Posts Tagged Financial Matters

What will new credit card regulations mean for women?

Disclaimer: I hate credit. It just feels wrong that I’m forced to borrow money from some big credit card company month after month, even if I don’t want or need access to any funds beyond what I hold in my bank account, just so I can improve my “score” and people in society will trust me enough to give me things I need to survive, like the ability to rent an apartment. That being said, I go along with this hair-brained scheme because we live in a capitalist society where no one trusts each other and apparently coming to terms with that is part of being a grownup (along with learning to like the taste of beer and not tittering ...
Disclaimer: I hate credit. It just feels wrong that I’m forced to borrow money from some big credit card company month after month, even if I don’t want or need access to any funds beyond what I ...

Less than 10% of the World’s Billionaires Are Women

Various studies have been coming out over the last six months noting the gender disparity in the world’s wealthiest people. Forbes reported that of 1000 billionaires in the world only 14 are women; while TrendHunter claims that of 946 billionaires, only 86 are women, so either way it’s a range between 1 and 9 percent which is extremely low. Maybe not a surprising stat but a disappointing one nonetheless.

So what can we attribute this to? It doesn’t seem to make sense considering in the U.S. women make up more than half of the workforce and more than half of college graduates. So why is there such a large disparity in wealth?

One article I read recently talked about ...

Various studies have been coming out over the last six months noting the gender disparity in the world’s wealthiest people. Forbes reported that of 1000 billionaires in the world only 14 are women; while TrendHunter ...

Women’s mass exodus from the financial industry

Just when you thought the finance industry couldn’t get any more dude-heavy, The Wall Street Journal (via Annie Lowrey) reports that women are leaving the financial industry behind:

In the past 10 years, 141,000 women, or 2.6% of female workers in finance, left the industry. The ranks of men grew by 389,000 in that period, or 9.6%, according to a review of data provided by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The shift runs counter to changes in the overall work force. The number of women in the U.S. labor market has grown by 4.1% in the past decade, outpacing a 0.5% increase in male workers.

It’s also interesting how this breaks down by age and advancement. Older women have ...

Just when you thought the finance industry couldn’t get any more dude-heavy, The Wall Street Journal (via Annie Lowrey) reports that women are leaving the financial industry behind:

In the past 10 years, 141,000 women, or ...

Swedish feminist group burns 13K in pay gap protest


We apparently missed last week’s barbecue in Sweden: A feminist Swedish group protested the gender pay gap by burning 100,000 kronor ($13,000):

The Feminist Initiative party says the money set ablaze on the Swedish island of Gotland on Tuesday represents the amount of money the country’s women miss out on every minute in comparison to men.
Party leader Gudrun Schyman says “it may seem desperate to burn 100,000 kronor, but the situation is desperate as well.”

I can’t decide whether I think this is bad-ass or just bad activism. I mean, I’m all for making radical statements to get your message across, but couldn’t have that dough gone to, say, women who are affected by the pay gap? ...


We apparently missed last week’s barbecue in Sweden: A feminist Swedish group protested the gender pay gap by burning 100,000 kronor ($13,000):

The Feminist Initiative party says the money set ablaze on the Swedish ...

Quick Hit: The Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy

Courtney and the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy, which she founded four years ago, were highlighted in this New York Times article.

[Courtney is] a Brooklyn-based writer who, five years ago, was shocked to find herself in possession of a six-figure book advance. She wanted to give a chunk of it away, but was not sure how. So she decided she would make it someone else’s problem — nine other people’s problems. She chose nine thoughtful friends, gave them each $100, and told them they would be expected to account for what they had done with it at a gathering a month later.

Check out the full piece here and the group here. Congrats Courtney!

Courtney and the Secret Society for Creative Philanthropy, which she founded four years ago, were highlighted in this New York Times article.

[Courtney is] a Brooklyn-based writer who, five years ago, was shocked to find herself ...

A year in donations

As 2009 comes to a close I’m wrapping up my first year of giving donations in a deliberate way. I don’t make a lot of money, and in fact I’m worth a negative amount if you count my student loan debt. But this is the first year I’ve made enough money that I have a little bit of flexibility in my finances. My thinking around donating has changed a lot recently, too. I don’t come from money and it’s something I’ve never been comfortable talking about. I also let my anti-capitalist politics serve as an excuse to hide from the financial realities of some of the organizing work I do – I’d work with nonprofit organizations and benefit from their ...

As 2009 comes to a close I’m wrapping up my first year of giving donations in a deliberate way. I don’t make a lot of money, and in fact I’m worth a negative amount if you count ...

Not Oprah’s Book Club: Get Financially Naked

Did you know that 80% of men die married while 80% of women die single?

This isn’t to depress anyone, and no, I’m not going to follow this up with some bogus stat about how it’s harder for a woman in New York City to find a partner than it is to find a unicorn on the Great Lawn. The fear mongers have been there, done that. What I am going to tell you is that it’s critical that you understand your finances and start making informed choices about them. Not because you’ll potentially be alone, sadsadsniffsniff, but because you’ll potentially be alone, and think of all the incredible adventures you could have!
That’s where this new book, by Manisha ...

Did you know that 80% of men die married while 80% of women die single?

This isn’t to depress anyone, and no, I’m not going to follow this up with some bogus stat about how it’s harder for ...

Dreams of a feminist business

I’ve been getting really into entrepreneurship lately. It’s strange, to be honest, to be wishing I could have taken business classes in college. I went to a liberal arts school, majored in Anthropology and Spanish, and stayed away from anything practical. But in the years since leaving school, and particularly these last few, I’ve started to get super excited about the idea of business and entrepreneurship.
What turned me off from business for so long was the idea that the goal had to be making money. That I could only be involved in business if I wanted to get rich off my project.
I’ve come to learn that’s totally not true, and there are business out there that aren’t non-profits ...

I’ve been getting really into entrepreneurship lately. It’s strange, to be honest, to be wishing I could have taken business classes in college. I went to a liberal arts school, majored in Anthropology and Spanish, and stayed ...

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