Welcome to another week of the Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays roundup. I started this series after months of debate because I wasn’t certain I wanted to up the ante and commit to publishing three posts a week. However, now that I’ve started sharing these posts, I’m so glad I started.

There are so many fabulous women writing about personal finance online, and yet there is still a perception that women aren’t good with money, don’t care about money, or don’t understand it on a granular level beyond perhaps knowing how to coupon and score a good shopping deal. These roundups are my way of doing a small part to change that perception. There are no shortage of women online doing their part to make it clear that they DO understand money, and these posts are meant to amplify that fact.

The hardest part of this post every week always is narrowing it down to my favorites, because there is just so much good content out there. If you’re ever interested in what else I’m reading, I share quite a few other posts on Twitter (and that’s also where I read most of the content to begin with these days).

Our Women’s Personal Finance Facebook group also has a sharing thread on Fridays, and that’s the place to read all the blog posts written by members over the previous week. If you’re looking for more articles written by women, that’s a great place to continue reading (plus we have plenty of great discussions on finances the rest of the week as well!).

If you don’t have the time or inclination to go searching down myriad posts, though, I will be continuing this series every week to showcase some of the best of the new content I read. If you ever read a post you thing I absolutely need to consider for this roundup, please let me know! I am always open to reading new blogs (and posts of blogs I do know, because I miss some).

Women’s Personal Finance Wednesdays – Week 25

When Optimization is Suboptimal Owning The Stars

In the financial independence space in particular, the idea that we need to optimize everything is rampant. Productivity is obviously important, and there ARE some great time saving hacks out there, but the idea that we constantly have to be hustling and more efficient isn’t a great one.

While this post is particularly centered around her mental health journey the last couple of months, the process she talks through is one that we could all pay attention to. She has some seriously good advice here:

“So give yourself some space. Some leeway to slow down and breathe. Some permission to rest.“

While I’m not always the best at this, cutting my work hours to 80% time has gone a long way to finding a little bit of that space. While that isn’t an option for everyone, having a little extra time in your day can make a whole lot of difference.

Nothing Wrong With Retiring At 65 Whymances Of Finances

Obviously, here in the financial independence, retire early community, we talk a LOT about retiring well before age 65. To the point where someone retiring in their fifties or early sixties wonder if what they’re doing even “counts,” which is a little bonkers.

With so many people landing in retirement not by choice without adequate finances – or continuing to work well past the age they would really like to retire – the concept of financial independence is one that EVERYONE should hear.

Retiring securely at 60, 65, 67 is a wonderful goal, and one many people will never accomplish. Regardless, the principles that guide the FIRE movement are ones that are useful to anyone, no matter what their personal situation. Not everyone will be able to retire early, especially not fantastically early, but I would love if the conversation was inclusive enough that everyone moved in a direction of more financial security and freedom.

My Job vs. My Mental Health: At A Crossroads 76k Project

More mental health stuff as it relates to employment this week. “It’s only a job” and “take care of yourself first” is great advice, but most of us live with the reality that just up and leaving a bad situation isn’t as easy as that – and as 76k Project is finding out, escaping from one bad situation doesn’t always mean landing in a better one.

Our mental health is important, and starting to have more of those kinds of conversations with our employers when we’re struggling is hopefully the beginning of a more transparent and understanding workplace. Even the best of situations can be hard when you’re struggling, and a less than ideal one is even more challenging.

No matter what, I think it is so important for us to share these experiences because not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows all of the time and knowing others are working their way through tough times can make us feel a little less alone in our own struggles.

I  hope you enjoy the posts this week as much as I did. I read a ton of content and it was hard to narrow down my favorites. I’m looking forward to sharing some new ones with you again next week!

As always, if you’re looking for a categorized list of self identified women writing and speaking about personal finance, here is my comprehensive guide to the Women of the Finance Independence Community.