Feminine Mistake?

How valuable is financial independence for a woman?

It's the debate that's had women riled up for a few years now... And writer Leslie Bennetts is adding to the literature that's out there on the topic of women and their decisions on staying in the working world or staying home with her new book (out today) "The Feminine Mistake."

In her book, Bennetts examines the financial risk women take to stay home to tend to families full time. She says these women, essentially, are taking a huge gamble with their future if they opt to leave their jobs to stay home and not work, whether it is to take care of children or just their spouse.

This is a topic that kinda scares the hell out of me. Why? Well, because I do not ever not want to work long term. A break every now and then (like I took back in the fall) can be good for both spouses in a relationship. You need to rejuvenate and de-stress from a toxic work experience sometimes. But ultimately, you need to get back into the game.

I haven't yet read the book (it's just out today), but I agree with Bennetts. Women need to NOT be dependent on men for their long-term livelihood. Men are not (typically) dependent on women. Why should we rely solely on them?

What happened if my husband gets into a life-altering accident and can not work? If I haven't been working, finding a job that will financially support us will be difficult. Or worst of all, what if he dies and I haven't been working and we have kids? Eventually, I would have to go back to work. And I will have left my career long enough to de-value some of the experience I had gained. I make $X now... But if I stepped out for even a few years and then tried to step back in, I certainly wouldn't be making $X still. I'd be making less.

I guess, overall, women REALLY need to evaluate what they are doing long-term before they opt out of their careers. I realize some families may not be able to afford to have someone take care of their kids while both spouses work.

Maybe I just enjoy my husband and I being DINKs (Dual Incomes, No Kids) too much. But even if we have kids, I don't think I'm gonna be quitting my day job. I've worked to hard to get where I am.