Study: Women make more family, finance decisions than men

[Trek420]

My father has shielded my mom (and she has, for whatever reason, consented to this arrangement) from financial decisions. She's never really worked outside the home and really had very little understanding of many practical things.

I think that's a generational thing. And hopefully this and future generations more women are more involved in day to day and planning financial issues on an individual, family and all levels.

In their 62 years of marriage my parents shared all financial decisions. While I think my Dad signed most of the checks, and he kept simply amazing track of their finances. Yet decisions ranging from daily purchases to long term investments were made jointly and often discussed around the dining room table.

For example, Dad saw no difference between inexpensive wine and the finer stuff. So they had a blind taste test one night. Dad's opinion was still that he like Trader Joe's house brand over Mom's chosen from the finest local Sonoma winery.

I've read somewhere that while none of us are assured even one more day of health as women tend to live longer than men a wise husband/partner "trains his partner for widowhood". And that my Dad did.

While I'm sure she misses him every hour of every day my 86 y.o. Mom lives independently and manages her finances well thanks not only to that she always had a talent for math and science, but thanks in no small part to the way they lived together.

In fact he taught us all a lot. In todays economy I often wonder WWJD?

And that's What Would Jack Do

For years he drove me to school we'd pick up Barrons on the way and I'd read him the stocks he'd tracked as he drove. Once when his Mom sold a stock he'd recommended and bought something on the advice of a so-called professional broker he didn't object. He did not nag her.

He just made a game/lesson for us kids from it.

We tracked the steady rise of the solid stock Dad had recommended for my Grandma, and the sudden drop of the "pro's" Hot Deal. He showed me why each stock was a good or bad buy, we calculated Grandma's potential loss and actual loss daily

I think eventually he got his "job" back