Today's super busy at the 9-5 so no full post, just a round-up.
First, I've decided to extend the deadline to get your questions in for the women's shoe giveaway until March 30 instead of March 15 because I've gotten so many great questions that I haven't had time to answer them all. So ladies, you've got the rest of the month to ask me a question here, tweet me or ask me on formspring.
I'm giving away a pair of the shoes pictured below from ShoesGotSole for the best personal finance question from a woman this month (March is Women's History Month). The shoes are being pro
vided by CSN Stores, which also sells kids bedding, modern furniture and other things, so be sure to check them out in thanks for hooking up the giveaway.
Next week, I'm going to go hard some more on this data about black women and wealth. Earlier this week I posted the results of research that found single black women's median wealth was lower than that of married couples and that of single black, white and Hispanic men or women.
This morning I saw a report of new Federal Reserve data showing that net worth nationally rose slightly for the third straight quarter. That's good news during a deep recession but it begs the question of whether black women's abysmal net worth is following the trend. I'll get into that next week.
As well, the inevitable, which I hoped wouldn't happen did: people are using the black men-black women's net worth data to fuel more played-out "gender wars" conversations. Someone texted me last night about a conversation in which the data came up and some men were calling black women "greedy" and "too ambitious". So I'm going to do some thinking and a few interviews and dig into why the data is definitely NOT fuel for an "us vs. them" conversation.
Have a great weekend and check back in next week.
Last night I got a call from a friend who needed some advice. In good spirits but distraught, she related to me the story of the condo she bought in suburban Maryland a few years ago.
It was supposed to be the modest beginning of a new life with her then-boyfriend and a reflection of her readiness for some stability after landing a new job, in her chosen field and not far from her parents, after spending stints in New York, Los Angeles after college.
All was going well and she did, she thought, everything right. It was the height of the housing boom and with not much saved, she opted for a zero-down mortgage. Not the best decision in hindsight, but with property values literally doubling in the DC area, she thought it a good risk. Besides, her income was stable enough to take care of the place in the event of a breakup (which happened) and since then, she's made every payment on time.
In short, she's been a model first-time homeowner. But that's part of the problem. The housing crash happened and the DMV
The real problem, though, came when she started watching home values drop and new buyers scoop up comparable places for pennies on the dollar. A similar condo in her complex just sold for $125,000, a sign her place could have lost $75,000 in equity that's not likely to come back any time soon. That's made her question whether keeping the place is worth it -- or whether she should just suck up the hit to her credit by letting the mortgage go into default, and walk away.
"I'm starting to think about whether I should hold onto this place forever," she said.
I understand her frustration. Many homeowners are in the same position, watching people who made bad choices get bailed out while their own good choices have left them stuck in homes that are now terrible investments. The losses they're taking are accruing with every mortgage payment they're making because not only have they lost equity, but each interest payment is money they can't get back.
Moving and renting the place out isn't a solid option because she likely wouldn't be able to rent the place for as much as would be needed to cover her hefty mortgage payment. Staying in the place would mean sticking around at least a decade until maybe
But walking away isn't a good option either. A hit to your credit score can affect much more than the ability to buy another home; it could mean limited job prospects, higher insurance rates and potentially that a landlord won't even rent to you.
My advice to her was to give it some serious thought, and then inquire with her bank about a possible short-sale, in which the bank agrees to accept less for the property than they're owed on the mortgage. Short sales are common these days, though there's no guarantee the bank will accept that from a paying customer, which is rare these days.
If you were in her position, what would you do??
was hard hit. She borrowed $200,000 for a one-bedroom condo and hasn't missed a payment, only to watch others who borrowed more than they could afford get out from under their loans either through foreclosure or loan modifications. With a stellar payment history and relatively high income she's not a candidate for either. she breaks even on equity. Not a good look for a single woman in her early 30s.
I'm stealing this question from CNN's Jack Cafferty who asked it on the air the other day.
My own opinion: neither is worse than the other. Both things are bound to ruin a relationship. Most marriages end over two things: infidelity or money, and it's easy to see why. A person who's dishonest about money is exhibiting the same character traits as someone who's not honest about what they're doing sexually. It shows a lack of trust, a lack of faith in the relationship and that that person doesn't have a level of commitment to the relationship that would allow it to work.
What's your take? Do you think your relationship has a better chance to survive cheating or your partner lying about how much debt they have?
Yesterday began Women's History Month, so for the rest of the month of March I'm emphasizing things that will help my women readers better manage their money.
This is important for any number of reasons that I'm sure I don't have to explain: despite shifts in attitudes about women in the workplace over the past two generations and huge gains in the number of women climbing corporate ladders, pay inequities for men and women in the US are still persistent. And that's made worse by the fact that increasingly single women are the sole breadwinners in many households -- my own mother was one of them as I grew up.
So this month, I'll be taking a look at statistics regarding pay equity, discussing the dynamic money plays in relationships (though this affects both genders, it's a topic many more women have asked me about than men), and especially encouraging women to write in with their questions about managing their cash.
With that last thing in mind, I've got a surprise -- a giveaway. This month, I'm partnering with CSN Stores, a company that has more than 200 web sites offering kids bedding, modern furniture, cookware and thousands of other things. I'm giving away a pair of shoes from their site ShoesGotSole. Yep,
a free pair of strappy pumps with a 2-3/4-inch heel that you can rock as soon as the warm weather comes:
So here's the deal: the shoes are going to the person who between today and March 15 asks me the best question about women and money (and who follows a couple other rules):
1) Leave your questions in the comments page of this post (use that link -- there's no limit on the number of questions you can ask);
AND
2) Tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post and include my handle (@k_dot_re) in the tweet so I know you did it;
OR
3) Include a link to this post on your blog or elsewhere, and let me know that you did it (it doesn't count if I don't see it!).
Also, be sure to visit one of CSN's sites, especially AllChildrensFurniture. By way of disclaimer, CSN is generous enough to sponsor this giveaway; I'm not being paid to review or promote them but the hope is to help them build traffic for their sites.
So go forth and ask good, intriguing questions. I'm looking forward to answering them all.
vided by CSN Stores, which also sells kids bedding, modern furniture and other things, so be sure to check them out in thanks for hooking up the giveaway.
