MONEY PHASES: The Six Financial Stages of a Woman's Life

by Judith Briles ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1983

The author of The Woman's Guide to Financial Savvy (1981) here offers intelligent advisories keyed to the particular needs of each age group. Briles has ""taken the liberty,"" as she disarmingly writes, of dividing woman's lives into six phases: 18-25, 2535, 35-40, 40-50, 50-65, and 65+. The divisions, admittedly arbitrary and susceptible of overlap, provide a convenient framework for specific guidance. For younger adults, the focus is on establishing bank and credit relationships, plus the budging fundamentals of smart-money management. Next come more advanced briefings on tax planning, income averaging, insurance coverage, and related matters (including the pros and cons of buying a home). For those in the short-lived 35-40 bracket, relatively aggressive tactics are in order: investing in growth stocks, purchasing tax shelters, perhaps starting a business. (Also, preparing a will.) The 40-50 phase Briles characterizes as ""an age of abrupt reversals"": here, she covers the fiscal consequences of divorce, as well as risk-reduction techniques, trusts, tax-deferred annuities, and other pre-retirement moves. Past midline and into the 50-65 turn, site reviews tax-favored commitments and cautions against placing assets in joint-ownership accounts with children. (If they die first, such properties will be taxable parts of their estates.) In the post-65 homestretch, the emphasis is on liquidity, selling a home that's too big, and gift-giving (to help the younger generation set off to a good start, among other purposes). With down-to-earth case studies from Bribes' experience as a financial planner, along with what-if scenarios for putting windfalls to best use: a nicely rounded, well-paced guide--on a par, for its intended audience, with Grace Weinstein's family-oriented The Lifetime Book of Money Management (p. 1167).

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION