This article shows how social and emotional pressures on women can cause them to withdraw money from their retirement accounts, turning them into a family slush fund.
I saw this while preparing taxes for a very sweet (perhaps a little dim) neighbor who had withdrawn about 40% from her IRA to give to her (even dimmer) sister. This sweet neighbor also allows her daughter to live in her original home in CA rent-free. (She should sell the home if she can’t bring herself to demand rent from her daughter.)
Many women have trouble saying “NO!” from the most trivial to the most costly requests.
In a recent survey by the investment firm TIAA, just 19 percent of women said they felt they would be able to retire without running out of money. For men, that number is 35 percent.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/22/business/women-retirement…
Wendy
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So how to address this?
Women can be just as analytical as men. So it isn’t that. They know what they’re doing is ill-advised, but do it anyway because they can’t say “no”? The math tells them what they should do, in most cases.
Our retirement is off-limits to anyone but us. When we’re gone, it all goes to 1poorkid. Until then, it’s ours. 1poorlady is more afraid than me about running out of money. We’d -neither one of us- ever transfer funds without discussing with the other first. Fortunately, 1poorkid is pretty sharp, and would not take advantage of us. But perhaps we are in the minority on that front.
They know what they’re doing is ill-advised, but do it anyway because they can’t say “no”?
I know quite a few guys like that, so it’s not gender specific.
Fuskie
Who exhibited the behavior himself when he spent $135 on shirt during has last Disney Cruise despite having already blown through his pre-planned budget for souvenirs…
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I know quite a few guys like that, so it’s not gender specific.
That’s not what they article said. It said women have a more difficult time saying “no”. Maybe cultural? Maybe a predilection for nurturing? Dunno.