Monthly Archives: December 2009

“Oh, No, I Don’t Know Anything About Money”

I was standing in line at Home Depot this afternoon, waiting to pay for my $7.99 replacement ‘Hall & Closet Non-Locking Interior Door Handle’.  (I had finally gotten tired of arm-wrestling the pantry door handle every time I wanted to take out a spice.)

As I reached over and picked up a copy of this month’s Money magazine, the woman behind me in line read aloud the teaser title on the cover:  “WHAT TO DO WITH $1,000 (OR $10,000 OR $50,000) NOW”.

“Are you an investor?” I asked.  “Oh, heavens no,” she said, “I don’t know anything about money.”

My antennae shot up.  Here I was again, hearing that all-too-familiar knee-jerk reaction so many women have to the topic of money.  Resistance?  Fear?  Overwhelm?  I said I’d bet she knew far more than she was giving herself credit for … and why would she say that anyway?

“I was never too good at math in school,” she answered.  “And my ‘ex’ always said I was useless with numbers, in fact, he wouldn’t even let me balanced our checkbook.”

I looked at her large rolling cart, loaded with two-by-four-by-eights, stud framing clips and nails.  I asked what she was building.

“Well, I picked up a couple of properties real cheap over in Hollywood, and they’re zoned as multi-family.  So I’m converting them into rentals for the retirees who’ll be moving to Florida after they sell their houses for less than they had hoped.”

I rest my case.