'Be nobody's darling,' speaker urges women

Print Story

Email to Friend

Discuss this story

It's time for women to be aggressive about their finances, a speaker says.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

YOUNGSTOWN — Sarah Brown-Clark kept the crowd laughing, but it was a sad story that summed up her keynote address at a financial conference for women.

A trip to the grocery store has stayed with the clerk of Youngstown Municipal Court, even though several years have passed.

An older clerk commented about how good the walleye looked that Brown-Clark was buying. It was $14.99 a pound.

"My husband let me have a piece once," the clerk said.

Brown-Clark said she didn't want to ask for clarification because she thought she might get angry if she heard the explanation.

"I sure would like to have some," the clerk continued. "But I can't afford it."

Brown-Clark used that story as a warning for those at the Women & Money conference Friday at Youngstown State University.

Brown-Clark said women today have to become financially educated so they can fend for themselves if they have to. That includes learning how to handle money today and preparing for the future so there is enough money for retirement, she said.

"This session is all about being aggressive about your business," she said.

About 400 women attended the session, which was sponsored by The Vindicator. It was the first of 11 conferences that Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray is holding around the state.

Changing times

Brown-Clark said the days of women dreaming to be trophy wives should be over. A former English professor, Brown-Clark asked the audience to go home and read several works, including Alice Walker's poem "Be Nobody's Darling."

The norm of past centuries was for women not to be too aggressive or too smart, so they could attract the right man, she said.

"What happens, heaven forbid, if that person dies or that person doesn't want you to be his darling anymore?" she said.

Even women who have a husband that makes good money should understand finances, she said.

"You can go up on that pedestal from time to time. You just need a ladder so you can come down and get dirty if you have to," she said.

Financial know-how

"Getting dirty" was what the rest of the conference was about.

Sessions were held on various topics, such as credit, home ownership, investments and budgeting.

Mary Giersz, financial adviser for UBS Financial Services in New Albany, led a session on retirement planning.

She compared retirement planning to food. The food in the pantry is like a safe investment that returns 4 percent a year. More risky investments, such as stocks, are like food still being grown on a farm.

"You have to have that crop in the field, too. That crop in the field is going to fill your pantry later," she said.

She talked about the need for a financial plan that examines the risk of those "crops in the field" and other factors, such as future inflation.

Kimberly Ray, vice president of the public and government services at National City's Northeast Ohio division, spoke on credit and debt.

She encouraged women to go to www.annualcreditreport.com to receive yearly reports from the three major credit bureaus. Don't use other sites because they could be fraudulent, she said.

To improve credit scores, people should pay all bills on time, keep credit balances low, not move debt from credit card to credit card and not open a large number of new accounts, she said.

Brown-Clark said it all comes down to women believing they can handle finances and then becoming educated about it.

"We have the power to secure our futures," she said.

shilling@vindy.com

Saturday, June 9, 2007