ReBootYourLifeToday

Money Makes The World Go 'Round

We’ve all learned there’s no free lunch.  Rebooting your life is no exception – it takes at least a small patch of solid financial footing to move forward.  The following spotlights the importance of creative and imaginative income creation for women.  See below for money making ideas. 

 From the following stats it’s easy to see why woman can get into financial trouble in their mature years.  There are, of course plenty of women who have planned well and managed to put together a reliable and ample income to fund their mature years.  However, even with good planning and wise money management, look what a lot of women face:

 “Women’s income, in general, is lower than men’s.  Among older individuals, the difference is especially pronounced. The median income for women age 60 and older is roughly one-half that of men in the same age group.“ * Now’s the time to think outside the box and find ways to increase ongoing income.

 90% of women over 65 receive Social Security benefits and for one third of those, social security is their only income. (AARP.org, 2008) This is another shocking statistic.  

 In 2005 the average Social Security benefit for women was $826 per month.  (Social Security Administration.  Social Security Bulletin: Annual Statistical Supplement, 2005)  It has come up since 2005 but only by about 3% per year and not at all in 2009 and 2010 due to the recession.

 Interest on investments and/or savings is a source of income for more than half (56.6 percent) of white women older than 64.  It is far less for women of color.

In 2005 women owned 6.5 million nonfarm US firms. According to the Internal Revenue Service women own roughly 28% of non farm businesses.   Can you start a small business now to give you income in the future?

21% of women over 65 are still in the labor force. (AARP.org, 2008) With Social Security benefits so low for women it’s no wonder 21% still need to work.

51% of women are now living without a spouse, according to an article in the New York Times by Sam Roberts, January 16, 2007, which of course, means there’s only one income for these women. Traditionally women stayed married and had their husband’s retirement income to help pay the bills. (The findings in this article cover all women, not just mature women. However, at least in anecdotal form, many widowed or divorced women over 60 opt not to remarry.)

*(All of the stats cited above were gathered from the AARP website which reprinted the following article. “Women Age 65 and Older: Their Sources of Income” by Laurel Beedon and Ke Bin Wu, October, 2005) of funds. If you are in financial trouble I hope the following ideas and processes will give you a new look at money and help you bring enough financial stability into your life to make your re-invention a reality.)

 OK what can you do right now to improve your finances?  Here are some money makers and check out future posts for more:

 If you own your home (68% of us do) consider becoming a foreign student host.  Many colleges attract students from all over the world.  Call your local colleges and offer to have one or more students live with you.  You provide a bedroom and dinner.  The students pay well and are well behaved.  Easy way to make extra money after your own kids are gone.

You don’t want anyone living inside the house? How about turning a garage or other backyard structure (such as a storage building) into a rental for students or young professionals. One woman I know turned a gardening shed into an artist studio and rents it out to local artists.  Takes a little effort and money but well worth years of rent payments.

Stay tuned for more ideas of easy, long term sources of income.

Aging Gets a Bum Rap

 

Someone said, "Aging isn't for sissies." Maybe so, but aging’s  got some outstanding benefits which get overlooked.  Like what?  Well, would you go to a job interview wearing a hat that said, "Take this job and shove if?". How about answering your cell phone during a job interview?  What about wearing a low cut, revealing top to an  interview ?

 I didn’t make this stuff up - honest.  A survey of hiring managers conducted by Career Builders, and reported in the January 15, 2011 edition of the Los Angeles Times  (LATimes.com/business ) found that 71% of the managers interviewed said answering a cell was the top error made by people they interviewed.   Sixty Nine percent said dressing inappropriately was their top complaint.  Sixty six percent complained applicants were arrogant and disinterested in the job. One manager reported an applicant actually appeared at the interview with the hat saying “Take this job and shove it.” I’ll bet this kid wondered why he didn’t the job!

 All the job applicants were under 30.  We all have stories from our own youth where we made dumb mistakes.  One of my high school friends bought a car without getting  the pink slip as proof that the seller actually owned it - he didn't.   Yes, my friend bought a stolen car and lost her money. At 17 I got married to my first boyfriend.  I lived to regret it. 

 People do live and learn.  As we go through life we make some good choices and some missteps.  By the time we hit our stage of life we've learned a lot of lessons.  We’ve learned to think before making a big decision because we know choices have consequences.  We’ve also seen you get only one chance to make a good first impression. So we’ve learned to plan and prepare. How about trusting everyone at face value is a mistake.  I could fill a book with my lessons.  I'm sure you could too.  That's why all the happiness surveys show people over 50 are happier, more content with their lives, more financially solid and experience less stress.

 Aging well means we have to take care of ourselves.  We can’t abuse our physical and emotional selves and expect to never experience the consequences of our behavior.  Aging is not for sissies if you’ve led a life that excluded dealing with your issues, lacked balance and harbored long held anger, bitterness and fears.  If you’ve lived well you can expect to age well too.

If It Bleeds It Leads

My grandson who is a first grader got a final assignment before summer.  He was to chose 5 letters from the alphabet and write a story using words beginning with those letters.  He called to read me his cute little tale about how much he’d love to have a dog.

 His call was coincidental as I’d been thinking about words and how powerful they are.  It seems so much of what we hear today from political debate to reality shows is mean spirited, full of criticism and derision.  

Years ago in Journalism 101 I learned the motto of every newsroom is, “If It Bleeds It Leads.” In other words, bad, nasty news sells.   It sells so well that it’s all we get.  Today we have things that were non-existent when I took Journalism in college.  We have a 24 hour news cycle, video cameras on cell phones and You-Tube.  So we’re constantly surrounded by bad news.  

Just for fun I tried to think of some good news.  I started by looking up how many babies are born every day in the US.  Answer is about 11,000.  Babies are our future and although not always expected, are on the whole very good news.  By contrast I looked up how many people are murdered every day.  Answer: 45.  In a country of over 300 million people 45 is a miniscule number, but which do you think will get the most news coverage?   

According to the Commerce Department 600,000 new small businesses are started in the US every year.  I know 7 million people lost their jobs as a result of the Bush era and many are still suffering.  But wouldn’t it lift everyone’s spirits if some attention were paid the 600,000 new businesses that brave, visionary people are starting?   

Every year 80 top students are chosen to become Rhodes Scholars.  Do we ever see profiles of these remarkable young students?  No, we hear an endless listing of Tiger Woods’ mistresses.   The number of heart attacks and the mortality rate for heart attacks has been dropping since 1995. Do we ever hear about that?   I could go on and on.  But you get the idea.   

There’s a lot more good news generated every day than anyone who lives in our society would believe.   I think all that bad news wears us down – at least it wears me down, so I decided I’d start looking for good news everywhere I go.   I don’t go to state dinners at the White House, and my input is not solicited at the G-20 Economic Summit, so I have to find my good news in everyday happenings.  For example, when I picked up my cleaning, Evelyn who owns the cleaners, told me her son had just been admitted to medical school.  I know the kid and I was proud of him too.  My 86 year neighbor just had his hip replaced.  He’s recovering very well and told me he’d soon be back on his treadmill and walking 5 miles a day.   

The first grade grandson who wrote the story about wanting a dog, has a brother who just graduated from pre-school.  One of the songs the kids sang at their graduation program was about leaving the world a little better than they found it.  I think that’s an outstanding goal for all of us.  So I’ve turned looking for good news into a daily adventure.  I’ve heard some great stories and then I make a point of spreading the good news.  I try to tell at least one other person about every piece of good news I hear. 

The stories I hear are hardly Breaking News on CNN.  They’re personal experiences that are important to a small number of people.  But life is like that.  It’s made up of moment in time experiences.  Looking for good news is fun and it makes me feel like I’m making the world a bit better.  If you find good news stories send them to me, I’d love to hear them!

Why Kick the Stuffings Out of Old-Ladyhood? Because it makes good financial sense!

• A friend always says she wears her wrinkles and gray hair as merit badges. She’s a great human being and I’m proud to be her friend, but she’s been job hunting for the last 9 months. Those “merit badges” have a very high dollar cost. I know the job market has been horrible, but this woman has exceptional experience in a niche field where there is still high demand. She should have several job offers.
• While waiting in the dentist office I leafed through a beauty magazine devoted to make-overs. (It was either that or Modern Dentistry). And it occurred to me that my friend would have a much better chance at a new job if she got rid of the gray hair and some of the wrinkles. In the before pics the made-over women looked frumpy and “older” and a lot better in the after photos. Yes, it was shallow. But I got to thinking there’s an economic cost to old-ladyhood.
• A new hair color, make up and some new clothes are going to get me a new job or fatten up my 401K? Come on, get real…
• OK, here’s my thinking: Like it or not, the face we show the world is how we’re judged. Of course, having a good heart, integrity and many achievements are of great value and much deeper than crow’s feet. But we’re still judged by how we look. We live in a youth oriented society where older is never better - it’s just old especially if you’re a woman.
• Consider the following:
• If you’re in a well paid job your appearance is really important. Why? Because you want to be seen as being up to the challenges the company faces. In rough economic times every company needs fresh, new ideas to keep their market share. True or not, fresh ideas are generally not sought from “older” people. And of course, in good times when the company is hiring, they can get a fresh faced, high energy 26 year old new MBA. She dresses fashionably, and has a youthful perspective on the company’s customers. But most important of all: she’s getting paid far less than you are. Never underrate the allure of a good looking girl who will work for less money than you make. Looking old is always a disadvantage for a woman in the workplace.
• Of course if you’re on the job market like my friend, appearance is a key factor to getting hired. No one wants to hire someone who looks tired and, well, old. No matter how good your experience or references.
• If you’re widowed or divorced and want a new partner, it’s very important to look your best as men tend to chose women on the basis of looks. I’m not bad mouthing men, it’s just a fact of life. You can have a great personality , and be a lot of fun, but if you’re looking “older,” finding a new partner could prove challenging.
• In fact, I can’t think of any situation when looking “older” is a positive for any woman, no matter what her goals are. In some cultures, older people are cared for and their advice solicited. Ours is a youth oriented culture where 12 year olds are writing computer programs and making a ton of money before they go to high school. Looking our age, or God forbid older, is simply counterproductive under any circumstances.

To sum up my case that looking like, an “older woman” is an economic hazard, let’s consider what the common perception of an older woman is. Such a woman is perceived as simply having lost her mojo and that can’t be good.