling when I was young - might have saved me from some loser husbands and getting fleeced supporting them.
    • cutebanker  •  2 years 1 month ago
      pkprq- i understand! i thought when i got my MBA i would come out with a better job. instead i graduated in the summer of 08 into the worst recession ever. so while i'm stuck at my current job, i am continuing my education.

      as much as i wish i could pay for school out of pocket, it's just not feasible. if i was married or lived in a 2 income home, it would be different. (i can't even imagine how much cash i would have if i was splitting all my bills!!!) but it's just me and i'm trying to do the best i can on my own. like i said, the mortgage gets paid. it's just a shame that things like buying a home and getting educated have to harm you....
    • buffalogal  •  2 years 1 month ago
      Harley, Financially healthy women do not blame others...even the "crooks" government. I have managed to build up a very nice "nest egg" through many, many administrations.
    • Rose  •  2 years 1 month ago
      If you want to stay financially healthy, don't spend beyond your means. If you are living off of dividends from your investments, don't spend more in a month then your dividends pay out.
    • Mrs yikester  •  2 years 1 month ago
      "Your debt to income ratio doesn't affect your credit score. "

      Actually that is exactly what you're credit score is based on....FICO, the credit score plp, recently released some info on how they do and it, and your numbers all depend in not just your ratios but also the time length of time you've had to credit (ie...card memeber for 10 yrs vs 2...) and the higher your score the less things like debit take off. For exmample if you score in 740 and you have a maxed out card its 25 points off...but if its 575 and you have a maxed out card its minus 70 point (these are just fake numbers I am making up to give as examples). Just an FYI
    • evil genius at work  •  2 years 1 month ago
      who pays for a $2,500 dress if you are not rich? crazy spending and i thought $80 for a dress was expensive!
    • pkprq97  •  2 years 1 month ago
      cutebanker .. i suspect our 'friend' might suggest doing a grad school program one class/semester paid out of pocket. i know for law school (the program i went through) there are very few scholarships, fewer grants and while you CAN go part time and work while going to school, it's not reccomended which leaves most law school students in a HEAP of debt.

      i did a certificate program .. 2 classes a semester while working FT and i managed to pay for it out of my pocket .. the catch. i lived w/ my mom the whole time.

      in this day and age .. SL are not optional. taking out the max amount IS optional and no sane person should be doing that, especially if they work too. the hope is that the grad school degree will bolster the earning power enough to compensate for the extra loan payments (sadly this is NOT the case for teachers and social workers -- in order to be considered for the job you need both ($50k debt min ?!?) to earn maybe that much starting out - eek !)
    • Marble  •  2 years 1 month ago
      Your debt to income ratio doesn't affect your credit score. The only people that look at your DTI is lenders. And mortgages and student loans are considered good debt. Just an FYI.
    • martza  •  2 years 1 month ago
      I was a financially healthy woman.. until I moved out with my fiance... my credit? down the drain..
    • pkprq97  •  2 years 1 month ago
      Your debt to income ratio doesn't affect your credit score. The only people that look at your DTI is lenders. And mortgages and student loans are considered good debt. Just an FYI.

      ********************
      as my husband and i found out in the home loan approval process, student loans are just as toxic as credit cards and car loans. they look at what i still have left owing and what my monthly payments are on them and then they look at my income and go, sorry, together you CANNOT take out a mortgage - he can apply and be approved but both of you together w/ both your incomes (which would have qualified us for a larger mortgage) nope. my student loans, while they allowed me to get my degree which in turn made it possible to do what i do, are now biting me in the rear. it's not considered 'good' debt, it's toxic. they mess w/ your DTI too much.
    • Ce-elle  •  2 years 1 month ago
      What?! Financially smart men or women will pay down their debt, before taking on a major purchase. The attitude of some of these posters point to the mind set that has caused the economic problems of today. Did someone post...the government continues to allow them to take out the max student loans each year?....govern yourself! Student loans are optional! There are other sources of college financial aid. If you are willing to invest your TIME in locating and applying for them.
    • pkprq97  •  2 years 1 month ago
      cutebanker -- for the longest time home ownership was NOT a priority to us, school to me yes but home ownership no. when i was in school, buying a house was the farthest thing from my mind/agenda. good thing that house prices starting at 250-300K kept me out of the market (even in 1997 when i graduated from undergrad).
    • cutebanker  •  2 years 1 month ago
      uh hello i work for a bank- i know how credit works. my credit was high before i bought my house. and went back to school. all other credit issues have remained the same. i pay and i pay on time. the fact that i put on another $130k in debt tanked my credit. debt is debt. my mid score went from 680 to 613. i know, i just got a car last night. and i bought my house 3 years ago. like i said, the only thing diff today is the amount of debt i have. and that's exactly what the finance guy said at the dealership.

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