Sheconomics

Take action to soften the pensions blow now

2012-01-30T11:15:00.001Z

According to figures from Prudential less than a third of women expect to be financially comfortable in retirement.
And many of those women might be overly optimistic.
This year the average expected retirement income is £15,500. That's averaged across both genders and so for women it's likely to be considerably lower. And the trend is downwards.

The Guardian 27th January 2012

If this bothers you or affects you then use the government's state pension calculator to work out what you'll be entitled to at retirement.
Then have a read of our chapter called 'Know Tomorrow Comes' in Sheconomics, in which we demystify the pension minefield.
Then I urge you to have a look at this Guardian article - because there are steps you can take to improve your prospects. But you have to act now. Yes now. Go on, do it.

THE BEST THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO ANTICIPATE

2012-01-27T08:48:00.000Z

Here's a quote I came across recently by the managing director of Harrods, Michael Ward, who apparently said:

“What luxury is about is having the most beautiful experience,

that’s what people love.”

Is luxury just a beautiful experience - or more than that?

Do you agree? I think he’s only partly right. Because experiences, however beautiful, are also often fleeting, transient, gone in an instant.

Real luxury, I would argue, is about anticipating the most beautiful experience.

That’s because brain research now tells us that pleasure isn’t just experiential. It’s anticipatory. We know our brains have pleasure detectors. When we acquire an object of desire, or see a lover’s smile or taste a wonderful champagne, a rush of happy chemicals go sloshing through the brain.

But those happy chemicals also get released when we anticipate something we love. In fact we get a bigger rush from anticipating than we do from experiencing.

Scientists from the University Medical Centre in Hamburg recently conducted tests that measure brain activity and found that our brains experience more pleasure when we are working towards something than when we actually achieve it.
(So that's why makers of designer handbags create waiting lists)

That’s why luxury in the form of real quality brings lasting satisfaction, it’s why craftsmanship persists and why bling will only ever bring transient satisfaction, to the producer and to the consumer.

Science has proved that it’s anticipation that makes us happy, that long-termism always trumps short-termism and that a delayed reward brings more pleasure than an instant reward.

Interestingly the scientists found also discovered that regular hints about the upcoming reward can boost our feelings of pleasure, when people in the lab were reminded of something that was worth waiting for the pleasure centres in their brains lit up.

So if you have a special bottle of GH Mumm champagne tucked away for a special occasion, having a quick peek at it on regular occasions will be sure to boost your happiness levels.

Dreaming about future pleasures can bring more happiness than experiencing them.

Think about holidays too. We’re all supposed to love holidays. Do you like planning a holiday, looking at images of tropical beaches, beautiful sunsets, sumptuous hotels, imagining a place where the sun always shines and you’ve left all your worries behind in Heathrow’s departure lounge?

Well researchers in the Netherlands recently showed that we get a larger boost in happiness from planning a holiday than we do from the holiday itself. They studied the happiness levels of over 1000 Dutch adults and found that happiness levels were highest when people were planning their holiday.

In fact they argue that if you really want holidays to make you happier you shouldn’t just have one long one, you should have lots of shorter ones so you maximise the time spent in anticipation.

Intuitively we all know this and evolutionary psychology accounts for why we’re drawn to products that embody this waiting process, that stand for timelessless and are characterised by tradition and craftsmanship.

Ironically though nowadays we are rarely encouraged to wait. We live in an immediate gratification society, instant messaging, fast food, ready credit and computer games where you can kill your enemies at the touch of a button.

Are we all going to lose the ability to delay our pleasures? During boom times that is always a risk but during a recession different types of processes operate. That’s when delayed gratification comes to the fore.

Because psychological research shows being able to delay gratification is a sign of higher cognitive ability, one that’s more recently evolved. A sign of maturity that’s even linked to quality of life.

Resisting temptation is hard if you like immediate gratification.

You may have heard of the famous marshmallow test that an American psychologist called Walter Mischel carried out on children in the 1960’s. Mischel offered young children, around 3 and 4 years of age, a marshmallow. He put it in front of them and said they could eat it now OR if they could wait while he stepped out for a few minutes when he came back they could have two marshmallows.

Most children couldn’t wait. They either ate it as soon as he was out of the room or sat and squirmed for a while and then caved in and ate it. Some covered their eyes with their hands or turned their back on the marshmallow so that they can’t see it.

One girl stroked the marshmallow lovingly; another boy looked carefully around the room to make sure that nobody could see him then picked it up sucked it and put it back!

Some children managed to wait 15 minutes.

But about 30% of the children wrestled with temptation but stuck it out for a full fifteen minutes. They were ones who could delay gratification in return for a second marshmallow. Years later the experimenters followed up the children to adulthood.

The ones who could wait did better at school, were more successful in their careers and in their relationships.

The instant gratifiers, the ones who couldn’t wait, on the other hand were more likely to have behavioural problems at school, or problems at home.

The moral of this story is that waiting is a higher-cognitive skill, a sign of maturity and those who can delay gratification have a better quality of life.

Delayed and immediate gratification originate in different parts of the human brain.

More recently brain researchers have found the key to the link between delayed gratification and intelligence. Different parts of the brain get activated by immediate and delayed rewards.

The need for immediate reward is driven by the more primitive part of the brain – the part that might impel the purchaser towards quick fixes, impulse buys, bling and disposable luxury.

But when people choose longer term options they use the frontal-parietal part of the brain, that is situated in the more recently evolved pre-frontal cortex - the part that differentiates us from animals and from our ancestors – it gives us the ability to reason, to plan ahead and exercise self-control.

So delayed gratification and the ethic of the craftsman overlap and reinforce each other in that both require a certain construction of the future, a certain ideal of stability and longevity.

That’s why brands that are associated with longevity, with craftsmanship and tradition, will continue to have lasting appeal whatever the economic climate but especially when people want every penny they spend to have value.

So Michael Ward was only partly right when he said that luxury is having a beautiful experience, it’s more than that.

The best things come to those who anticipate….

This is the talk I gave to the G.H. Mumm Perrier-Jouet Champagne Assembly on 27th January.

PS When researching this article I discovered there's even a magazine called Delayed Gratification. I thought it might be found right on the top shelf of the newsagents, or only published every other year, but it seems it's out quarterly and rather sensibly measures news in months not minutes. Like all good things in life it says it is beautiful, collectable and designed to be treasured.http://www.dgquarterly.com/

Behavioural change? It's mental!

2012-01-18T14:48:00.001Z

What a night that was!
Polly tweeted that the evening was ‘mental’. Rose said it was ‘high energy’. Andy gave his book to a stranger he got chatting to on the train. Charlotte travelled all the way to Richmond wearing a badge that said Harlot. Mike said "I've just had the most interesting 45 minutes I've had with a stranger for a long time!"
It was the launch of Flex: Do Something Different at the Groucho Club on Monday night.
Everyone got into the spirit of Do Something Different. Armed with a pack of Do cards they left their inhibitions at the door, donned their rhyming badges, grabbed a glass of wine and went for it!

Bald caps and black glasses (in homage to Ben Fletcher) were de rigeur for the Do team on the night. Rhyming badges made guessing people's names good fun (this is Neil above), even if Charlotte did get some funny looks on the tube going home.

One Do was to 'Pat a bald man on the head'. Not difficult with so many baldies floating around. People who didn't pat a slaphead were too busy taking off their shoes and introducing themselves to others in a foreign accent. Or gurning in the Doodio...

The Doodio was where people could go and take their own crazy photos. Weirdo expressions were optional.

Paul (or Tall as he was here) went out and befriended Darren, a Big Issue seller. He ended up giving him his Do cards, his copy of Flex, and vowing to keep in touch. A heart-warming story from what was a very chilly night, the sort of thing that happens when we talk to the least likely person...

Do Something Different always seems to lead to people doing more for others.

I love that. A beautiful demonstration of this came from a super guy called Mike Clark. Mike bought a signed copy of our book, got everyone at the launch to sign it and then gave it back to Ben and I. What a fabulously karmic goosebumpy kind of gesture.

That's why we're trying to get a million people to Do Something Different. It's behavioural change with a difference. It has to make the world a better place.

NEW BOOK REVEALS PROFS’ SECRETS

2012-01-15T22:28:00.000Z

Our book launch in London tonight (16th Jan). How exciting!

If all goes well I'll post some photos up here soon. If not, I'll just post some random pictures of very sensible people being well-behaved.

The new book? It's by by Professors Ben Fletcher and Karen Pine and it's called FLEX: Do Something Different. How to use the other 9/10ths of your personality

SEE BELOW FOR HOW YOU CAN WIN A FREE COPY.

Do Something Different. What a nice simple idea, someone commented recently. Yes, the idea IS simple. That’s what we like about it.

But the science behind it is less than simple. In fact, it is based on over 30 years research. And now you can read about all the science behind do something different in the new book.

The book covers topics such as:

· The personality trap
· Shaping a life
· The myth of willpower
· Behavioural change
· Alleviating stress
· Behavioural flexibility
· Doing the right thing
· Towards greater personal coherence
· How Do Something Different works
· What a Do Something Different intervention looks like

Now you can experience for yourself the way we test people’s habit levels and their behavioural range. Be warned, it can be quite an eye-opener! These tests are used in our online programmes to design tailor-made Do’s for our Do-ers.

The Do’s, usually sent by text or email, start off simply. ‘Walk a different way to the shops’. ‘Listen to someone else’s music’. As people start to get the hang of it, the Do’s get more tailored to their own profile, spotting the gaps in their repertoire. Helping them to expand new areas of their personality.

For example, a very systematic person might be encouraged to be more spontaneous, to:

· Phone an old friend out of the blue

· Turn up at the cinema and watch the next film that’s starting

· Drop everything and invite a friend or colleague for a coffee

And someone who’s introverted would be encouraged to try these extraverted Do’s:

· Say hello to someone you've never spoken to before

· Practise telling a funny story, embellish it for effect

· Organise a night out at a karaoke bar, put your name down first.

The emphasis is on expanding the range of behaviours people use, so they flex the behaviours that don’t come naturally. People find they can approach old problems in new ways, which can help to reduce stress.

Professor Ben (C) Fletcher says about behavioural flexibility. “The more behaviours you have in your toolbox, the more able you are to react to different situations in your life, the less anxious you will be. Our Do Something Different programme helps people to develop new behaviours and break restrictive habits. It’s easy to do, most people find it great fun and it gets fantastic results.”

FLEX: Do Something Different. How to use the other 9/10ths of your personality, by psychologists Professor Ben (C) Fletcher and Professor Karen Pine, is published on 16^th January 2012, by University of Hertfordshire Press and available from Amazon.

