Continue reading Single women are hit hard by the recession

Single women are hit hard by the recession originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In honor of Veteran's Day, three restaurant chains are offering free meals to members of the military and veterans.

McCormick & Schmick's is having its 11th Annual Veterans Appreciation Event on Sunday, Nov. 8. Veterans can receive a free lunch or dinner entree when they show the proper ID. Space is limited and reservations are required.

You can get a free individual pizza or entree at Uno Chicago Grill on Monday, Nov. 11. The offer is good with a purchase of equal or greater value. Just wear a uniform, bring a picture of you in uniform, or show a military or veteran's ID to qualify.

Golden Corral is offering a free "Thank You" dinner on Monday, Nov. 16, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at all restaurants. Anyone who has ever served in the U.S. military can receive a free meal, and no identification is required.

Free meals for veterans at McCormick & Schmick's, Uno Chicago Grill and Golden Corral originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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About 15 bridal salons around the U.S. are offering free wedding gowns to military brides next week through the Brides Across America event.

The gowns are being given away on a first come, first serve basis and are valued at between $500 to $3,000. Most are samples or overstocks between sizes 4 to 22, but selections vary from salon to salon.

To qualify for the giveaway you must be engaged, on active duty in the military, and have been deployed or will be deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq. You also qualify if your fiance is on active military duty in those countries. If you've already been married by a justice of the peace but are planning an upcoming wedding, you may still qualify for a free gown.

When you visit the bridal salon you'll need to show an ID, copy of deployment papers for you or your finance, orders or other qualifying proof.

Each salon has a limited number of dresses to give away, so get there early or you'll be put on a waiting list for future events.

The dates and times vary, so check the Brides Across America site to find a location near you.

Free wedding gowns for military brides originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would you know the signs to look for if your spouse were cheating on you?

WalletPop talks to infidelity expert Ruth Houston about some of the financial signs of a cheating spouse. Whether it's mysterious charges on a credit card statement or hidden assets, cheating spouses often leave a financial trail, says Houston, the author of "Is He Cheating on You? 829 Telltale Signs." Among the telltale signs are increases in ATM withdrawals and dwindling bank accounts.

For more tips on detecting financial infidelity, check out WalletPop Radio on BlogTalk Radio:

Podcast: Financial signs your spouse may be cheating originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did you know that women make up 70% of the world's population living in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day? Or that women produce 60% to 80% of the world's food, but hold down only 1% of the world's land and 10% of the world's wealth? Despite these statistics, women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs and professionals in the world.

The role of women in the global economy is the focus of a new, free online exhibit called "Economica: Women and the Global Economy." The multimedia exploration of women's lives around the world is part of the International Museum of Women (IMOW), an online social change museum.

Continue reading Online exhibit explores women and the global economy

Online exhibit explores women and the global economy originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Half of U.S. workers are women and there are about 10.1 million businesses owned by females, according to the Shriver Report. Those companies employ about 23 million people and earn a combined revenue of $3 trillion.

But only 3% of businesses owned by women in the U.S. actually have revenue of $1 million, compared with 6% to 7% of companies owned by men, according to the Center for Women's Business Research.

In fact, 75% of all women-owned businesses in the U.S. have annual revenue of $50,000 or less.

Nell Merlino, president of Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence and creator of "Take Our Daughters to Work Day," said in an interview that there are several reasons many women-owned companies struggle to break past the $50,000 level.

Continue reading Tips for women entrepreneurs to boost revenue past $50,000

Tips for women entrepreneurs to boost revenue past $50,000 originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The recession has exposed America's dirty secret that many Americans are financially illiterate. And it would be difficult to find someone who doesn't agree that Americans could use more financial education at the student and adult levels.

There are a variety of Web sites aimed at improving financial literacy in America, but one new site hopes to go beyond offering the usual tools for learning to budget, paying off debt, boosting savings, etc. GetFinancialFinesse.org hopes to equip people with tools to clean up their own finances and get involved in efforts to improve financial literacy in their communities. The site is operated by Financial Finesse, a financial education company.

Continue reading Financial literacy site encourages people to get involved in their community

Financial literacy site encourages people to get involved in their community originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Young married women are more likely to manage their household finances by themselves with little input from their spouses than men are, according to a survey by FindLaw.com.

The poll found that 37% of married women between the ages of 18 to 34 go solo on managing money, compared with 30% of young married men. And in many cases that arrangement seems to work just fine.

Kristen Fuhs Wells, of Indianapolis, says she became the money manager when she married her husband Benjamin more than two years ago. "He was still in college when we got married and he'd never had a checking account. I don't think he ever wanted to do the bills and I was fine with doing it."

Wells, 26, says she's definitely more knowledgeable about money than her husband, partly because he never had much money before they got married. While she doesn't have him on an allowance, Wells says she will let him know when they both need to cut back on their spending. "He's fine with it. It's kind of like out of sight, out of mind...we each have our own tasks. He takes out the trash. He does the yard work. I do the bills."

