|
Subscribe
Read in Browser
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This Week In Your Wallet
|
|
It’s Women’s History Month – and if you’re thinking it’s too late to make a little history of your own, think again. This week, we’re spotlighting six women who didn’t hit their stride until after 40, including Julia Child. Her first dream? Becoming a novelist. Instead, she enrolled in a six-month course at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, where she met Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle. The trio launched their own cooking school and, in 1961, sold their two-volume cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," for just $750. It went on to become a bestseller for five years. But her solo fame came at 40, when The French Chef premiered and was soon syndicated to 96 stations nationwide. The takeaway? It’s never too late to cook up something big.
With tensions in Iran rising, investors are watching for the ripple effects. As The New York Times reports, the conflict hits at a fragile moment for the markets, with worries about oil supplies and global logistics back in focus. Markets have mostly "shrugged off" geopolitical drama in recent years – but this time could be different. "The market dominance of technology companies has waned this year as concerns about artificial intelligence mount," reports the NYT. "The new drivers are industrial and energy companies, which are more directly tied to the global economy and world events. Some analysts said this has left the market more vulnerable to the current shock from the Iran war."
🧐 Want help making sense of it all? Join InvestingFixx, our investing club for women, where we build investing confidence and tap experts to answer your biggest money questions. Your first month is on us.
The latest use for AI? Tackling outrageously high hospital bills. Matt Rosenberg’s sister-in-law faced a $195,000 bill for her husband’s care following a heart attack. She was ready to pay – but Rosenberg, a NY-based marketing consultant, had a different plan. Using AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT, he analyzed the bill, decoded complex charges and compared them to Medicare rates. The result? He negotiated it down to $32,500. "The collaboration with Claude and ChatGPT hadn't just saved $163,000," Rosenberg writes. "It had revealed the byzantine architecture of American medical billing — a system built on the assumption that patients won't understand what they're being charged."
|
|
|
|
|
Things That Save You Money
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Private Equity In Your 401(k)? What This New Retirement Shift Really Means For You
|
If you’ve been watching your 401(k) – or just the headlines – you’ve probably noticed retirement investing is changing fast.
Thanks to a recent executive order, private equity, private credit and even crypto could soon appear alongside your usual 401(k) options. More choice may sound great, but often these alternatives come with higher fees, more complexity and big questions about whether they’re right for everyday investors.
Liz Miller — CFP®, CFA, former Chair of the CFP Board, and founder of Summit Place Financial — joined the HerMoney Podcast to explain what private equity and private credit actually are, how crypto fits in, and whether any of these investments belong in your retirement plan.
Private equity, for example, involves buying shares in private companies in hopes they will grow in value. But the fees? About 2%, plus 20% of profits – far above your typical index fund ETFs.
"These have always been very expensive. I have always felt that as the years go by, these structures all tend to provide lower and lower returns," explains Miller. "Investors who were in these funds were comfortable with that because, over time, they were getting much higher returns than public market returns. Like any product, as we build it out and it becomes a bigger and bigger slice of the market, I’m not sure we’re going to see those kinds of returns."
For more on what to ask before adding private equity to your portfolio, listen in here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask Jean
|
|
| Q: |
Today’s question comes from Kristen. She writes: "At my company, four people share the same title but have different experience and expertise. Raises used to be uniform, and discussing salaries was discouraged (though the 'don’t share or get fired' warning has stopped). Now, raises may vary by merit, but no one shares their pay, so it’s impossible to know if it’s fair. How can we start changing this culture and have open discussions about compensation?"
|
| A: |
Great question, Kristen. To answer this one, we’re phoning a friend: Elizabeth Pearson, a professional executive coach and author of "Career Confinement: How to Free Yourself, Find Your Guides, and Seize the Fire of Inspired Work." Here’s what she had to say:
You’ve just described the favorite tool of outdated workplaces everywhere: pay secrecy. It keeps you confused, under-informed, and very likely underpaid. And you’re right to question it.
First, a quick reality check: in the U.S., most employees are legally allowed to discuss their wages with coworkers, and employers cannot retaliate against you for doing so. Those old "you could get fired for talking about pay" warnings are not just manipulative, they’re behind the times.
Now, let’s talk about what you can actually do:
Start small: Pick one trusted coworker and say something like, "I’m trying to understand whether our pay reflects our experience and performance. Would you be open to sharing a range so we can both see if we’re being compensated fairly?" When you frame it as mutual advocacy, not nosiness, people are much more likely to open up.
Use ranges if exact numbers feel scary: If sharing precise salaries feels too vulnerable, suggest ranges: "I’m in the mid-80s, are you closer to 70s or 90s?" You still get a signal without everyone feeling naked at their desks.
Bring market data, not just vibes: Look up your role and location on sites like Glassdoor or Payscale, so you know the typical range for your position and experience. Then, if you discover you’re under market (or underpaid compared with peers), you’re not just saying, "This feels unfair," you’re saying, "Here’s the data."
Document patterns before you escalate: If, over time, you learn there are meaningful gaps between people with the same title doing substantially similar work, write it down: titles, responsibilities, experience, and what you know about pay or ranges. Patterns are harder for leadership or HR to dismiss than one "emotional" complaint.
Ask directly for pay transparency: You can say to your manager or HR: "Given that several of us share the same title, can you clarify the pay band for this role and how raises are determined?" Many states now require employers to share pay scales for roles or upon request, and pay transparency expectations are rising fast. Even if your company is slow to evolve, you’re signaling that you are not.
Here’s the big mindset shift: You’re not "rocking the boat" by talking about pay. You’re asking whether the boat is seaworthy before you agree to keep rowing. If your company reacts badly to respectful, data-driven conversations about compensation, that’s not a sign you should stay quiet. That’s a sign you should update your résumé.
|
|
|
Submit your questions to Jean here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We maintain a strict editorial policy and a judgment-free zone for our community. We strive to remain transparent in everything we do. Website posts and newsletters may contain advertisements, links and mentions of products from our partners. Learn more about how we make money.
|
|
*This is a sponsored post
|
|
