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.