I just met a 63 year old woman who had lost her parent. She had no clue about either the municipal formalities, banking formalities, or anything else of her late father.

She was not a dumb woman. She had a PhD in philosophy, but had given up all that long, long ago for taking care of her demanding husband and 3 kids. Now this great husband in order to “protect” her had always provided her with a car, driver, etc. and she was completely dependant on “somebody” to go out.

she did not access a bank account, did not use the net banking, did not use the atm, the cell phone was only for receiving calls…she was reduced to a vegetable.

All her 3 daughters were married and in 3 different parts of the world. To them their grandfathers death meant Mom was now available as a nanny supervisor. You know the revise dialogue “Mom you need not do anything, Just supervise my nanny who looks after my kids”. funny.

this is not about being judgemental. If you want your spouse (sorry, I actually mean wife) to live a happy life after your death, TEACH her about money, make a will and ensure that there is enuf money. However if she is a philosophy graduate also tell her not to sign cheques for the bank manager who is selling her a lemon.

  1. This kind of scenario is true of many families but is it that the husband usurps the powers of the wife or the wife willingly / or unwillingly surrenders her powers of participating in managing the financial-legal aspects of a household.

    Being highly qualified is one thing but being knowledgeable about day to day things like municipal formalities, billing, ATM, netbanking, income tax and other things is quiet another thing.

    Surviving in today’s times, its is a must to update oneself and ones spouse about the technological changes coming about and how they are affecting us.

  2. Many men do not like to empower their wives – even if she is highly qualified. A doctor, for example happily hands over all her money to her husband and hopes he does a good job of the investment. If her husband is a professional in the field of investment, thats fine, However, if he does not know anything about investing, they should be jointly looking for a professional! Women are as much to be blamed – they allow the males in their lives to trample all over them.

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