TO WIN A FREE COPY ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

What type of machine do the authors of Flex say people are?

a) washing machine

b) mean machine

c) habit machine

Email me (k.j.pine@dsd.me) and I'll pick five correct answers at random to receive a free signed copy of Flex: Do Something Different.

When did you last do something different?

2012-01-11T14:16:00.000Z

Are you a human habit machine?

Here's a quick test, taken from Flex:Do Something Different:

DO YOU OFTEN...

wear the same outfit because it’s easy or comfortable?
express the same view?
do something you said you'd give up doing?
sit in the same spot to watch TV or eat a meal?
visit the same holiday destination?
recall negative things that people have said or done to you?
watch a regularly scheduled TV programme?
get bothered when people change plans at the last minute?

If you answered YES to three or more of these statements then you are probably very habitual. Yes, habits are comfortable but they mean many of us end up using only about a tenth of our potential.

The answer is to do something different. Why? Because it help improve a person's behavioural flexibility. And years of doing psychological research have convinced me that behavioural flexibility is the one critical asset we all need for a healthy and happy life.

That's why Do Something Different runs through all the work I do. It's incredibly powerful, and it's fun and life-enhancing too.

We deliver behaviour change tools based on do something different via www.dsd.me and......

NOW - A NEW BOOK!
I'm so excited because we've put all the science and the methods for Do Something Different into ONE FABULOUS NEW BOOK.
It's called Flex: Do Something Different, How to use the other 9/10ths of your personality.
(Published by UH Press. See panel below right).

It's released on 16th January 2012 and is available from Amazon for pre-order.

I hope you'll buy it, particularly if your habits need a good old shake-up!

New print run shortly.

2012-01-07T15:19:00.000Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

January 2012: Our publishers have assured us another print-run of Sheconomics is on the way soon.

So if you're trying to order a copy, thank you for your patience.

Meanwhile, thanks to everyone who's put fabulous reviews of Sheconomics on Amazon. They are all incredibly positive about the book (and we didn't even have to pay them) :)
Out of 14 ratings, 13 people give it FIVE STARS.

We're thrilled to bits that so many of you love Sheconomics and we thank you for your continued support. We plan to continue to bring you lots of up-to-the-minute tips for handling your money, comments on the latest issues, as well as some quirky psychology here.

We also get fabulous reviews and comments on our Facebook page, this week Nicolette wrote:

"The best non fiction book I have ever read. I have recommended it to all my friends and keep a very well worn copy in my hand bag . It helps me if I feel the urge to splurge on unnecessary things! Lol. On a more serious.note a truly inspirational and motivating book which everyone should read!"

Don't forget to contact us via our website if there's anything else you'd like to see here, or if you'd like to receive our newsletter. And do let us know your thoughts on the blog by leaving us your comments. We look forward to hearing more from you in 2012.

Six self-enhancement purchases for 2012 (totalling under a tenner too):

2011-12-31T15:48:00.000Z

How can a second-hand book, a pedometer, a cheap brolly, a pair of tights, six second-class stamps and a packet of seeds add up to self-enhancement? Here's how:

· Get stuck in to a stonking good used novel COST 1p

A can’t-put-it-down novel is the perfect way to cherish yourself. On Amazon are tons of good used books available from dealers for just 0.01p. No kidding. Sure they make money on the postage but if you add your 1p book to someone else’s Amazon order you won’t pay extra. Here are some of my all-time favourites all available for 1p:

Any Human Heart by William Boyd

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Perfume by Patrisk Suskind

Room by Emma Donoghue

· Get a pedometer COST 78p

Walking is the best way to trim your body and lift your mood. Use a pedometer to see how many steps you can clock up in a day, aiming for 10,000. If you’re monitoring every step it’s amazing how many ways you find to walk a bit further. You’ll be healthier and happier and won’t have been near a gym or put on lycra. This one from Amazon really is only 78p. OK it probably is crap for that price so go for a better one if you can.

Walk your way to health for under £1

· Leave magazines on the shelf COST £0

Women feel worse after looking at a magazine (all that social comparison is depressing). And why waste money on mags full of glossy adverts peddling the 'happiness through having' myth? There are good free online magazines instead. Or if you must spend out then at least help someone by doing it and buy the Big Issue. Or buy a mag that doesn't bang on about shoes and handbags and whose maxim is 'Curiosity is sacred' - Oh Comely magazine.

· Spend on a stranger COST £1

Research shows we feel happier after spending money on someone else than after spending it on ourselves. When caught in a Tokyo downpour once a Japanese lady came up and gave me an umbrella. I was so touched by her kindness. Why not buy a £1 brolly from a pound store and give it to someone caught in the rain. They'll love you for it. Or jump on the Pay It Forward bandwagon, pay for the next person's coffee in a queue or the next car's toll. I guarantee you'll feel happier.

Colour up COST £3.99

Bright colours and a personal treat to cheer the soul. Quell the urge to clothes shop by splashing out on some really brightly coloured tights. They're cheap and cheerful and will add that touch of wackiness to any outfit that's feeling a tad tired. These cerise pink ones are from H&M

· Six second class stamps COST £2.16

Another way of getting pleasure through giving. Don't you love getting a letter or card with a stamp on? it's a rare pleasure nowadays. Send 6 letters or cards to loved ones, long-lost friends or just people you know. Say hello, suggest a meet-up, thank them for being in your life or tell them why they matter to you. At 36p each you'll be spreading shed-loads of happiness that'll soon come bouncing back your way.

Long time no write.

Plant seeds COST £1.55

Connecting with nature is so good for the soul.

You'll feel such a smug-filled sense of satisfaction when you grow something from scratch. I recommend a packet of rocket seeds, dead easy to grow and you'll be nibbling the leaves all summer and sharing them with friends. Even better are nasturtiums, you can chuck the seeds on poor soil and they'll still provide a riot of fiery flowers right through the summer. Even better, you get poor-man's capers from the seeds and the flowers are edible too!

Green fingers, flowers and food - the perfect ingredients for super self-enhancement.

TOTAL INVESTMENT? £9.49

HAPPINESS SPREAD AND RETURNED? PRICELESS!

Try these tips in 2012 and let us know how you got on!

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Happy Christmas

2011-12-24T13:49:00.000Z

...and a prosperous and Sheconomical New Year to you all.

Thank you all so much for your support.
This year the number of hits on this blog almost tipped 10,000.
We've got sled-loads of good stuff coming your way next year, and some exciting new developments.
So keep checking in and we'll see you a-plenty in twenty twelve!

It's panic-now-pay-later week. Would you credit it?

2011-12-19T13:03:00.001Z

This week is panic week.

The week when we panic-buy those extra presents (just in case she buys me one), that extra food (can't have too many mince pies) and drink (come on, it is Christmas after all). That extra ton of tinsel and kilometre of lights.

And the panic-buyer's best friend is their credit card. Knowing you can panic-now pay-later makes it all too easy to slip those extra goodies into the basket.

But how much will credit card debt cost you if you only make the minimum repayment on your card?

Test how much you know with this simple question, taken from Martin Lewis's brilliant money saving site.

Question:

Your New Year's resolution is to stop borrowing, but you've still £3,000 on a credit card at 17.9% interest. How long will it take to clear if you're making the minimum monthly repayments (the higher of 2% or £5)?

A. In two Christmases time

B. In eight Christmases time

C. In 14 Christmases time

D. In 41 Christmases time

Think about it before scrolling down for the answer.

Mmm...shouldn't have stuck all those presents on my visa card.

The Correct Answer is:  D. In 41 Christmases time

Staggeringly if you only make the minimum repayments it’ll take over 41 years to repay the card at an interest cost of £6,300. Minimum repayments are designed to keep you in debt. Think about it 17.9% interest a year is about one and a half percent a month – the minimum payment is 2%, so you’re not doing much more than servicing the interest.

Further Info: See the money saving expert's full Minimum Repayment Calculator which includes a guide to beating the trap.

If this doesn't apply to you but you know someone who needs help keeping their spending under control, a copy of Sheconomics could be the prefect present.

A formula for how much you should spend on that gift.

2011-12-07T17:02:00.000Z

The average shopper will spend £673.56 on gifts this Christmas.

But how much of that will be spent on the wrong people?

I was thrilled to be asked by Warrington-based Golden Square Shopping Centre to come up with a 'gift formula' to help people decide how much to spend on everyone on their gift list this Christmas.

You can cap how much you spend.

Whether they’re having a cut-back Christmas or a festive blow-out.

After all this is the time of year when most people feel under pressure to spend more than they should. Many shoppers will be tempted to impulse buy, spend too much and risk going into debt – a real issue in the current economic climate.

Ian Cox, Marketing Manager at Golden Square said: “We realise that it may sound strange that a shopping centre is helping shoppers to cut back on their Christmas budget, but this season is the time of year that sees most people slip into debt."

The formula takes into account two key factors: your current financial situation as well as the closeness to the person you are spending for.

So what/s the magic formula?

Work out how much you should spend on everyone this Christmas:

Average spend - Financial situation X Closeness = CHRISTMAS SPEND

To work this out you:

1. Take the average amount you spend on most gifts.

Do this by taking the total amount you spend and divide it by the number of people you buy for (exclude your partner or anyone you spend a lot more on).

2. Reduce the amount to take account of your financial situation.

Unless we’ve won the lottery, we should all take off 5% for austerity/inflation or up to 20% if you’ve hit harder times.

3. Adjust that amount for closeness*.

Add half as much again for someone you are very close to. But consider spending just a quarter of that amount for anyone you are buying for out of obligation.

*The Closeness Scale

See where the person you are buying for fits on the scale below. Then adjust the amount that you spend.

I’m just buying this person a present out of habit/obligation.	I’m buying this person a present partly out of obligation	I’m buying them a present because we are close	I’m buying them a present because we are very close
*Divide by 4*	*Divide by 2*	*Multiply by 1.2*	*Multiply by 1.5*

So, for example, a person spending £300 on 10 people last year, reduced 5% for inflation and buying it for a person partly out of obligation, should spend just £14.25 on their gift.

In short:

Use the ‘gift giver’ formula to help bring real meaning to gift giving.
Remember to spend according to how close you are to the person, and keep within your financial means.
If that means not giving to those who have become an ‘obligation’, that makes sound economic sense.

You can read more about my psychological research into gift-giving (and gift failure) here.

And remember Sheconomics is stuffed full of tips to help you manage your budget.

How much cleavage should you flash at work?

2011-12-04T20:59:00.002Z

Sarah Brummitt, image consultant.

