HOW DO MEN AND WOMEN CLASH ABOUT CASH?

This morning on BE HAPPY DAMMIT, my SIRIUS daily 8am -9am show on Lime, Channel 114, I had some fabulous guests...including David Neubert who is my weekly regular finance maven and creator of the panelist.com.

David is a retired Wallstreet dude and a philanthropist and philosopher of sorts.

The topic du jour: Working wives now contribute more than a 1/3rd of the typical family's income! And in 1/3rd of married households, women make more moola than their man.

The question du jour: Do men like chicks with checks..big checks?

Neubert says: Yes! He and his men pals like women with big curvy income figures.

The surprise: Numerous surveys show women still don't feel as cocky about their financial abilities as men do. For example, a Merrill Lynch survey found a whopping 47% of women (vs. 30% of men) feel they are NOT that knowledgeable about investing.

Women also confess they are far less comfy taking financial risks than men: Only 31% of the wives surveyed label themselves the couple's bigger risk-taker investor with money vs. 66% of men.

Neubert's comment: Women in general are more likely to confess vulnerability - so the survey might be tainted by this female trait.

Also fascinating... when asked about their family's income, the typical husband says his household earns 5% more than it does -- and the man says he's 10% wealthier than the wife says he is.

Meanwhile the wife reports that the family owes more moola than her husband admits to -- again showing, as Neubert pointed out -- women are more likely to confess to vulnerability as a rule.

A surprising consistent gender gap: Husbands and wives still divvy up money tasks very traditionally. According to recent studies, men still do most of the long-term planning -- while women manage day-to-day household finances.

The problem: Women live longer than men -- and so women need to better keep an eye on longterm savings -- for retirement -- especially since there's still a high percentage of women who don't think about retirement funds at all -- believing their husbands will do it for them.

The lesson learned: Women need to take more financial responsibility for longterm investing -- so they have enough saved income for retirement.

For more financial information on investing etc...see the panelist.com