This Week in Your Wallet: DINKWADS: Not Your Parent's Yuppies

This Week In Your Wallet:
DINKWADS: Not Your Parent's Yuppies

I’ve been spending more time on TikTok as of late (if you’re not following HerMoney already, please do!) and I’ve noticed a revival (of sorts) for a term used to describe partnered people who both work and support a canine companion: DINKWAD. As in double income, no kids, with a dog. Insider reporter Juliana Kaplan explores the economic and lifestyle trend of couples who choose to be childless for a variety of reasons, among them the skyrocketing cost of raising a kid to age 18 (which the Brookings Institution has now set at close to $310,000). Peruse TikTok and you’ll find a wealth of unapologetic and happy DINKWAD partners, and at least one DINKWADCOUPLE selling merch in the form of white sweatshirts and hoodies with large black letters emblazoned on the front (or back) proudly proclaiming their life choice. “It speaks to how economic and societal conditions are reshaping the new American Dream and aspirations of younger adults,” Kaplan writes, explaining “Millennials are getting married later in life, with some delaying it for economic reasons, or not getting married at all.” DINKWAD life seems to have legs. Read the comments on TikTok and you’ll find wide support for the dual-earning pet parents. To that I say here’s to financial freedom and living your best life, on or off social media.

Longevity Risk

When’s the last time you thought about longevity? What we don’t know can hurt us – especially when it comes to how long we might live and how much money we’ll need. People tend to underestimate on both counts. The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Zumbrun recently dug into the topic, noting a “growing body of evidence shows that many people are ignorant of their so-called longevity risk — the probability of living a very long time — and the complications that presents.”

Such as? Taking social security too soon, he says, and not giving consideration to annuities and other retirement tools to help you avoid running out of money. Olivia Mitchell, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies the subject, told the WSJ “The chance you might live a very long time in retirement and run out of money is something we haven’t focused enough on at all.” Retirement calculators, Mitchell notes, use information on life expectancy but not longevity. You can learn more, and look up your longevity risk with this online longevity illustrator.

And speaking of lifespans, a looming threat to our longevity could also be this: More Americans are delaying doctor’s visits because they can’t afford the high price of care. A New York Times story follows a Florida family of five faced with an $8,000 hospital bill (their portion after insurance) for their baby, and a cancer patient who couldn’t afford life-saving chemo treatments. Reporter Reed Abelson points to the troubling results of a Gallup poll that found nearly four in 10 U.S. adults delayed care in 2022 because of cost. Health advocates worry those numbers will rise in 2024, she writes, when hospitals are predicted to raise rates following losses in 2022. In case you needed a reminder to prioritize your care, consider this it. And if you're currently without insurance, you can preview 2023 rates on the exchanges and find the best deal.

A 12- Zero Alarm: Credit Card Debt Nears $1 Trillion Mark

They say bad news comes in threes. In the final months of 2022, America’s reliance on credit cards grew at a jaw-dropping rate, edging the nation closer to a record $1 trillion in debt, reports Gabriella Cruz-Martinez for Yahoo! Finance. Card balances reached $986 billion, surging past the pre-pandemic high of $927 billion. It gets worse. A report from the Federal Reserve, she points out, shows more people were behind on credit card payments in the last three months of the year, noting “the rate at which credit card holders missed payments and became more than 90 days behind was higher than before the pandemic, especially among younger borrowers.” And the third? The average credit card APR is hovering near 20% – a 37-year high – according to Bankrate. These are all signs the pandemic economy has been replaced with a post-pandemic one that feels strikingly different from three years ago. If you’re looking for ways to pay down credit card debt, know that you have options. And also know that we’d love to have you join our 8-week FinanceFixx budgeting course that can set you up for financial success for the rest of this year — and all the decades to come. We have a few spots left for our session beginning March 6th, and we’d love to see you there!

I Don’t Mean to Brag, But…

You can relax. There will be no insincere humble brags here. Why? Because people really hate them. There’s even research to prove humble braggers actually have less success asking for a favor at work than those who straight-up boast, notes Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Feintzeig. All too often we’re humble bragging (disguising a compliment to ourselves with feigned modesty) because we’re worried about coming off as a pompous jerk if we share an accomplishment… But it’s far better to just come out and say what we mean. Feintzeig has gathered a collection of smart and easy-to-implement ideas on how to sell yourself without feigning false modesty or sounding like a braggart. For example: When describing a successful project at work, praise others who helped you accomplish it. Also: Reread emails before sending to ensure they accurately convey what you’ve done to help a client, and eliminate self-deprecating language, when appropriate. Aliza Licht, whose upcoming book, “On Brand,” guides readers on how to better market themselves, gave this advice in the article: “If you don’t tell your own story, ‘people will just make up their own version’.” One hundred percent.

Have a great week!

Jean

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