Thanks to Sarah Brummitt (right) for airing the important issue of cleavage in a corporate environment.
I must admit, I've long been bewildered by the trend for boob-flashing at work.
And now it seems that more mammaries equals less salaries.
Sarah, an image consultant and training and development consultant, keeps us abreast of this issue:

Last year, a survey commissioned in the UK suggested that women who display too much cleavage at work could end up sabotaging their careers. More than 3,000 managers found that almost half of bosses would overlook a woman for promotions if she regularly exposed her cleavage.

Is this fair? Or is it sexist nonsense? Is cleavage cool or crass at work?

I'm not a prude - and as a small chested woman I can appreciate a fabulous bosom as much as the most hot-blooded male...but.......a glorious cleavage in the office is just not on. It's a distraction to both men AND women - but for different reasons.

1. Men see it as a clear 'come on' sign OR, they are so embarrassed they don't know where to look.

2. Women can either be continually distracted (I know I am because one of my colleagues insists on regularly exposing her cleavage and I can't help but keep looking.......). The altenative female response is to elicit some good, old-fashioned, bitchy jealousy and loathing.

As an Image Coach, I'm all about personal brand - helping professionals create a perception by colleagues which conveys the real essence of them; their reputation; their unique expertise.

Who on earth wants to be known as the girl that always has her baps on show?

It's not right and it's not fair, but the reality of still working in a predominantly male-orientated work environment means that to succeed in business we need to be viewed as credible, professional and authoritative.

A woman can't do that if her boobs are out.

So, ladies please - a glorious bosom is for a date, a cocktail party, a social event. It's not for the office. So button up, put them away and create a focal point somewhere else. May I suggest the face instead?

Thanks Sarah - check her out on www.sarahbrummitt.com. Thank goodness the good old polo neck is coming back into fashion.

And remember, psychological research confirms that the image you portray may be at odds with the one you intended.

You may think that a flash of cleavage is cool, alluring even.

They may think you look like a lap-dancer.

Think about it next time you dress for the office and keep in mind that less is probably more.

WOMEN BACKWARDS IN COMING FORWARD WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY MATTERS

2011-11-21T09:56:00.000Z

Money Chat campaign reveals over nine million women in the UK are uncomfortable discussing money;

and 16 million women are concerned about making ends-meet, compared to just 12 million men

Despite being known as the chattier sex, it seems that when it comes to talking money, women are more reluctant to open up than their male counterparts. New research released today from the Money Advice Service, has found that nearly two-fifths (39%) of women, which equates to 9.5 million people, are uncomfortable discussing money, compared to just a third of men (33% or 7.7m).

Worryingly, the figures, gathered as part of the Service’s Money Chat campaign, which aims to get the UK to open up more about money, also show that women are more concerned about their money, with nearly a third (31%) saying they feel stressed about it, compared to just over a fifth (22%) of men. And that nearly two-thirds of women (65% or 15.8m) are concerned about making ends-meet, compared to just over half of men (53% or 12.4m).

· For some women, their reluctance to talk about money in daily life is related to confidence - nearly a third (30%) say they don’t feel confident talking about money, compared to just under a quarter (24%) of men.

· A third (33%) of women say they find it stressful talking about money, compared to just under a quarter (24%) of men.

It’s not just in conversation that this lack of confidence may be putting women at a disadvantage. Men are also more willing to seek help when needed, with nearly half (45%) (10.5m) saying that they would tell their partner or family straight away if they were struggling with debt, compared to just under two-fifths (38%) (9.2m) of women. Outside of the home, nearly three-fifths (57%) of men, compared to just over half (52%) of women say that they are comfortable telling a professional or expert money adviser how much they earn for a living.

The survey also indicates:

· Women are still quite traditional when thinking about earnings, with a third (33%) saying that they would prefer that their partner earn more than they do.

· For nearly a third (30%) of women, planning to move in with someone is the time to start wondering how much a prospective partner earns, while under a fifth (19%) of men think about it then.

· In fact, nearly a third (32%) of men say that they would never think about how much a prospective partner earns, compared to just under a fifth (18%) of women.

I suppose traditionally, money matters have been viewed as male territory and this may be one of the reasons why men still feel more confident discussing it and seeking help when needed. However, money is a topic we should all feel comfortable broaching, whether you’re a traditional type or not. This not only applies in times of difficulty, but also in our daily lives. Feeling comfortable discussing money makes it easier to assess our own financial situation, and see whether there are ways we could be making it work better for us."

To illustrate the results and highlight the differences between men and women across the UK, the Money Advice Service has created an interactive Money Chat Map at: www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/moneychat

The Money Advice Service is an independent organisation, here to help everyone make the most of their money with free, practical advice. This autumn, it launched its Money Chat campaign to encourage everyone to open up more about money and break down the barriers that stop us seeking help. To get the conversation started, you can use its free online health check, which identifies a list of short and long-term money priorities in a personalised action plan. Try the health check now online at www.moneyadviceservice.org,uk.

Customers can also speak to a Money Adviser on the phone via 0300 500 5000, or arrange a face-to-face meeting in their local area (see below for further details).

Don't forget Sheconomics devotes a whole chapter to Sharing Financial Intimacies, helping you to get that money conversation started. You can also download our tip sheet about How To Talk To Your Partner About Money.

How banks discriminate against female customers

2011-11-10T15:31:00.001Z

Just imagine.

You’ve got an exciting and bomb-proof proposal for a start-up and approach your bank for investment. Later you find out that you were:

- asked more questions

- offered less money

- ask to provide higher collateral

than a male applicant approaching the same lender. Because you are female.

I'm pregnant, not brain-dead.

That’s just one of the findings in a new report published today by Noreena Hertz who is based at Duisenberg School of Finance, RSM, Erasmus University and University of Cambridge. She also reveals how women are refused mortgages, and their business acument is called into question, if they are pregnant.

Professor Hertz’s key findings include:

- Evidence in the UK of banks discriminating against pregnant women and women on maternity leave seeking mortgages. This seems to be an ongoing industry-wide practice, with a number of leading UK high street banks named.

- Evidence in Europe of banks discriminating against women entrepreneurs. Research suggests women are being asked for more collateral than men for loans, being charged higher interest rates and being refused loans more frequently than men.

- Evidence of gender stereotyping by bank loan officers internationally. Examples of this include women entrepreneurs being questioned significantly more often than male applicants whether they have undertaken sufficient research into their business, and pregnant women being assumed by lending officers not to return to work after having a child.

The report asks banks to think carefully about whether their staff may be negatively stereotyping women, either consciously or unconsciously, and to take measures to address this.

And it points out that the UK government has a responsibility to investigate this type of discrimination, which contravenes the United Nations Convention dictat on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Equality Act of 2010.

In fact it states that the government is legally obliged to take action after the disclosure of such discrimination, and such action would mean prosecuting the banks found guilty of such practice and compensating those who have been discriminated against.

Recently David Cameron could be heard pontificating about entrpreneurship being the ‘only strategy’ by which the UK economy could achieve significant growth.

He also highlighted the need for entrepreneurs to have access to credit from banks in order to thrive.

I wonder if he was aware that such access would be strongly influenced by the applicant’s gender?

You can download Professor Hertz's full report here.

10 design tricks to turn us all into shopping zombies

2011-10-31T16:58:00.000Z

This morning, after apparently being quoted in the Daily Mail talking about women's love of shopping, I popped out to the local shop where I'm staying in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye.
It looks like this (below).

Skye's answer to Westfield? Not a digital waterfall in sight.

I know, they couldn't make it less appealing if they tried. But there's a certain authenticity to this type of shop; a corrugated-tin reminder that shopping is just about getting the stuff we need, not a leisure activity.

Shopping is just something we do in order to live better lives, it shouldn't be the way we live our life.

I wasn’t the first to compare shoppers to zombies (see earlier post and a dazzling analysis by Mimi Spencer in Saturday’s Times) and I’m sure I won’t be the last, but recent news about a million shoppers invading Westfield in its first week of opening got me thinking again about the draw of the mall. And all the psychological tricks that are pulled to make sure the mindless keep searching those seven miles of shop fronts, perhaps in the vain hope they’ll find their lost soul.

Are you being served? Or manipulated?

Westfield’s marketing team are on a mission to make sure the shopper stays for at least two hours. Because the average person won't be able to go for more than two hours without parting with a hefty proportion of their paypacket, and feeling the need to top it off with a cappuchino and a visit to one of its 50 cafes.

Here's how the designers-cum-brainwashers plan the mall to persuade you to suspend your critical faculties and surrender to the goddess of eternal consumption:

· No clocks for fear you might notice the time (and your life) slipping away and feel compelled to rush empty-handed towards the exit.

· The soul-less exterior of the mall, anonymous and blank enhances the contrast effect as you enter the sparkling glassy jingly interior.

· Deliberately disorientating layouts so you get lost and retrace your steps or go off on an aimless purse-splurge.

· Reflective echoing floors that make the carpeted interior of the shops more alluring.

· Ditto the harsh lighting in the malls contrasting with the seductive and glitzy lighting of the shops’ interiors.

· Mirrors on the walls between shops. People slow down when they pass mirrors (vanity) and how can they sell to you if youre rushing around?

· Slowing your pace down slows your heart rate and even your blink rate, rendering you more mesmerised and gullible. Piped birdsong and a digital waterfall help the coma-induction process.

· Shopping stretches of a maximum length of 300 metres, about the distance for which buying interest can be held at a peak before waning.

· Expanses of stores above and around that are visible through glass balustrades and open plan escalators, giving uninterrupted views of tempting targets,

· Scrupulously clean floors so your attention is exclusively fixed on shop fronts and not distracted by having to step over or around street detritus.

So next time you realise you spent more time in the shopping centre than you'd intended and more cash than you could afford, you'll know how it happened.

Where’s a safe haven for your money?

2011-10-28T10:01:00.000+01:00

Simonne gives some wise advice about savings:

We all want to sleep soundly knowing our money's safe....

The world’s stock markets continue to take up too many column inches, and it’s difficult not to worry about how your investments will weather the financial storm.

So where do you stash your cash when there’s such turmoil the world over?

Investing in stocks and shares still makes sense if you’re happy to put away your money for the long term – in financial speak, that means at least 5 years, preferably longer. One approach to reduce the risk is to drip your money in over a period of months, rather than investing a lump sum and hoping for the best. If you’re worried about the recent turmoil in stock markets, watch this episode of Meaningful Money, with Pete Matthews offering sound advice.

But what if you don’t want to tie up your money for that long?

Or you’re looking for less risk? Savings accounts are one way to go, but with interest rates so low what other options are there? Here’s are some:

Fixed Interest Savings Accounts If you’re prepared to tie up your cash savings for a fixed term like three, four or five years, you’re likely to get better returns than from ordinary instant-access savings accounts. The Money Advice Service offers some guidelines about getting the most from your savings accounts.

