Category Archives: Personal Finance

Is “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” Art Imitating Life in 1960 or 2020?

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Have you been watching Amazon’s hit comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”? Do you love it? I have-and I DO! It’s simple. It’s funny. I can fall asleep after it is over with a light heart. I binge watched Season 3 over the holidays.

The story line focuses on Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a NYC housewife in the late 1950s/early 1960s who discovers she has a knack for stand-up comedy and begins actively pursuing a career. To keep it simple without need of spoiler alerts, her husband can’t handle her success, has an affair with his secretary and they separate.

I love that it brings current day recognition to the female pioneers that paved the way for the careers we women pursue today (although still today, this is not without challenges and/or risks to our financial well-being, but that’s a topic for another newsletter).

“Mrs. Maisel” depicts, in a “making fun of what used to be” sort of way, the early phases of breaking the mold during a time that was probably anything but fun for women choosing this path. I love that it makes me recognize and appreciate how much things have changed for women.

Yet after watching an episode of Season 3, I began to wonder if in some ways, despite the 1960’s setting, “Mrs. Maisel” is also current day art imitating life when it comes to many women and their finances. As Midge gains earning power, she washes her hands of money management and leaves it in the trusted hands of her talent manager Susie, who fails miserably. And then, of all people, Susie goes to Midge’s EX-HUSBAND, begging him to take over Midge’s finances. So Midge has a successful career and is taking on the world…but will still be relying on her ex-husband to handle her money.

Unusual for the times? No, not at all. Women weren’t even allowed to apply for their own credit cards until 1974! But how much has truly changed in regards to women being fully engaged in their finances?

Certainly, there have been HUGE strides over the decades in so many areas for women, but there are still inroads that we need to make for our financial security and that of our families.

I leave you with this question:

On a scale of 1-10, how “in the loop” are you in the understanding of your personal or family finances?

If you are not an 8 or above, I encourage you to become more engaged, ask questions if you don’t understand, and make 2020 the year that you become your own pioneer in financial empowerment.

‘Tis the Season to be…Fearful?

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Earlier this week, I was engaging in the nightly ritual of moving the Elf on the Shelf to a new location. As the tale goes, he had flown back to the North Pole overnight and reported to Santa whether my children were naughty or nice that day. Given my boys are now 16, 14 and 12, there’s a whole lot of not so nice around here and long gone is the fear that Ruckert the Elf is going to tell Santa about it. At best, my youngest is humoring me by even looking for the Elf each morning.

It got me thinking about what we all know as the “fear tactic”, most often used with children, to get them to do or act in a way which we desire…

  • Behave nicely or Santa won’t bring you any toys.
  • Eat your vegetables or you won’t grow big and strong.
  • And let’s not forget about Pinocchio and his nose.  

But let’s face it, kids aren’t the only targets of the fear tactic. If it’s a subject area I know little or nothing about (like car maintenance for example), I could be “told and sold” just about anything. After all, they’re the experts, right?

Well the financial services industry is no different. There are folks out there trying to instill fear to get you to take action. And not always, but often, that action is favorable to them in some way.

Tid bits you may hear along the way, such as…

  • Do YOU know your 401(k) balance after recent market volatility? 
  • Are you afraid of outliving your money?  

and my personal favorite….

  • Don’t let the nursing home take all of your hard earned cash. Come see us before it’s too late!

Fear Tactic…

The point is, when it comes to financial decisions, making a rash decision to DO or BUY or CHANGE anything out of fear is often met with regret down the road. You have some time… to ask questions and understand, to plan according to your needs and to make a decision from a place of knowledge and clarity.

I wish I could say the same for my car maintenance!