Money, money, money
No, I didn't win the lottery. This is a venting post. I just had to fill in some paperwork to join my company's 401K. My blood pressure shot up at least 30 points in the past half hour. If there's something I absolutely cannot stand, even worse than cleaning the house, it's dealing with money. Anything to do with our personal finances, I detest to the Nth level. I don't understand it, I don't care to understand it and I don't freaking WANT to understand it!
The most I can handle when it comes to money is paying the bills. Anything dealing with trying to understand the bills I get so angry and frustrated that I choose to pay the extra $14 that I think I was overbilled, than call a company and wait on the phone for half hour only to have to explain to the other idiot why I shouldn't be charged $14.
What annoys me the most on earth is anything to do with understanding taxes, equity, stocks, interest rate, and all those other words besides "pay this amount." I had taken college courses in Economics and passed them with an A, though I think I would have been better off with an F, and forced to take it five times until I GOT IT. I have this aversion to trying to understand the "adult world." It's not that I'm stupid, and it's not that I hate math (I absolutely LOVE math), it's a simple hatred of anything to do with money.
As a Jew I live by a basic tenet - you work, you save. But when it comes to the details of where to put the money in savings, I just gave up. After 6 years of marriage I've decided that we cannot go on living without a financial plan for our future, so we went and paid $500 for a financial advisor. Yes, I'd much rather pay a stranger $500 to deal with my money, than deal with it myself. The peace of mind involved in someone else doing it for me, is well worth it!!!
The reason I didn't sign up with my company's 401K, eventhough I've been with this company for seven years (yeah, I know, I know, "gasp, shock" - I've heard it all from co-workers who told me I'm an idiot for not using our company's plan which apparently is VERY good) - it was way too confusing to figure out what the fuck a 401K IS!!! It won't matter how many times my husband has explained it to me, and it won't matter how helpful some websites are - I just can't freaking get it. I have tears in my eyes now just from feeling overwhelmed about thinking of it.
I can't stand the choices of mutual funds. I can't stand the fact that they are all lumped together not giving me a choice to select only ONE of the companies within them at the percentage investment in it that _I_ want. I can't stand the fact that every mutual fund I've been shown has an oil company or a healthcare company. WTF!Can this world not exist without investing in freaking oil companies or a health insurance company? What's wrong with investing in high technology, medical research and educational products? I absolutely refuse to invest money in American companies associated with healthcare, and I refuse to invest in companies that get oil from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
And yes, my husband has explained that it would mean I'd have to invest in individual stocks and get into the stock market. But I'm a perfectionist, Type A - and if I cannot dedicate 100% of my time to learning, researching and following the stock market and know for sure that my money is not constantly losing value - I'm not going to do it!
The only concept I find easy to deal with is the CD's - you put money in it, lock it for a year or five and it accumulates interest. So after five years I get not only my own money back but a small bonus with it. Very cool. Easy peasy.
Yeah, you guessed it - my husband does our taxes. Thankdog, for wonderful husbands.
The most I can handle when it comes to money is paying the bills. Anything dealing with trying to understand the bills I get so angry and frustrated that I choose to pay the extra $14 that I think I was overbilled, than call a company and wait on the phone for half hour only to have to explain to the other idiot why I shouldn't be charged $14.
What annoys me the most on earth is anything to do with understanding taxes, equity, stocks, interest rate, and all those other words besides "pay this amount." I had taken college courses in Economics and passed them with an A, though I think I would have been better off with an F, and forced to take it five times until I GOT IT. I have this aversion to trying to understand the "adult world." It's not that I'm stupid, and it's not that I hate math (I absolutely LOVE math), it's a simple hatred of anything to do with money.
As a Jew I live by a basic tenet - you work, you save. But when it comes to the details of where to put the money in savings, I just gave up. After 6 years of marriage I've decided that we cannot go on living without a financial plan for our future, so we went and paid $500 for a financial advisor. Yes, I'd much rather pay a stranger $500 to deal with my money, than deal with it myself. The peace of mind involved in someone else doing it for me, is well worth it!!!
The reason I didn't sign up with my company's 401K, eventhough I've been with this company for seven years (yeah, I know, I know, "gasp, shock" - I've heard it all from co-workers who told me I'm an idiot for not using our company's plan which apparently is VERY good) - it was way too confusing to figure out what the fuck a 401K IS!!! It won't matter how many times my husband has explained it to me, and it won't matter how helpful some websites are - I just can't freaking get it. I have tears in my eyes now just from feeling overwhelmed about thinking of it.
I can't stand the choices of mutual funds. I can't stand the fact that they are all lumped together not giving me a choice to select only ONE of the companies within them at the percentage investment in it that _I_ want. I can't stand the fact that every mutual fund I've been shown has an oil company or a healthcare company. WTF!Can this world not exist without investing in freaking oil companies or a health insurance company? What's wrong with investing in high technology, medical research and educational products? I absolutely refuse to invest money in American companies associated with healthcare, and I refuse to invest in companies that get oil from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf.
And yes, my husband has explained that it would mean I'd have to invest in individual stocks and get into the stock market. But I'm a perfectionist, Type A - and if I cannot dedicate 100% of my time to learning, researching and following the stock market and know for sure that my money is not constantly losing value - I'm not going to do it!
The only concept I find easy to deal with is the CD's - you put money in it, lock it for a year or five and it accumulates interest. So after five years I get not only my own money back but a small bonus with it. Very cool. Easy peasy.
Yeah, you guessed it - my husband does our taxes. Thankdog, for wonderful husbands.
posted at
10/27/2005 10:45:00 AM
1 Comments:
Yes, I'd much rather pay a stranger $500 to deal with my money, than deal with it myself.
Good idea. Hopefully the guy or lady is pretty good.
I do all the investing. I even invest my wife's money, because that's what I'm good at.
She does all the accounting though and has reins on all our money, but she puts money aside for investing.
It's so much better to let someone else do something if you're not good at it.
As for the oil thing, that would make investments tough. I'd advise simply buying index stocks, but probably more than 10% is oil related though. Plus, if you have a problem with car companies, they'll be in there too.
By
The Zombieslayer, at 10:55 PM, October 27, 2005
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