Social Lending This is a peer-to-peer arrangement, so you’ll be lending to individuals rather than to conventional institutions such as banks. The aim is to get a better rate than you would with a bank, but with that comes extra risk. The companies that manage this type of lending are not currently regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and your capital isn’t protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, as it would be with an authorised firm. But there are methods used to control and minimise the risk to lenders. So you’ll need to weigh up the chance of a higher rate of interest with the increased risk and lower protection. Popular social lending sites include Zopa, RateSetter and Quakle. The Consumers Association, Which?, has a good review of some of the main social lending sites.

Inflation-proofed savings National Savings Certificates used to provide a guaranteed, tax-free interest above inflation and were in great demand, but sadly the door closed to new business early last month. Since then we’ve seen a few banks/building societies offering something similar, including the Post Office. But these accounts aren’t backed by the government and interest earned above inflation is taxable. However, if you hold no more than £85,000 in any one banking institution, your savings are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. And they offer a fixed rate of interest above inflation. The accounts currently available tie up your money for a fixed term. A good review of the current selection of savings accounts linked to inflation can be found on SavvyWoman, Sarah Pennell’s, website.

Regular savings accounts If you can commit to save a fixed amount for a fixed term - usually 12 months - there are better rates around, as much as 8% a year, compared to say 3% in a high-interest account. Savings may be limited to £250 per month, though, and you might not be able to access to your money for the whole fixed term. Moneysupermarket is one of a number of comparison sites, which help you weigh up different regular savings accounts currently on the market.

If you’ve got a lump sum of cash to deposit, you could make use of a regular savings account. Run one alongside a high interest savings account, making a monthly transfer from the high interest account to regular savings account, which should increase your overall return.

Structured products have increased in popularity since the credit crunch. They’re usually promoted as a safe way of investing money where you benefit from the upside of the stock market without risking the downside. Typically, your money is tied up for five or six years. At maturity, you get a proportion of the stock market return over that term, and your money back if the stock market has fallen. But be careful, and take time to read the small print. The ‘capital guarantee’ (the getting your money back bit) usually applies only if the market hasn’t fallen below a certain level. This means that if markets fall dramatically, you could lose a big chunk of your original investment. The product may also be backed by different organisations and if the sponsor goes bust, you could lose all your money. Moneyweek’s video warns about their risks.

If you want more advice on savings and some financial coaching, see Simonne's website.

Affected by the changes to women's pension age?

2011-10-28T09:19:00.000+01:00

Simonne brings us up to date on the changes to women's pensions:

Many women are not so happy about the planned changes....

Women's finances have been in the news again recently.

As we know the age at which women qualify for a state pension is gradually increasing. And the government has proposed to bring forward the change to retirement age faster than originally planned (as we reported in our Sheconomics February blog).

Back in October 2010, the government announced that it would bring forward the date that the state pension age would become 66 for men and women. This caused widespread concern that it would unfairly impact on women already in their late 50s. Many would have to work up to two years longer than they had planned for.

The latest news is that the Government have responded by postponing these changes for 6 months (to October 2010, instead of April 2010) so that the maximum delay that women will experience will be 18 months instead of two years.

While this is some concession, 18 months is still a long time to wait, with little time between now and state retirement age to plan how to make up for that financial loss.

If you feel that the state pension age rise is unfair and would like to do something about it, Saga are asking for signatures on their petition to lobby the government on these proposed changes to the state pension age.

Click here for an online calculator to help you work out when you're likely to reach state pension age under current rules.

Still confused? If you need a money coach don't forget to check out Simonne's website.

Why materialism is bad for your marriage

2011-10-16T14:09:00.000+01:00

Here’s a quick quiz if you’remarried or have a partner:

How important is having money andlots of things to you?

1. Not at allimportant

2. Quiteimportant

3. Important

4. Veryimportant

How important is having money andlots of things to your partner?

1. Not at allimportant

2. Quiteimportant

3. Important

4. Veryimportant

Researchers* asked 1,734 couples in the US this question.

The answers revealed a lot about the state of people’s marriages.

If both partners werematerialistic (answering 3 or 4 above) they were likely to have a rockyrelationship. If both partners answered 1 or 2 theirmarriage was much more stable and their relationship quality higher.

The researchers concluded thatmaterialism is bad for marriages.

Of course, this is a correlationalstudy so the direction of causality is unknown. Materialism may affect the quality of a marriage, but a bad marriage may also increase materialism.

People in poormarriages probably engage in more compensatory consumption, turning to money and stuff to providethe fulfiment they don’t get from their relationship. I’ve known many womenwho’ve diverted all their desires into revamping a kitchen or restoring a barnonly to discover it was actually their marriagethat desperately needed renovation. If only they’d gone to Relate instead ofIkea, they could have saved a fortune and stocked up on happiness instead ofgranite work-tops.

What more could we possibly want darling?

In the US study 20% of marriages comprised couples who wereboth materialistic and admitted that money was very important to them. These couples were also better off financially, but their relationships were in a sorry state. Again,there are a multitude of reasons for this. It's easy to imagine the passion-killing effects of over-working to earn more,spending time investing in material things and not in the relationship, and adesperate need to ‘prove’ something to people because of poor self-esteem.

No-one is saying that poverty makes people happier. Just that moneymakes poor marriage cement, as this ad in Private Eye years ago demonstrated:

"Spike Milligan would like to meet a rich, well-insured widow -intention: murder,"

Perhaps Spike knew that arelationship based on money wouldn’t work. Not sure we'd recommend his alternative though!

*Jason S. Carroll, Lukas R. Dean, Lindsey L. Call, Dean M. Busby. Materialism and Marriage: Couple Profiles of Congruent and Incongruent Spouses. Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 2011; 10 (4): 287 DOI:10.1080/15332691.2011.613306

10 reasons why men need Sheconomics

2011-10-09T14:27:00.000+01:00

Don't let our pinkness put you off - we have lots of bloke-friendly stuff going on. Here's why we think men need Sheconomics too:

· 1. Because research shows your investments would surge if you used your feminine side a tad more. No need to greet your latest dividend with a tearful acceptance speech, it's just about not beingover-cocky, a risk-taker or one of the boys. More diverse portfolios, caution and not over-reacting to a volatile market explain why female investors outperform men consistently.

· 2 Because you could learn how to dress for success. Drop that favourite well-worn brown suit off at Oxfam and let someone with a tape measure get intimate with your inside leg. Seriously, people do judge you by what you wear. A lot. Men in bespoke suits are judged to be more successful, confident, trustworthy, flexible and higher earners than their off-the-peg counterparts.

· 3. Because you could suss out how to have cool, non-confrontational conversations about money. And you could have a better, happier home-life if you did so. There are tricks and strategies we can all learn that will make money-chat nicer. No issues. No arguments. Hugs optional.

· 4. Because you could be a better Dad. Without realising it parents play more roughly with boy babies than with girls. They let boys explore more than girls and use more emotion words with their daughters than with their sons. Swat up on the significant but subtle ways you can give your daughter the kind of start in life you are unconsciouslygiving your son. Get wind of some good Sheconomics strategies for raising kids.

· 5. Because you’ll do the right thing by her in the event of the unmentionable happening.

When multi-million selling author Stieg Larsson died suddenly at 50 his estranged family, and not his life-long partner Eva, inherited his fortune. Eva's even having to fight a legal battle to stay in their apartment. No-one wants to think about death but not thinking of those you'll leave behind is dumb.

· 6. Because you overwork your logical left brain and neglect the poor old right. Ever thought about which side of your brain is managing yourmoney? Intuition can be a useful tool, but seems to be the reverse of logic. The field of behavioural economics is obsessed by these concepts because humans are rarely rational decision-making machines. They fall victim to flawed logic, emotional reactions and cognitive biases.

· 7. Because you could realise some of the hidden forces behind financial success, and why it helps to be tall, left-handed and tidy.

Yes, we said tidy. No, we’re not nagging. It's just that taller people earn more than shorter people and left-handed people earn more than right-handed people. Things that are hard to change. But people with tidier homes do earn more than people with messy homes. Reason to not drop those socks on the floor?

· 8. Because if you’ve ever suffered death-by-dinner-party you’ll see howcompany boards make the same mistakes as very dull hosts. Mixing up the guests brings livelier conversations and new perspectives. About 10 years ago Norwegian boards were mostly made up of men with very similar views and backgrounds who went hunting and fishing together. This meant there was a huge risk of group-think in the boards’ decision-making processes, and a real lack of diverse perspectives.

Adding just 3 women to boards has been shown to increase the company's bottom line by 40% and boost the country's economy.

· 9 . Because emotional intelligence is just as important as IQ. You’ve always known that IQ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be - thereare better ways of selecting the right bunch of people to work with.

Studies show the most effective groups listen to each other, share constructive criticism, have open minds, are not autocratic and use conversational turn-taking to good effect.

· 10. Because we can all learn something from the bagel man. You can tell howmuch people like their bosses and their work from how much dosh they drop inthe honesty box. It could be a good metric for getting to know the health of your company and the happiness of your employees. Honest.

Final word from a lovely friend of Sheconomics, Alan Newman of the Finance IT Network:

"There's probably some merit to theaccusation that the financial services sector is 'male, pale and stale'. Theinsights from this book - co-authored by a Professor of Psychology and aFinancial Coach (who left IFA boredom behind her) - should be compulsoryreading for us blokes."

I don't wanna talk about it...

2011-09-20T13:07:00.000+01:00

“It’s the one topic we can’t bring ourselves to talk about” Iheard Jenny say on Woman’s Hour last week. She was talking about incontinence. I won’t say more here – this isn’t weeconomics – but it reminded me of that other bigtaboo: money.

Did someone mention the M word?

Women aren’t as comfortable talking about their earnings as men, according to new research from the Money Advice Service.But neither sex is too fond of shouting their salary from theroof-tops. Just 5% ofwomen and 10% of men would tell a stranger how much they earn.

We have our hush-hush places too – one in four of us feel it’s wrong to discuss money at the hairdressers (where we'll share every other intimatedetail of our personal life), others wouldn’tbring it up at a party or down the pub with friends (28%).

As I've said in earlier posts, it really is time we tackled this taboo. Why? Because moneysecrets wreck marriages and make people downright miserable. And money problems and mental health problems seem to go hand-in-hand. According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists:
- One in two people with debts has a mental health problem.
- One in four adults with mental health problems is in debt.
And being in a financial mess can make you feel:

As if everything is out of control and there's nothing you, or anyone else, can do about it.
Hopeless, especially if you have debts that are growing.
Embarrassed to talk to anyone about your financial situation.
Guilty - that the problem is your fault, even if it's due to mental or physical health problems.
Anxious and depressed.

