Women & Finance: Leading with education first, EFS helps women nurture their financial confidence factor. – By Carolyn Humphrey, RICP®, CLU®
As we wrap up International Women’s Month, we think about our mission of being advocates for our clients and to help them become more educated, confident and financially successful. As a pair of successful Female Financial Advisors, we know how rare Empowered Financial is. Joanna and I both come from male dominated worlds of mathematics and the sciences. We did not think too much about our gender when we got started in this career.
What took us both by surprise is the lack of confidence so many women have when it comes to their own finances. We have met so many women of all ages that shy away from taking control of their financial lives. Why? I think the reason we hear the most is a lack of education and understanding. We also hear that many couples decide this is the husband’s job because he understands or likes it better. We even have heard from single women that they don’t need to worry about the financials until they get married.
Women are the CFOs of their household in so many ways. We do most of the shopping, we help layout home improvements, we plan the vacations and we often times are the ones in charge of the bank account and paying the bills. Heck, in many households, the women earn as much, if not more income than their spouse. However, once we start talking about insurances or investments there is a sudden disconnect.
It is with women in mind, that we built Empowered Financial Strategies. We offer a methodical process that first organizes your financial world so you can easily see all the pieces. We listen, really listen, to hear who you are and what values are important to you. We learn how your family or your business’s executive team makes decisions. We not only listen to what your goals are, but why they hold value.
We then review all the pieces of your financial world. If needed, we will pull in other experts outside of the scope of our practice to also be a resource for you. We work diligently to educate you so that you understand your situation, your insurances, your legal documents, your group benefits, your social security benefits, your cash flow, your debt, your savings plan and your investments.
Just like everything else, education brings so much understanding. Once you understand your situation, you can see what risks you may have. We then show ways to lessen the risks, to build wealth and build efficiency in your financial world. We show you many options, explain them fully, the pros, the cons and the costs. You decide the path you want to take and we facilitate getting you on that path.
Our goal for every client is to create more wealth with more enjoyment of your wealth, with no more risk and with better protection; with no out-of-pocket expense and by offering you education at every step.
Yes, we built Empowered Financial Strategies with women in mind. However, we work with men and women alike. After going through our process, our clients tell us they feel so much more confident because they understand where they are, what their options are and they have chosen the path to take. They feel heard and know that they have a true advocate…actually two of them!
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