Splitting the household tasks was something Erin Beam, of San Francisco, says she and her husband actually discussed in premarital counseling. "Based on our strengths, we decided I would handle responsibilities such as the finances and he would handle tasks such as the cooking."

Continue reading Young married women take charge of household finances

Young married women take charge of household finances originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meghann Reed recently returned to the workforce as an event consultant after a stint as a stay-at-home mom. Although she'd planned to continue caring for her two daughters full-time, family finances pushed her back to work. Like many women, the Corning, N.Y., woman is conflicted about being a working mom and sometimes feels guilty or angry about the thought of leaving her children, Mykaela and Savannah.

"In a perfect world I would be a stay-at-home mom until both of my girls were in school. In fact, I would love to have a third, but have that on the back burner for now because I would want to stay home for the first year and at the moment it wouldn't be possible," Reed says. "My 2-year-old still cries every day when I leave and my 3-year old has become very clingy. It isn't easy."

Continue reading Back to work: Stay-at-home mom re-enters workforce sooner than planned

Back to work: Stay-at-home mom re-enters workforce sooner than planned originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We all have probably done some dumb things with our money at some point.

Men and women relate to money differently, so we don't always handle it in the same way.

Women are more likely than men to let their emotions influence how they handle money. That emotional spending can even result in women letting their feelings for a man (or attemps to snag a man) get in the way of making smart financial choices.

Here are 10 mistakes women make with money when dating:

Continue reading 10 mistakes women make with their money when dating

10 mistakes women make with their money when dating originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The show "Househusbands of Hollywood" on the Fox Reality Channel features five men who stay at home while their mates bring home the bacon. Among the househusbands are a former Los Angeles Dodgers player raising two pre-teen girls, a former sitcom star who isn't actually married and has no children, and an actor/producer/ex-bank robber with a baby.

All the men came to their stay-at-home status in different ways -- one quit med school to pursue acting -- but they illustrate a broader trend happening in America. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are expected for the first time to make up the majority of American workers by October or November. That's because men have been disproportionately hit by layoffs during the current recession.

Female workers held 49.83% of the 132 million jobs in the U.S. in June. Women have benefited from working in health care, education and government jobs, all sectors that are continuing to grow despite the economy. Those fields also tend to hire more women than men.

Continue reading Women poised to dominate U.S. work force: Will there be more househusbands?

Women poised to dominate U.S. work force: Will there be more househusbands? originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Women with higher levels of testosterone are more likely to choose riskier careers in finance than those with lower levels of the male hormone, according to a recent study.

Women tend to be more cautious than men when it comes to financial decisions, and the study confirms that biology plays a role in those differences.

The research was conducted by professors at the Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago. It's no surprise that testosterone is linked to risky behavior, as many studies have shown.

Take a walk through the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and you'll see that the place oozes testosterone. But what's new here is the link between testosterone and risky behavior in women.

"This is the first study showing that gender differences in financial risk aversion have a biological basis, and that differences in testosterone levels between individuals can affect important aspects of economic behavior and career decisions," says Dario Maestripieri, professor in comparative human development at the University of Chicago, in a story on the school's Web site about the study.

Researchers took saliva samples of 460 MBA students to measure testosterone levels. Most were similar in age, cultural and educational background, and socioeconomic status.

During the study they played computer games and answered questions that measured their willingness to engage in risky behaviors, such as choosing a lottery versus a guaranteed payout of money. Also, 36% of the female MBA students picked high-risk careers such as investment banking or trading, compared with 57% of male students.

Although women with more testosterone had a higher appetite for risk, levels of the male hormone didn't seem to make a difference for men. There also was little difference in risk taking among men and women with similar levels of testosterone.

Great balls of fire! More testosterone makes women take more risks originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Pregnant mothers see benefits from group prenatal visits

Pregnant mothers see benefits from group prenatal visits originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Terry Kohl of Wild Rose, Wis., recently attended a girls-night-out at a fitness club in her community. Attendees were able to check out the facilities, speak with trainers and participate in other fun activities unrelated to the club. Although the event was a nice way to promote the fitness club, the main goal wasn't to get people to sign up for memberships.

"It wasn't such a heavily promotional type of thing...They decided to have a fun night, inviting women only, to re-establish who they were, where they were and what they had to offer," says Kohl, president of Media Management Marketing, a PR firm in the automotive industry, and the author of Lost Your Job? Now What!

Although the focus wasn't really on common networking, Kohl says she saw a lot of business cards being exchanged. "When you get a bunch of women together you're going to have networking whether you want to or not."

Across the U.S. women are being drawn to female-only networking events in large numbers. As with functions attended by men, these meetings allow them to trade job leads, swap advice on advancing their careers and promote their businesses. But women-only events sometimes offer a more relaxed and supportive atmosphere than functions that include men. In addition to the typical business card exchanges, breakfast meetings and luncheons, recent women's networking events around the country have included outings to jewelry and shoe stores, a scavenger hunt, dance classes and spa days.