Talking about money problems is the first step to sorting them out. Our friends over at the Money Advice Service are running a MoneyChat campaign. They want to break down the big taboo and get people talking moreabout money*.

They even have this fab Money chat map so you can view theregional figures

So, if you have been keeping mum about money, maybe we can help you open up?

Check out the downloads section of our Sheconomics website for useful tip sheets.

Tip sheet no 5 is about How to Talk to Your Partner about Money and Tip sheet no 6 is How to own up to a Money Problem.

Plusin Sheconomics we devote a whole chapter (Share Financial Intimacies) to tacklingthe great taboo. The money taboo that is. Sorry - we can’t help with incontinence, although you may be able to catch the programme again.

*The Money Advice Service has Money Advisers available on the phone orface-to-face. To help get the conversation started, there’s a personal actionplan produced by their free online health check, which identifies a list ofshort and long-term money priorities. Available onlineat moneyadviceservice.org.uk and on the phone via 0300 500 5000

Why what you wear really matters

2011-09-13T08:57:00.000+01:00

Looks a bit dodgy. Not my type. Seems friendly. Love at first sight.

Just a few of the snap judgements we're prone to make about others.

On what basis?

Many people including psychologists think it's all to do with facial features (cue Roberta Flack singing The first time ever I saw your face). Symmetrical faces and wide-apart eyes are good, anger is a no-no. But my latest research has revealed that clothes makes a huge difference to these first impressions. And the upshot of it all is (you'll like this one)....clothes can be a really marvellous investment!

We carried out the research at the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with Mathieson & Brooke Tailors. Over 300 adults (men and women) looked at images of a man and a woman for just 3 seconds before making 'snap judgements' about them. In some of the pictures the man wore a made-to-measure suit. In others he wore a very similar off-the-peg suit bought on the high street. In some pictures the woman wore a skirt suit and in others a trouser suit of the same colour and fabric.

After just a 3-second exposure people judged the man more favourably in the bespoke suit.
They rated him as more confident, successful, flexible and a higher earner than when he wore a high street equivalent. Similarly the woman received more positive ratings in a skirt suit than in a trouser suit. Since both models' faces in the pictures were blanked out these impressions must have been formed after quickly eyeing what they were wearing.

The bespoke suit on the left made a far more positive first impression that the high street suit on the right

Clothes say a great deal about who we are and can signal our social status to others. It even starts in childhood - one study found that teachers made assumptions about children's academic ability based on their clothing. And research has even hinted that women should dress more like men if they want to succeed. A study by Forsythe (1990) tested this using a mock interview for a management position. The more masculine the clothing worn by female applicants the greater the perception of their management potential. Fortunately, although it used a different methodology, my findings suggest the opposite.
After just a 3 second exposure the female in the skirt suit received more positive ratings than in the trouser suit.
It's reassuring that women can dress in more feminine ways and still be taken seriously. Be careful about the plunging neckline or micro-skirt though, you can take things too far and other research shows provocative clothing is viewed as indicative of low professional status.

This woman made a more positive impression in the skirt than in the trouser suit.

Sartorial laziness is an easy habit to slip into. We may think that fashion is just profligate indulgence and our sunny personality will eclipse our dull attire or detract from the soup stains on our anorak. Untrue. What we wear speaks volumes in just a few seconds. Dressing to impress really is worthwhile and could even be the key to success.

How do you do this in the current economic climate? In an earlier blog I gave some tips for the cash-strapped fashionista along with Style Psychologist Kate Nightingale. I also asked David Brooke of M&BT whether we could justify splashing out on bespoke tailoring. He said:

“A made-to-measure suit is undoubtedly more expensive than some high street suits, but does not need to break the bank. In fact, an M&BT made-to-measure suit is always better quality and lasts far longer than off-the-peg suits. A bespoke, or made-to-measure suit, in light of this research, must be seen as an investment in your career and an essential ingredient to your personal success.”

As a clothes lover (and in the spirit of my new position as Professor of Fashion Psychology at the University of Bilgi, Istanbul) I naturally have to agree with David. Also, in our Do Something Different philosophy, shaking up your wardrobe and projecting a new outer image is a great way to start changing behaviour.

More fashion-related blogs coming this way soon...

You can download a summary of the research from the Psychology of Fashion page of my website

Girls, materialism and self-esteem.

2011-09-01T10:53:00.002+01:00

If you had a 12-year old daughter how would you expect her to spend the summer holidays?

Girls today may not all be like me and pass the days pretending to be a pony (I know, don’t say it, I am a psychologist after all). But it seems that many are spending hours in front of a computer screen showing off the spoils from their latest spending spree.

The trend is called hauling and is reported in the news today. Girls record themselves showing their latest ‘haul’ from the shops and others can view them on youtube and leave comments. Unsurprisingly it’s a trend that’s come over from the U.S. where girls as young as 8 or 9 take part.

Worryingly some girls are spending up to eight hours a day in front of the computer, having become addicted to obsessively checking for comments on their latest post. And not all the comments are positive, with one girl having been told she was too pale and her legs were ‘stumpy’.

The dangers of this activity barely need articulating but as a psychologist I worry about the self-esteem of these young girls and how fragile their sense of identify may be. In particular:

Research shows that materialism is strongly linked to low self-esteem in children. So kids who want more generally value themselves less.
Children repeat what they get attention for. It’s called positive reinforcement and underlies addictive behaviours. If you get a thousand ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from your on-line watchers every time you buy something, you’ll quickly get addicted to that attention and require more and more purchases to get the effect.
This sets the stage for, and increases the likelihood, of cyber-bullying. Blatant showing off of what we have can engender envy and jealousy in others. Some girls may get admiration from their friends but they may also fuel their enemies into hostility.
Studies show that experiences not stuff determine our levels of happiness. While these girls are shopping and showing off they are not having the experiences that will help them develop into positive and well-adjusted individuals.

Have you got a money mate?

2011-08-25T07:50:00.000+01:00

According to new research only a fifth of us have someone we can talk to about money.

There are times when we all find it reassuring to talk over our concerns in life - from careers to relationships, but when it comes to money matters, it seems many of us don’t have anyone to confide in. Results from a new survey by the Money Advice Service reveal that 76% of us admit to feeling generally happy about life when we feel good about our money, yet only 19% of us say we have someone who we trust to confide in about our money situation.

It's time we talked about money folks!

Today, the independent Money Advice Service launches the Money Chat campaign and

we're right behind their aim to get the UK talking about money.

The campaign will run from now until the autumn, offering free tips and tools to help people get their conversations started – online, over the phone, or face-to-face.

To launch the campaign the Money Advice Service surveyed over 2,000 adults to find out how the UK population feels about money matters.

Their results, published today, highlight that while money can’t necessarily buy us happiness feeling on top of it really can. Having financial control gives us a positive boost that helps us cope better with other aspects of life, for example:

· 44% of us feel more in control of our lives overall when we feel in control of our money

· 33% of us feel more confident when our finances are in order

· 37% of us can get on better with other aspects of our lives when our finances are in order

It's good to know you're not alone...

Being able to talk about money is key to getting on top of financial matters.

In Sheconomics we have a whole chapter called Share Financial Intimacies in which we show you how to understand each other's money mindset, start a money conversation and even achieve joint account harmony (yes, it can be done!).

You can even download a tip sheet on How to talk to your partner about money.

The Money Advice Service’s free unbiased money advice is available nationwide - online at moneyadviceservice.org.uk and on the phone via 0300 500 5000.

So - what are you waiting for? Go and have a money chat with someone today.

Shouldn't financial education be compulsory?

2011-08-18T15:27:00.000+01:00

Today teenagers across the country will be getting their A level results and finding out whether they're en route for Oxbridge or Uxbridge.

In three years time many will emerge with a degree - and a debt of up to £54,000*
Debt used to be a dirty word but since the introduction of Uni tuition fees it's now not only OK to have debt but the government encourage it.
Isn't it sad then that many students come out of school having had NO education in managing debt, understanding interest rates and financial management?

Today the Department for Education said:

It's a national disgrace that in the 20 years since introducing student loans, we’ve educated our youth into debt when they go to university, but never about debt. We're a financially illiterate nation, with millions caught by misselling, overborrowing and being ripped off. Is it any surprise we’ve just had a debt imbued financial crisis. This must change. Companies spend billions on marketing and teaching their staff to sell – it's time we got buyers' training. The most cost effective way to start is to ensure every child in the country gets a basic understanding of personal finance & consumer rights before leaving school. This isn’t a large resource requirement. Some schools already do it, but the majority don’t and that needs to end. Unless it's compulsory, head teachers can’t prioritise for it. 97% of people support this, yet no one will take up the baton. We have one of the world’s most complex consumer economies; it's time our children were taught how to thrive and survive in it.

You can sign a petition to support compulsory financial education in schools here

The extent of the debt - and it's not just the kids who need educating:
*£54,000 calculated by the long-term savings and investment company Standard Life. Their research shows that many parents are also ignorant about the extent of student debt. More than half of parents underestimate the maximum amount of debt their child could leave university with.
When asked to take into account the increase in tuition fees to a maximum of £9,000 per year from 2012, and any other debts accumulated from living expenses, student loans, bank loans, etc, 58 per cent of parents think the maximum debt their children could leave with is £40,000 or under, including many who think this would be a lot less. Despite this, a fifth (21 per cent) of parents have started to make regular savings to help ease the costs of their children's university education. And nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of parents are putting money aside on special occasions (e.g. birthdays or one-off windfalls).
Julie Hutchison, Head of Technical Insight at Standard Life, said: "The findings of our research are positive as they show that parents have identified the need to save for their children's time at university. Unfortunately their expectations of what that cost could be and therefore the target amount they want to save might actually be too low."

We're not influencing our daughters as much as we think.

2011-08-07T10:57:00.000+01:00

How we parent our adolescent off-spring

has a strong influence on them, right?

Wrong.

My daughter Camilla and I - but who's influencing who?

New research* shows it’s probably the other way round – your teenage daughter is influencing you.

The researchers from the Temple University Fox School of Business looked at whether teenage girls tended to buy what their mothers bought, or vice versa.

They sampled 343 mother-daughter pairs and found that mothers who are young at heart and fashion conscious tend to copy their daughter's consumption behavior.

This runs counter to traditional psychological research on role-models and suggests a reverse-socialisation effect. Daughters, it seems, just don’t see their mums as role models when it comes to fashion. Shame really, just think of all the hand-me-downs they could profit from!

The researchers concluded that "children affect their parents' consumption behavior with regard to the products that the parents themselves consume."

So next time you find yourself stocking up on acne cream and pink hair dye and squeezing into a pair of micro-shorts, stop and ask yourself who’s been getting under your skin.

This highlights how human behaviour - financial and otherwise - is often driven by invisible forces. By unconscious motives and emotions that rarely crop up on our mental radar. In Sheconomics we show you how to notice - and get to grips with - those hidden forces so you are always in control of your spending and your life.

Temple University (2011, July 26). Mothers have a stronger tendency to mimic their daughters' consumption behavior than vice versa. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110725091718.htm

Everything must change

2011-08-04T11:24:00.000+01:00

This is a blog I wrote this month for Jayne Cox, the body image consultant who is currently running a wonderful campaign to help women cope with cancer. I thought I'd repost it here because the central message - about adapting to changes in circumstance - applies to the many twists and turns that life takes.....

There’s a song by Nina Simone that starts:

"Everything must change.... nothing stays the same"

It’s a beautiful haunting song.

One line goes, "There are not many things in life you can be sure of..."

A poignant reminder that everything changes.

Our ideas shift. Our moods swing. People come and go. The weather changes. So does fashion.

Our bodies get sick. Friendships are gained and lost.

We live in a world where nothing stays the same. And sometimes it’s hard to hang on to anything that will offer us security and protection. But there’s one lesson we can learn from nature. If you adapt, life is so much better. And that means letting go of old ideas and ways of being, and becoming more flexible.

Flexibility is key to coping with change, to having a good life and meaningful relationships. A flexible person is one everyone wants to be with. They don’t make unreasonable demands on others. They’ll go with the flow and still smile through it. They let go of the past easily and embrace change.

Faced with one of life’s crises, such as cancer, flexibility helps a woman cope with the fears and frustrations. She can adapt to the present reality, even though it may not be the reality she had planned.

Because reality knows nothing of your plans. It will come up with ever new ways to frustrate and frighten you. If you can’t adapt to the new reality you may be stressed, irritable, hostile - perhaps overwhelmed, grumbling, resisting.

That leaves little mental and emotional energy for dealing with what matters. Relaxing rigidity and expectations will help you to yield to others without getting too depresssed or upset. It also gives new space to those around you to express what they are thinking and feeling.

In our behaviour change work we give people who are coping with change a new mantra. Do Something Different.

Because, in a changing world, if you’re still trying to hang on to old ways of being you might come crashing down.

Instead you can adapt and flourish.

Nothing has to stay the same. If you always loved classical music, try blasting out some rock. If your wardrobe was sensible and conservative, wear something wacky. If you were a shrinking violet, get gobby and voice your opinions. Wear odd socks. Give more hugs. Dance under the stars. Give some money away. Sing loudly.

If anyone says, “But you don’t…” be ready to say, “Well I do now”

Times of change are also times for reinvention. Don’t be afraid to use this time to become the person you always wanted to be.

===========================================

Why we give our daughters dresses to wear and our sons problems to solve

2011-07-22T15:12:00.004+01:00

This week the retailing giant Debenhams revealed that parents spend 20% more on their daughters’ clothes than on their sons'.

Over the lifetime of childhood that adds up to a lot of pink frocks and sparkly tops. In a report on this for the Daily Mail I was asked the killer question of whether it was nature or nurture. There’s never a simple answer to that question but in this case I plumped for nurture. Look how we still praise girls for looking pretty and comment on their appearance, whereas with boys parents are more likely to get excited when he masters their mobile phone functionality.

Whether or not we know we’re doing it, parents start to treat boys and girls differently in the delivery room. Studies show that parents describe their newborn daughters as more delicate and having finer features than boys, even though gender differences aren’t visible early on. So if you dressed all babies in green (rather than pink or blue) we couldn’t tell which gender they were, with a nappy on of course. (You can fluster adults by handing them a baby and not telling them which sex it is, they really don’t know how to behave).

Later on the difference treatment continues:

· Parents play more roughly with boy babies than girls.

· They allow boys to explore more as toddlers.

· They use more emotion words with girls than boys.

· They encourage girls more in play that involves domestic themes and dressing up.

These subtle signals create the child’s early gender identity. Girls get more parental and societal approval for ‘looking pretty’, sending the message that what they wear is important to others. As little girls grow, they are socialized to continue to care about their appearance. Society glamorizes the female image and places heavy emphasis on the outward show. I guess that’s why women shop more but it must also subtly skew their aspirations and futures. We buy girls princess outfits and boys get Superman costumes. No wonder only 6% of UK engineers are women (the lowest in the EU) compared to 40% in China (according to the Institute of Technology).

Of course, there will be a myriad of reasons for this difference but spending less of their formative years in dress shops may have had something to do with it.

I AM CURRENTLY RESEARCHING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN FASHION AND WOMEN'S EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING. THE SURVEY IS OPEN UNTIL THE END OF AUGUST AND ONLY TAKES 5-10 MINUTES TO COMPLETE: PLEASE TAKE PART

Click here to take survey

Do yourself a favour and Lily will do one for others!

2011-07-18T15:15:00.002+01:00

I love the idea behind bolder.is.

Not only is it all about getting people to Do Something Different (a technique we use all the time in our behaviour change work). It's also about people issuing challenges to others and giving something in return.

http://bolder.is/challenge/192/

So this lovely lady, Lily, will donate $1 to Meals on Wheels for every person who takes the 'Save for Retirement Challenge'.

Her message is straightforward and applies to us in the UK as well as those Americans:

"Start saving now and it'll add up pretty fast (compound interest is a miracle!). Nearly half of today's Americans are at risk for being unable to maintain their current standard of living in retirement. Saving now - even a little bit - makes a difference"

Why not take her up on it - or issue a challenge of your own?

The Girl with her Head in the Sand

2011-07-12T18:36:00.000+01:00

Imagine this.

You meet the love of your life and spend 30 blissful years together. He's a writer and has a few novels tucked in his desk drawer; he jokes that one day they’ll pay for your dream home in the country.

You are partners in every sense of the word, with a shared language and often research his books together. But you never get round to marrying.

Then at the age of just 50 he drops down dead. Suddenly his (previously estranged) family appear to claim their entitlement to half of the apartment in which you live. When your lover’s books are published posthumously, earning millions, it’s his family who are the legal heirs to the fortune. You don’t even figure in the picture.

This is what happened to Eva Gabrielsson the woman who was the life partner of Stieg Larsson, author of books including The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo and a global sensation. Eva is currently fighting a legal battle for control of Larsson’s literary estate and campaigning for a change in Swedish law.*

Although Eva describes herself as a feminist, like many women she left the financial affairs to her partner. Sadly Stieg didn’t set up a company to manage their joint assets, as he’d promised. And Eva didn’t find that out until it was too late.

Eva wasn’t unusual in failing to secure her own financial future and being a bit ignorant about their joint finances and her rights.

In fact, as many as nine out of ten women in relationships prefer the ostrich position and don’t get involved in financial planning.

Yet women have a 70% chance of becoming solely responsible for their own financial well-being

(through divorce, death of partner etc.)

Is this you?

Are you ignorant about your joint finances?
Do you just assume ‘things will be taken care of’ in the event of death or disaster?
If you are an unmarried co-habitee, do you know what your inheritance rights are?
If you got divorced (in most divorces women come off worse than men) how would you manage? And do you know what pension rights would be?
Are you spending your money on your children instead of on your own future? (we’ve heard of women cashing in their pensions to help their off-spring to buy a home).
Is it time to do something different and put yourself first?

We hope you never have to wait for disaster to strike before the state of your finances is revealed as inadequate.

In Sheconomics we give lots of tips on how to innoculate your finances against future adversity.

Best to do it now - then you can get on with enjoying your life!

*Eva has written a book about her campaign: Stieg and me: Memories of my life with Stieg Larsson (Orion £12.99).

Number of women, not IQ, determines how smart a group is.

2011-06-24T18:21:00.002+01:00

I know I've discussed this before but the evidence just gets more and more fascinating.

What makes a group (such as a board) really smart?

It’s not their collective intelligence but a high level of emotional intelligence.

Studies show that:

Groups that are really effective listen to each other.
They share constructive criticism.
They have open minds.
They’re not autocratic.
They have an equal distribution of conversational turn-taking.

When I reported to the Financial Services Research Forum last year that having three women on a company board tripled profitability, I didn’t realise what a huge topic this would become. Since my paper on the topic was published in Significance, more research has come to light that’s even more fascinating.

Imagine that you have a really smart bunch of people in the room.
How would you measure their collective intelligence? The straightforward answer might to be measure the IQ of each individual, then work out the average to obtain the group IQ.

Not just small and smug-looking....

It turns out that IQ scores tell us nothing about the intelligence of the group.

One other factor does.

The number of women in the group.

No kidding.

Professor Anita Woolley of Carnegie Mellon gave subjects aged 18 to 60 IQ tests and assigned them randomly to teams. Each team completed several tasks, like brainstorming, decision making, visual puzzles—and had to solve one complex problem. The intelligence scores of the groups were calculated, based on their performance.

You might expect teams whose members had higher IQs to have scored highest.

They didn’t.

The teams with more women did.

An amazing finding. When Anita Woolley published this in Science* and was interviewed for the Harvard Business Review she said:

You realize you’re saying that groups of women are smarter than groups of men.

Woolley: Yes… part of that finding can be explained by differences in social sensitivity, which we found is also important to group performance. Many studies have shown that women tend to score higher on tests of social sensitivity than men do. So what is really important is to have people who are high in social sensitivity, whether they are men or women.

As I said in my previous posts, it's diversity not expertise that makes the group effective. I'll shut up now. Perhaps ;)

*Science 29 October 2010: Vol. 330 no. 6004 pp. 686-688

Could George Osborne scrap higher rate tax relief on pensions?

2011-06-20T16:52:00.000+01:00

Simonne updates us on pension changes that could be coming our way:

Yesterday’s Telegraph reported that George Osborne is in talks to discuss scrapping higher rate tax relief on pension contributions.

This means that if you’re in the higher rate tax bracket (earning over £43,875) you would only get back 20p for every £1 paid into a pension, and not 40p if you’re a 40% taxpayer or 50p if you’re a 50% taxpayer (with pre-tax earnings above £150,000).

In April this year, the government cut the amount you can save into a pension each year from £255,000 to £50,000. Scrapping higher rate tax relief would apparently save the government a further £7bn a year, helping towards funding the deficit, or boosting the state pension by up to 50%.

So, should we be taking this seriously?

It’s certainly not the first time this option has been considered.

If you would be affected by such a change, you could think about paying more into your pension now before the rules change. Only do this if you can afford to and if you’re happy tying up the money.

Meanwhile, the government is being urged to rethink its plans to increase the state pension age for women to 66.

