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Getting Ahead with Nell Merlino
Are women afraid of financial independence?
What strikes me is that we haven't been at this business of making money for very long. It wasn't until 1974 that all women got the right to have business credit in their own names. That's just 34 years ago. Women in their 20s know they're going to have to support themselves financially. Older women still tend to think someone is going to come along and they won't have to take care of their own finances. This notion of nothing (or no one) being between a woman and her money is frightening for some women. For many, it's quite wonderful.
What do you fear?
Being bored. I can't imagine it.
What advice do you give your children?
I have a stepson and a stepdaughter, both in their 20s. I tell them to believe in themselves. What I see more than anything in all the work I've done is people second-guessing themselves. I think self-confidence is so important. And knowing that life's an inside job.
We hear you upset the nuns in Catholic school. What was that about?
They would tell us to be good because God was watching. And I would challenge them, even in second grade. Wouldn't it be better, I asked, if we were just good and did good things and it didn't matter who was watching? If I gave food to somebody who was hungry, why did it matter whether God knew about it or not? Well, that was scandalous!
Any regrets?
Probably one. I stopped smoking in 1987, and to do it, I ate a lot of Junior Mints and Life Savers. My teeth have never recovered. I'm still going to the dentist.
What's next for the Make Mine a Million $ campaign?
We want to take it international. Already women are approaching us from Canada, Northern Ireland and Vietnam.
What makes you laugh?
People telling me I can't do something. That just makes me howl!
Got a Dreamer we could profile? Write to Maria Bartiromo.
From Reader's Digest - March 2008
Maria Bartiromo anchors the syndicated program
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