Money Musings 💠my big 2020 money 🤑 goal
My highest priority financial 💰 goal this year is saving up for my maternity leave. When you run your own small business - especially when your company’s income is tied to you working - you don’t get paid time off unless you invest in it.
It’s important to acknowledge my significant privilege. I have a partner to share in the financial (and childcare) burden of having a child. I’m white, able-bodied, straight and the list goes on and on. These all provide me with tremendous privilege and have a great impact on my finances that others don’t benefit from.
And still, being a mother and working full-time on my own business has been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. If it’s this challenging with all of my privilege, I can’t even imagine what it’s like for those without it.
Back to self-employed parental leave. I have to consciously invest in it. The strategy I’m using doesn’t only apply to parental leave, it works for any savings goal and is especially important when you have variable income.
Three years ago, when I took time off for baby 👶 E, I started working a few weeks after giving birth (but only during one or two of his many naps). It honestly felt good to do a little work here and there in between all the diaper changes and pumping.
I may feel the same way this time around BUT I want to have the option to take the remainder of the year off if I choose to. This is such a privilege and I know not many mothers or fathers have this luxury.
To plan to invest in my maternity leave from September through December, I need to save up four months of business expenses, my salary and the associated taxes. In order to put that money aside, I came up with a revenue goal for 2020 (up until September) to make it happen.
I have one month to go and I’m 90% of the way there! 🥳
Once I had my expenses, salary and taxes covered through August, I started to transfer income over to my maternity leave sinking fund in an online savings account.
Starting in September (when my maternity leave begins), I’ll transfer over one month’s worth of expenses and salary from my sinking fund to my checking account in one fell swoop. This makes it feel a lot less painful than transferring over money every time I run out.
What’s your big money goal for 2020? Do you have a system for it?
MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
Find Your Market Rate. What we earn is an extremely important part of our financial well-being. With the economy where it is today, and with most of us working from home (getting less visibility from our bosses), it’s even more essential to be proactive about what we are earning. The first step? Know your market rate.
One of the reasons it’s so tough to talk about our salaries is that we collapse what we earn with our self worth. It’s not the same thing - at all. Finding our market rate means knowing what our job and skills typically earn in the market. That’s it. To get that info, talk to friends and colleagues (yes, about what they earn), call up recruiters (they have all the insider pay info!) and do some online research at the Career Contessa Salary Project, Payscale and Glassdoor. The more specific you can get about your role, location (it matters!) and seniority, the more accurate the range will be.
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
AOC’s response to being called a “fucking bitch” by a fellow representative. You probably already know that Florida representative Ted Yoho called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch” in front of the press and another member of congress. He then denied saying it - defending himself with a non-apology and using his wife and daughters as a shield. Her response was powerful and brilliant. If you haven’t seen it in full, I highly recommend watching it.
What stands out most to me is how common an event like this is. Thirteen other women and three men spoke out about their experiences with sexist and demeaning language used by those who hold the highest offices in our country. Her calling out the consequences of such a normalized act shows us the depth of abuse that women leaders deal with on a regular basis.