A debate is taking place today on the pensions bill.

The time scale for raising women’s state pension age in line with men’s has already accelerated – it’s now due to rise to 65 by 2018 (2 years earlier than originally planned).

Women born between March 6th and April 5th 1954 will be the worst affected.

But now plans are afoot to raise women’s state retirement age to 66 from 2020.

This doesn’t allow women anywhere near enough time to plan for a later retirement age. As you can imagine, there have been major uproars about this and it is being debated today. We’ll find out later on if the vote gets passed by the House of Commons.

You can read the Telegraph’s full report on this here.

Thanks Simonne for keeping us up-to-date with the changes and living up to your name (Wise Monkey)!

More sensible and topical advice on Simonne's website.

GUEST POST FROM KATE NIGHTINGALE

2011-06-17T19:07:00.001+01:00

Did you know women buy half their body weight in clothes every year? We're lucky enough to have a guest blog here from Kate Nightingale, Style Psychologist, with great tips on how to spend wisely when adding more weight to your wardrobe this summer! We've also added some extra cheap fashion tips at the end - for those on a strict budget.

Kate recommends:

Kate Nightingale, Style Psychologist

5 SUMMER STYLES FOR UNDER £200

You leave home in the morning and the sun is shining. You look up and feel the warmth of the sunshine on your face and almost instinctively start to smile. Yes, summer’s here!

You smile when seeing the sun but do you smile when dressing up in the morning? Do you think you need more money to achieve the right look? You really don’t need to spend a fortune. I've created 5 summer looks here all under £200, so you don’t have to feel guilty after spending your hard-earned money.

WHITE TAILORED

This trend is all about crisp and sharp lines. The clothes are simple and elegant in white with ecru and cream. A cool look for hot city days, though I wouldn’t advice this trend for lawyers, accountants and finance specialist. White, in these professions, still seems to be reserved for informal occasions.

Make this trend work with a white suit that you look good in, accessorised with a simple white top and sandals.

Kate has chosen Mango white Nastacia suit – jacket £89.90 and trousers £49.90, white cotton vest by H&M £5.99 and simple beige sandals by H&M £24.99.

The total for this look is £170.78.

FLORALS

A fun trend for summer! There are plenty of flowers around at this time of year, why not get some florals into your wardrobe too? A truly perennial trend that will come back every spring/summer season.

Here I've created an outfit that is simple, elegant and understated. You can wear floral trends on the beach easily, but this shows you how to make it work for the evening.

Kate has put together Monsoon fusion kew embroidered dress £85, Zara patent sandal with jewel and bow £59.99 with a Monsoon brooch gold clutch £35 and chandelier earrings £12.

The total for the outfit is £191.99.

COLOUR BLOCKING

A statement a trend for the woman who wants to be seen. The colours are bright and the combinations striking. An elegant and comfortable look for people working in fashion or media, though perhaps only the bravest city workers.

Kate has put together Zara double cloth pink skirt £25.99, red loose top £29.99, satin colour block sandal £39.99, patent red shoulder bag £39.99.

The total for the look is £135.96.

NAUTICAL

A trend that adapts easily to any body shape and occasion. It’s ideal for weekends but equally suitable for a summer day in the city.The basic colours are white, navy and red. The dominant patterns are stripes.

This is a weekend look that's casual but still elegant.

Kate has put together Mango white jeans £24.90, Esprit navy striped jumper £14.99, Kurt Geiger red patent pumps £75 and Ted Baker Ikon red handbag £24.50.

All together £139.39.

SEVENTIES

A decade of hippies and disco freaks. It’s full of floral and ethnic patterns, maxi dresses, platform shoes and big accessories. The colours are quite natural, browns, oranges, reds, yellows and greens. Make this look work by sticking with basic garments and investing in accessories. Or get the full look by investing in a pattered garment and adding lot of cheaper accessories.

Kate has combined H&M floral print maxi dress in dirty orange £29.99, Miss KG brown platform sandals £45 and some H&M accessories, ethnic bracelets £6.99, feather necklace £5.99 and faux crystal ring £3.99.

Definitely the cheapest trend at only £91.96.

Thank you to Kate, whose passion is helping women to express themselves through their own personal style.

See her website www.katenightingale.com

SHECONOMICS TIP:

Don't be tempted to buy more clothes if you're already in debt or have a bulging wardrobe and a cash crisis. Here are some Sheconomical tips for the cash-strapped fashionista....

Trousers getting worn out or too hort can be cut-down into summer shorts - wear with opaque tights on less-than sunny days
Whites, such as blouses and t-shirts, can be given a new lease of life by using a whitener in the wash (try Dylon Ultra Whitener)
A cheap length of bright ethnic fabric works well as a sarong, shawl or wrap-round top
Jaded or boring garments can be revived by dyeing them bright funky colours

Boards and dinner parties.

2011-06-14T11:23:00.001+01:00

Boards are a bit like dinner parties.

That’s what I told a group of company secretaries from FTSE 100 companies yesterday, when I was invited to speak at a seminar organised by Capita Registrars. The topic was women on boards, based on a paper I have just had published in Significance, the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society.

I was thinking about a dinner party I gave on Saturday night. Apart from the fact that it was exhausting (I seemed to spend most of Saturday slow-roasting a tomato) I was mindful of a statistic I’d come across in a recent survey. It said:

1 in 10 people would rather go to the dentist than go to a dinner party.

Perhaps they’d been to one of mine.

In fact the evening hummed along nicely, with Mike and Barbara, a lovely couple from work. My friend Jayne who’s a life coach and her husband Neil who works for a charity. Then there was my Geoff, who’s an antiques dealer and his wife Julianne. She’s a counsellor.

The evening was fine. Probably because we’re all quite similar. We share the same values and beliefs. We all prefer Sauvignon blanc to Chardonnay and agree on where to buy the best Parmiggiano Reggiano in London (at Camisa’s in Old Compton Street).

In short, we’re very comfortable in each other’s presence because we’re all white, middle-class, heterosexual baby-boomers from St Albans.

Not surprising that we all found ourselves around the same table. Psychological studies show that we seek out people who are like ourselves. Research from the University of Chicago even shows we are more likely to fall in love with someone who looks like us. At a social level, hanging out with like-minded people means we can affirm our own beliefs and values. We can confirm that we’re right in what we think.

But it does mean, if we’re not careful, that the conversation revolves around the topics we all know and care about. We’re in our comfort zone – sharing common ground with people who think like us.

But it’s when we do something different and put ourselves in the discomfort zone that growth and development happens.

I asked myself after Saturday night whether I should have invited a more mixed group. Why, for example, didn’t I invite my neighbour’s son who’s an aspiring poet and unemployed? Or the lovely Indian couple I see every week at Tai Chi?

How on earth am I going to have my own values challenged, and see the world as it is for other people, if I only hang out with like-minded people who are clones of myself?

BOARDS

I think the same is true of boards. They’re a bit like dinner parties (except no-one’s had to slow roast a tomato and probably a little less Sauvignon Blanc gets consumed)….but they tend to recruit members who are just like them.

About ten years ago the Norwegian Trade and Industry manager, Asnager Gabrielsen noted that boards were mostly made up of men with very similar views and backgrounds who went hunting and fishing together.

This meant there was a huge risk of group-think in the boards’ decision-making processes, and a real lack of diverse perspectives.

Norway brought in laws stating that board membership should be at least 40% female.

Since then Norway has enjoyed 3% economic growth and an 11% budget surplus, while many of its European neighbours were still in the depths of economic recession.

Some boards in the UK probably still resemble those that worried the Norwegians. To borrow a phrase from my friend Alan Newman, they are mostly male, pale and stale.

Let’s look at the stats:

Only 13.4% of FTSE 100 company directors are women.
And 14 of those companies have all male boards.

Yet the evidence for women on the board boosting company performance is compelling (the recent Lord Davies report acknowledges this) even if you ignore the Norwegian example.

A study by Pepperdine University had shown that companies with just 3 women on the board of directors outperformed the competition on all measures by at least 40%.
Data from Gavurin Intelligence showed that a board that’s 30% female triples a company’s profitability.

Whilst this is correlational data and doesn’t constitute causality, the evidence from multiple measures now shows that:

· THE most influential determinant of higher ROE is gender diversity
· It is arguably one of the most cutting-edge business improvement strategies available today

No wonder other countries are following suit and advising boards to appoint more females, with the threat of introducing quotas if they fail to do so.

A supply Issue? Those opposed to quotas always point to a shortage of women with the necessary credentials.

I would argue that there's no shortage - just a short-sightedness on the part of those doing the selecting. I would also cite research from Harvard, MIT and Carnegie Business School showing that diversity is more important than expertise when creating the best groups.

And there is a lot of psychological research showing that adding women to a group ensures that

more diverse opinions and attitudes are expressed
decisions get questioned when information certainty is low (something that females are found to do more frequently)
discussions get broadened
the groups’s overall level of social sensitivity is increased

- To quote Thomas Malone from Carnegie Mellon:

"Having a bunch of smart people in a group doesn't necessarily

make the group smart”.

It’s having different people that makes the group smarter.

Like inviting really different people to the dinner party, the group dynamic gets changed for the better. There’s more growth and development in the discomfort zone.

Yet we all tend to hang around with people who are just like us.

Perhaps it’s time we all invited someone new to the party?

"There should never be too much testosterone in one room"

2011-06-02T19:12:00.000+01:00

Why Christine Lagarde should be president of the IMF

1. For saying “I honestly think that there should never be too much testosterone in one room."

2.     Because she speaks fluent French. OK she is French. But she also speaks fluent English. How brilliant is that?

3.     For being ballsy enough to state that “Gender-dominated environments are not good... particularly in the financial sector where there are too few women,"

4.     She says this about cooking: “Cooking is about giving”. Don’t you just love that?

5.     And for saying: "In gender-dominated environments, men have a tendency to... show how hairy chested they are, compared with the man who's sitting next to them.”

6. And also for saying the 2008 financial collapse was driven by the aggressive, greedy, testosterone-fuelled mood of male-dominated, hi-tech trading rooms.

7. For being hugely ambitious but wanting to spend more time cooking for her family or making apricot and quince jam. (That’s not strawberry or raspberry jam. It’s bloody apricot and quince I tell you.)

8. For being reluctant to say there are female and male ways of dealing with power… “but based on my own experience, women will tend to be inclusive, to reach out more, to care a little more."

9. A man said about her "Her lightning-quick wit, genuine warmth and ability to bridge divides while remaining fiercely loyal to French interests have been a source of admiration."