But aside from having a good time, is it really important for women to attend networking functions without the opposite sex? Absolutely, say many women who have become successful in their fields.

Continue reading Women-only networking functions go beyond business card exchanges

Women-only networking functions go beyond business card exchanges originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Back to school: More kids will get free lunches

Back to school: More kids will get free lunches originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Women who experience a significant life crisis such as a divorce, death of a spouse or job loss are more likely to struggle with finances than men dealing with a crisis. A life crisis also takes a bigger toll on women's emotional health, according to a survey by AARP Financial Inc.

"No one escapes the financial implications of a life crisis, but they are particularly acute for women," said Richard "Mac" Hisey, president of AARP Financial Inc. "The demographic considerations are obvious: women outlive men, so they experience more life crises and deal with the consequences longer. But women also tend to be the caregivers. That means women are frequently dealing with the human and logistical consequences of a life crisis, leaving little time and energy for the financial considerations."

Of those polled, 65% of women ages 40 to 79 had experienced a major life crisis that significantly impacted their finances. Of people who had experienced the death of a spouse, 46% of women vs. 17% of men said it had a significant impact on finances. Also, 66% of women who had experienced a long-term job loss in their household said it had a huge impact on their finances, compared with 49% of men.

Continue reading Women more likely than men to take huge financial hit after experiencing a life crisis

Women more likely than men to take huge financial hit after experiencing a life crisis originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The economy is being blamed for a drop in the number of Americans having babies. That's not surprising given a recent government report that said parents could expect to spend $221,000 to raise a child from birth to age 17. This is the first time the number of U.S. births has dropped in 10 years.

Figures from the National Center for Health Statistics indicate that the number of births fell 2% in 2008 to 4,247,000. That compares with the previous year when the birthrate surpassed a record high set 50 years earlier. The number of births fell across the country last year except in 10 states. California saw a 2.6% decline in births and Arizona had a 3% drop.

Early data for 2009 also seem to indicate that many families are putting off having children. That's probably due in large part to the fact that many men who are the primary breadwinners in their families are losing jobs. "More than 80 percent of the job losses in this recession have been borne by men," Stephanie Coontz, a professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., told the New York Times. "There are a lot of families where a maternity leave would mean that no income at all was coming in."

Continue reading During recession Americans make changes, not babies

During recession Americans make changes, not babies originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Many first-time parents are stunned when they realize how much it cost to raise kids. Just how expensive is it? A U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report says that a middle-income family who had a child last year is expected to spend $221,000 to raise him or her to the age of 17.

It's no wonder that many women who want to stay home to raise their children feel pressured to remain in the workplace. About 63% of children who lived with married parents in 2007 had both parents in the work force, while 56% of kids who lived with two unmarried parents had both in the labor force, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The report by the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion found that the amount households spend on raising children varies depending upon their income. Two-parent households with two children and before-tax income of less than $56,870 spend an average of $8,330 to $9,450 per child annually. Similar households with income between $56,870 and $98,470 spend an average of $11,610 to $13,480 per child, and those with incomes above $98,470 average $19,250 to $22,960 per child.

Continue reading High cost of raising kids often thwarts dream of being stay-at-home mom

High cost of raising kids often thwarts dream of being stay-at-home mom originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are you a stay-at-home mom ready to re-enter the workforce? More moms are job hunting to help shore up their families' finances. According to a MyWorkButterfly.com survey, 71% of moms who returned to the workforce said financial security was the most important benefit.

But many moms with outdated skills and gaps in their resumes are having a tough time finding a position, especially since they're competing with people who've recently lost their jobs. Other women aren't exactly thrilled with the idea of taking on long commutes and spending more time away from their families. For some of those moms it may make sense to search for a way to make money from home. Here are some options.

Continue reading Good options for moms re-entering the workforce

Good options for moms re-entering the workforce originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A diamond is forever, according to a long-time De Beers advertising slogan. Well apparently the King of Pop's hair may last forever, too.

Chicago-based LifeGem plans to turn pieces of Michael Jackson's singed hair into diamonds. The company will use hair that caught fire 25 years ago during the filming of the infamous Pepsi commercial.

While I never would have imagined anyone had saved singed pieces of Jackson's hair, I guess I shouldn't be surprised since people do all kinds of crazy things when celebrities are involved.

Apparently Ralph Cohen, the executive producer on the Pepsi commercial who threw an Armani jacket over Jackson's head to extinguish the flames, put the hair in his pocket and kept it all these years. John Reznikoff, who has an extensive collection of hair from famous figures like Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe, purchased the hair and will preserve part of it as diamonds.(He also got the Armani jacket in the deal).

Continue reading King of Pop's singed locks to be turned into diamonds

King of Pop's singed locks to be turned into diamonds originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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