Chatzky, the financial editor of NBC's Today Show and host of HerMoney with Jean Chatzky podcast shared her insights on how to "make money make sense" in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) thread on Reddit.
When a Redditor asked what common mistakes stay-at-home moms make with their money, Chatzky noted the answer could be related to people in general and not just stay-at-home-moms.
She writes:
For example: Automatic saving. You set it up and it happens over and over again. Or reducing monthly bills with a single phone call - even most credit card companies, according to one recent survey, will lower their interest rates and waive late fees. And once you've lowered those bills, you reap the rewards for months.
These are the small changes that almost everyone can make to help their finances, but for the user curious about the mistakes stay-at-home-moms make in particular, Chatzky wrote:
Specifically to those stay-at-home moms, one big mistake is NOT getting their own IRA. You're eligible for a spousal IRA (in other words able to make your own contribution into a traditional or ROTH account) as long as you have a wage-earning spouse.