Gender Differences in Attitudes to Money and Credit

No secret that men and women are from two different planets. It tells on nearly everything - from food preferences to money attitudes and financial management style. Yes, this green stuff that seems to be just conventional units that you can exchange for goods and services breeds misunderstanding, disagreement and conflicts. According to statistics, money is the leading cause of divorce in the US.

Where do we get an attitude about money? And how come a man and a woman, contemporaries, treat money in different ways and have different spending habits? Do you want to know what Venus and Mars' people think about money matters and how they spend it? Read on!

The key to these riddles hides in our process of socialization and the way we are brought up. As a rule, a young person copies a behavior model from his/her same-sex parent. And though there are some other factors that influence our spending habits and money attitudes, like environment, political and economical situation in the country, family financial welfare, etc., but our genetic code affects our financial behavior more.

Women, since their birth are trained to wait for acceptance and nurture. They treat money as a source that allows them create lifestyle. They are focused more on everyday expenses. Women have a now-money orientation.

As for men, they are trained to provide and fix. They see money as a means to get and multiply value. Men do not spend money, they invest it. It is not that men want something and buy it. They really need it and find this or that investment absolutely justifiable. This is an example of a future-money orientation.

Women also invest money, but in different things. Children and lifestyle are the fair sex's investments. Men invest in whatever holds value, like retirement, a house, car. No denial that men's investments are something you can feel, such things are expensive and substantial. As for the investments women make, they are targeted to make the day work. But this kind of things, like food, cleansers, bleach, clothes have no asset value.

The shop-'til-you-drop syndrome is women's prerogative and though most women find it just an innocent female pastime, it is more than that. Uncontrollable at times money spending prevents a woman from an opportunity to enhance their money funds through investing. Many women in their 20s and 30s spend money on clothes, decorating the apartment, or some small indulgency. Their opposite sex counterparts, meanwhile, buy homes and invest money in mutual funds.

A man will always say that he needs a new car. In fact, he does not actually need it that bad. He just wants it, because it has more safety cushions, better dynamics and has more bells and whistles. But he will never admit it. It is a good investment, he will say.

What we've come to is that women tend to spend money gradually over time. And men make serious investments in big expensive things, but rarer.

As for plastic money, women prefer rewards credit cards or credit card deals with small pleasant perks, like gift cards, or special extra services. Men, as more practical creatures, always try to find a credit card that they will actually benefit from. Gasoline card deals, low interest rate cards, balance transfer cards are what they will most likely apply online or offline for. If you ask a man and a woman: what is the best credit card for you, even if they are identical twins, you will not hear the same answer.