March 2, 2010

Traditionally, the wife shops while the husband handles the money. However, an expert at the University of Virginia says we should rethink those roles.

The world of Wall Street can be challenging and intimidating. Genetically speaking, men want to take it head on.

"We think it comes from men's hunting instincts," said Dr. Ron Wilcox of UVa. "Men, if you're faced with a wild animal, a bear in Shenandoah National Park, the best thing to do to avoid being eaten by the bear is to look big and mean. Be very aggressive and scary."

Wilcox wrote The Smart Money: She Saves, He Spends for UVa's National Marriage Project. He said men traditionally handle the big financial decisions in a family, things like investments and retirement, because men generally are sure of themselves.

"Men develop that kind of confidence in those high-risk situations where they are hunting animals," Wilcox said. "Women, less so."

Wilcox said that confidence can often lead to online trading sites. A man's instinct to get out and hunt often drives him to keep hunting, whether it's for dinner or the next big stock.

"Men don't like to ask for directions because they don't like to admit they made a mistake, and didn't know where they were going when they started, so men will resist that," Wilcox said.

But that resisting may put a dent in the family finances. Just because men are motivated by instinct to handle the big financial decisions doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.