(Timothy Geithner, US Secretary of the Treasury, Time, April 2009)

10. Hotel chambermaids can feel totally safe in her presence.

Beach Psychology: Through the eyes of an alien

2011-05-23T22:21:00.000+01:00

Location: A beach on Koh Samui. An alien and a human are observing holidaymakers.

Alien: What are these humans doing? Do they come here to sleep?

Human: No, they’re sunbathing.

Alien: Why do they worship the rays of this distant orb?

Human: Well, they like the feeling of warmth and they like the colour it turns their skin.

Alien: What colour is this?

Human: It turns them darker, they go brown.

Alien: And this darkness is beneficial to humans?

Human: Not exactly, too much can burn their skin.

Alien: Burn it? The orb’s rays can harm humans?

Human: Yes. It burns their skin. It ages it prematurely. And it can cause cancer, a potentially fatal disease.

Alien: Yet still they come?

Human: Yes. In fact they pay money to come. They er..enjoy it.

Alien: And do they do this for long, these beached ones?

Human: Oh yes, often all day, for a week or two.

Alien: Here comes a very browned one.

Human: Ah, that’s a beach seller. He isn’t a holiday-maker. He lives here and earns money by selling things to the holiday-makers.

Alien: The beached ones need the things he sells?

Human: Well, not eactly need…..

Alien: ..they want the wooden elephant with the spinning ears? They have been seeking that and he brings it?

Human: No they didn’t know they wanted it …look. It’s because they need to shop. It’s what they do.

Alien: Here is another browned one. He brings food. They are hungry the beached ones?

Human: Well, yes and no. They probably had a full english breakfast at their hotel and some of them will have sneaked a few cheese rolls into their bags. But the beach-seller knows they cannot resist ice-creams. And donuts. Oh and hot dogs.

Alien: Many of the beached ones are a great size. They do not move. Yet they consume the offerings of the beach seller? They seek to be his colour and a bigger size?

Human: Oh no, they’d prefer to be his slim shape.

Alien: This does not compute. The large beached ones burn their skins, they buy things they do not need, they over-consume to become a size they do not wish to be. Did you say they are paid great sums of money for this process?

Human: Er, no. They are the ones that pay. Excuse me, I'm off for...a lie down.

Are you financially prepared for retirement?

2011-05-11T21:14:00.004+01:00

THANKS TO CERI WHEELDON FOR THIS GUEST BLOG.
Ceri's website www.fabafterfifty.com is packed full of articles, tips and advice for women celebrating being over 50 and feeling fab!

When facing retirement are we ever really ready?

With life expectancy increasing, and one in 7 women turning 50 this year likely to live to be 100, traditional retirement may be a thing of the past.

Today, retirement presents an opportunity to ’relaunch’ our lives. It is important to be confident about your outlook and passionate about what lies ahead:

When planning your retirement, set yourself a monthly budget equal to your projected retirement income and try to live on it. Be realistic about what your monthly expenditure is likely to be. You may be spending less on commuting daily, but you will have more leisure time and increased socialising normally means more expense! Not to mention that you will now have the time for all that travelling you didn’t quite get round to.
Think about the financial ‘benefits’ you may be losing such as private health cover and life insurance- if these have been funded by your employer you will need to check out the costs of buying the cover privately.
Make sure you have a complete picture of your financial situation- ask for current figures on your pension plans to have a realistic picture of what level of income your current pension will deliver. Worryingly according to the Office of National Statistics It seems that the average pot for 56 year old women living in the UK stands at only £9,100. This would generate an approximate income of around only £550 a year.

Recent changes to pension legislation also mean that women have to wait longer before being eligible to draw their state pension; women's state pension age rises to 65 by November 2018, and then to 66 by 6 April 2020.

If you realise that you can’t really afford to fully retire as planned, look at the options available to you- do you want to work part-time? 93% of the new jobs created in the last 12 months are part-time so in theory this should work to your advantage.

If you need to look for full-time employment are your skills up to date? Do you need to attend any training courses- have you budgeted for these? Are there any evening classes you can attend to fill any skills gap you feel you may have?

Also, once you reach state pension age, should you continue to work you cease to pay national insurance contributions, giving you an extra opportunity to save!

Have you always had a yearning to be your own boss? Now could be the time to set up your own business. Statistics show that more businesses set up by the over 50s succeed than businesses founded by the under 30s. If you build up a business with the potential to be sold, as well providing an immediate income stream it could also provide you with a lump sum at a later date.

It’s never to early to start planning for retirement!

Thanks Ceri for reminding us that, if we prepare for retirement, we can look forward to so much more than a bus pass and a shopping trolley... as the inspiring stories on the www.fabafterfifty.com website testify.

Male entrepreneurs using social networks as an extension of the boardroom

2011-04-19T11:34:00.000+01:00

Should a woman behave more like a man to make it to the top?

How much are male and female traits visible through social networks such as Twitter?

Here are a couple of tweets, one from a male and one from a female entrepreneur. Can you tell which is which?

I feel very sorry for you on the score last night! Want a tissue?

Just heard a fab quote re the role of a parent “our job is to give children the courage to go out into the world & a home to come back to”

OK, so it was dead easy to spot. The first was from a man and the second from a woman.

But is that generally true of male and female entrepreneur tweeters or do female entrepreneurs have to emulate male traits?

My team at the University of Hertfordshire have been busy researching just that…..

We analysed nearly 5,000 tweets from twelve influential entrepreneurs over one-month.

Our results showed that male entrepreneurs tend to use social networking sites to compete and dominate whilst women use them to build networks.

We also showed that men ‘tweet’ about business 46% more than women.

In fact even their more casual conversations involve business. So they really do have one-track minds. A business track.

And when it comes to blatant self-promotion, the males again come out as the top tweeters.

They do a lot more of blowing their own trumpets, sounding off 61% more self-promotional tweets than their female counterparts.

Female tweets are more supportive, friendly and more lifestyle-y.

In fact the female entrepreneurs put out more than twice as many tweets about their non-business life than men.

These top women also tweeted 77% more supportive and conversational content than males. They were more likely to join in an on-line chat, respond to others with a friendly comment or messages of support.

It seems from these new findings that men are using social media as an extension of the board room or the sports field - where they typically like to lead the competition and dominate.

Women seem to use social media far less aggressively, using it more socially to build contacts and network with people, as is often the case in the ‘real world’. Yet many are matching their male entrpreneurial counterparts when it comes to generating wealth.

The top 5 entrepreneurs by how much they tweeted in one month (Jan-Feb 2011) are below. They have an estimated combined wealth of £1.28billion*

   1. Michelle Mone 1,030 tweets
2.    Lord Sugar 965 tweets
3.    Duncan Bannatyne 660 tweets
4.    Theo Paphitis 505 tweets
5.    Martha Lane Fox 275 tweets

* According to data from the Sunday Times Rich List 2010 excluding Michelle Mone worth estimated £50m from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/12/michelle-mone-lingerie-71-degrees-north Martha Lane Fox estimated £20m http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/net-multimillionaire-martha-lane-fox-seriously-injured-in-car-crash-in-morocco-562168.html

· The University of Hertfordshire was awarded the Times Higher Education ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year 2010’

Shop like a Zombie

2011-04-18T10:39:00.000+01:00

Pasty-looking people with unfocussed eyes goggle menacingly at the shop’s window display, hands and faces pressed hard against the glass. Cabinets of sparking goods stand within. An unearthly moan of desire emanates from the frustrated crowd.

What’s this? A description of shoppers waiting for Primark’s doors to open on a Saturday morning?

No, it’s actually a scene from Romero’s film, the Dawn of the Dead. And the pasty-looking people aren’t shoppers. They're zombies.

But the scene does capture something that Philip Horne, in his article ‘I shopped with a Zombie’ descibes as the transformation of merchanise into a spectacle which, these days, seems to have a compulsive quality. And researchers have now identified the kinds of magical transformations that many shoppers expect when making purchases.

In her study Marsha Richins, from Trulaske College of Business, identified four types of expectations:

Transformation of the self

That’s the belief, commonly held by young people and people in new roles, that a purchase will change who you are and how people perceive you. For example, a woman interviewed for Richins study wanted to have cosmetic dental surgery because she thought it would improve her appearance and self-confidence.

Transformation of relationships

Is the expectation that a purchase will improve your relationships with others. For example, a woman in the study wanted a new house as she thought then she'd entertain more often and make more friends.

Hedonic transformation

This is the belief that a purchase will make life more fun. For example, a man in the study believed a new mountain bike would give him more incentive to get out and go on "an adventure."

Efficacy transformation

is the expectation that purchases will make you more effective in your life. For example, some study participants believed buying a new car would make them more independent and self-reliant.

Nothing wrong with any of these reasons, you might think. They only become problematic when the purchaser spends the money and then, as often happens, doesn’t get the expected outcome. Because things like good relationships, independence, self-reliance and confidence come from working on your inner self, not from outer trappings.

Research shows that most people's beliefs about the life-transforming properties of their purchases are completely fallacious. Yet these beliefs are still very powerful motivators to spend. Worse still, if you have strong and unrealistic transformational beliefs you are more likely to overuse credit and take on excessive debt.

In Romero’s film the zombies rise from their graves and stagger to the shopping mall. What a shame no-one told them those glittering prizes wouldn’t be life-transforming.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the office.....

2011-04-13T15:21:00.002+01:00

the toddler gets chicken pox, the after-school club gets axed and your childminder emigrates to Siberia in search of an easier life.

Working mums have been a regular blog topic here on Sheconomics, and we've been lucky enough to have Becky from Babybudgeting give her view on family finance as well as the fabulous Jessica Chivers giving us a sneaky heads-up on her new book Mothers Work!

So I guess those two ladies, with their fingers on the pulse of the working mum, won't be surprised to hear that 'desperate need of money' drove 80% of mums surveyed by Philips AVENT back to the day job.

That still leaves one in five mums returning for the sake of their sanity, rather than for the salary, which is something that Jessica's research had highlighted. In Mothers Work! Jessica talks about how mums cope with (apart from the guilt) the crippling costs of childcare and how some mums simply couldn't afford to go back to work. The Philips AVENT survey showed that almost half of them get round this by roping in the grandparents. A further 40% decided that the average £4,280 a year that childcare costs simply made it not even worth thinking about getting the business suit back on. That figure is a modest estimate, according to Jessica, who says the cost of employing a nanny can escalate to £22,220 p.a. outside London.

Jessica's view is that parents need to get creative about the way they organise childcare, and they need to become better negotiators. That includes pay rises, not being shy about promotion and asking for flexible working, an arrangement that appealed to 70% of the Philips AVENT respondents.

Becky has lots of good advice on how to manage a budget that's been squeezed by the arrival of a baby and you can watch her discussing it here with money advisor Sue Hayward.