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Thu 31 Aug, 2006 09:50 pm
Quote:Do you suffer bag-lady syndrome?
Many women harbor a fear that their financial security could disappear in a heartbeat. It might not be entirely irrational, but it can be conquered.
You would never confuse Emily Scott Pottruck with a bag lady. On the surface, she has it all: independent wealth, a mansion in San Francisco's Presidio Heights, fancy cars, an M.B.A. from Cornell, years of experience on Wall Street and a successful husband, David, the former CEO of San Francisco's Charles Schwab Corp.
But inside, Pottruck suffers from "bag-lady syndrome," a fear many women share that their financial security could disappear in a heartbeat, leaving them homeless, penniless and destitute.Do you need
life insurance?
"I wouldn't say I thought I would be homeless," Pottruck says. "What I was concerned about was that I wouldn't be able to pay for things like health care, or have any kind of discretionary income, or that I would be really old and have to continue working at a high pace and there would never be a moment that I could relax."
Bag-lady syndrome plagues, puzzles and, in more extreme cases, paralyzes women who want to get a better grip on their financial lives, according to Olivia Mellan, the author of "The Advisor's Guide to Money Psychology" and a Washington, D.C., therapist who specializes in money psychology. Lily Tomlin, Gloria Steinem, Shirley MacLaine and Katie Couric all admit to having a bag lady in their anxiety closet.
Oh, bullshit. I have lived at the edge of bag off and on for years and am now exploring its crevices.
Suddenly a seeming affluent person catches on?
You keep'n your greedy hands off my stuff, Reyn, and you won't have to find out about the syndrome the hard way.
Reyn
I have absolutely no sympathy with rich folk "suffering" these new found anxieties. I am the real article (not much job security at all & not remotely rich!) & live very well, if I do say so myself! It's all about making the best of what's available to you. That simple. Optimism, or something ....
Never mind bag-lady syndrome. Have you noticed the I-need-to-worry-about-something syndrome? People who have more money than I will see in a lifetime still need to worry about something or they don't feel "fulfilled" (whatever that means). I think they secretly feel guilty about having so much more than the rest of us and so invent totally phony things to worry about, such as "But I could lose it all tomorrow." Not bloody likely.
<sniff> "What if I can't afford my regular afternoon caviar snacks next week? Will I cope?"
They should get out into the community & do some useful support work, or something. See how real people live. Too much navel gazing!
Nods to Merry et al.
Geez, louise, they're all quite dim.
Perhaps they'll set us up investment accounts...
I'm thinking maybe this thread is politically incorrect.
Shouldn't it be bag-
person? What were they thinking?
I think alot of people worry, from time to time, about these things. I know I do. **** happens.
So they've finally come up with a label for it. Big whoo.
I can't believe it's just a female thing, even assuming it's a thing. E.G. has said "I'm gonna die in the gutter" often enough that we've discussed it being the title of his autobiography after he wins the Nobel prize... ;-) Seriously, he worries about this stuff way more than I do. (We've had more and less reason to worry, now medium.)
I knew a "bag lady" in Boston who used to camp out near my building. Whenever I saw Mary I'd give her a dollar. I found out that everyone gave Mary a dollar when they saw her. She was quite charming though always in need of a bath. It turns out she had a room in Boston she had been living in for 35 years. When she died authorities were surprised to find she had over $500,000 stuffed in her closet. Eventually a sister whom she had not spoken to for over 30 years claimed the prize.
I knew a bag lady in Chicago, Ann Goody, who used to sit outside of Marshall Field's?-rain, sleet, snow?-and paint these really crude figures on canvas and sell them for little of nothing, along with gratefully accepting handouts. Her art suddenly became trendy and she even had an exhibit at one of the funkier galleries and, just like Nickfun's lady, when she died, her little room was found stuffed with money.
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