Maxing Out: Why Women Sabotage Their Financial Independence

Dowling takes one step further the concept of female dependency discussed in her bestselling Cinderella Complex in this investigation into why women don't manage money effectively. After the author fell into financial ruin despite a large income, she spoke with psychologists, financial planners and other upper-middle-class women with similar money problems to understand what had happened to her. Drawing on these interviews, Dowling concluded that even successful women refuse to take financial responsibility for themselves because they've been culturally conditioned to fear independence. This fear, according to the author, leads women to amass large credit-card debts and neglect planning for a secure future because they fantasize about being rescued by a male. Although Dowling offers interesting insights and suggestions for overcoming such dependency, her anecdotal evidence is not enough to strongly support her theories about women and money. The author highly recommends Debtor's Anonymous, whose 12-step program she credits with putting her on the path to monetary health. Author tour. (June)