About

If you’re like most people, you may want some help with your money, but talking about money and putting it “in order” may feel scary, confusing, or overwhelming.  You wonder if a financial planner will make things better or worse for you.

Though I’m a financial advisor now and know the value of my services, years ago I remember wanting to slam the door on the first financial planner I met with.

Years ago, when I was at the very beginning of my teaching career, I was full of enthusiasm having just completed my doctorate at the University of Toronto and landed a position as a Professor of English Literature at Northeastern University.  I couldn’t wait to share my love of literature and language with my students. However, I was so disappointed to find them resistant because they had to take the course and it seemed difficult and irrelevant to them. But a more basic problem was that they were having trouble understanding the concepts and the analytical tools.  I buckled down and gradually found a way to connect the course material to their everyday lives. What a turn around that made: their analytical skills improved and they actually began to enjoy the class.

One day as I was grading their papers, there was a knock on my office door. A tall, nice looking and well-dressed man came in and started talking as he set up an easel and white paper. He drew diagrams about money, inflation, yield curves, and taxes, and explained what I had to do to retire. Retire? I’m in my thirties. Retirement is years away. He asked me about how much I could put away a month, where could I cut my spending so I could save more. He wanted to know what my expenses were, and how much life insurance I had.

 His view of money was complex, and full of terms that were unfamiliar to me. I was becoming frustrated and puzzled. For me, managing money was simple: I paid all my bills and I had a little left over in my checking account.  How could I save more or take a vacation?  I spent carefully. I loved coffee but I brought a thermos of coffee to work instead of indulging in one of the treats at the coffee shop.  I explained to him, that yes, I had a job.  Even though it didn’t pay much it was huge in satisfaction. I was living the Good Life.

As I walked him to the door, saying that I was not interested in working with him, his parting shot was this; “If a two week vacation costs $1,000, how much would a 30 year vacation called retirement cost? Where will the money come from?”

In the weeks that followed, I started thinking about what he had said. Yes, he was right about inflation and taxes. I did need to stretch my money. So why didn’t I just go ahead and hire him?

He had made no effort to forge a personal connection with me: never asked anything about me or who I was, what mattered to me, or what my dreams and goals were.  What I had shared with him about my devotion to teaching, he hadn’t even acknowledged.

Fast-forward ten years. I was Acting Dean and Professor at Hellenic College in Massachusetts. I loved my work, but I was increasingly aware that the cost of everything was going up, and my income wasn’t. Maybe I could learn something about investing.  I started reading, and to my surprise I found it fascinating. My breakthrough was realizing that “money talk” was a language. Once I got the vocabulary and concepts, I was more and more intrigued.

I eventually decided to change careers, and become a financial planner in 1986. As I was completing my last year of teaching, I studied to take the exams for my first licenses, so that I could join Bay Financial Associates.  After more years of courses and exams, I completed the requirements for the designations Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter.

By 2000, I created Wealthy Choices®, a Registered Investment Advisor; so that I could serve clients in all fifty states, lecture across the country, and also write books, articles, television and radio shows. The teacher in me still wanted to explain language and concepts, but now it was about money and investing. “Money talk” does not have to be confusing and mind numbing, or distant and irrelevant and I was determined to be the kind of financial planner who deeply cared and connected to her clients. 

People worry about money. They fight over it. They get stressed when they make money mistakes. I’ve worked with hundreds of people over the years and in every case, I could identify strategies to improve their financial position– whether to design a way to increase their income for retirement; or better align their investments with their goals,  find ways of tightening up their cash flow, or help someone feel more confident about his or her decisions.  I was able to help my clients think through difficult issues such as estate planning and dealing with the fair treatment of their children.

Perhaps, you are like my clients.  You want to meet your obligations and also realize your dreams and goals.  You want an honest, clear, trustworthy person to talk to. You want that person to know who you are and what matters to you. When you ask, “If you were in my situation, what would you do?” you want to trust that the answer is expressing what is best for you. This is exactly the clear, straightforward, honest advice I provide.

It would be a privilege to do this work for you. The Wealthy Choices® plan starts with YOU. Who are you and what do you need and want?  What do you value? What will keep you smiling and confident? How can you reach your goals? How prepared will you be for the inevitable challenges life serves up? Let’s start talking.

If my story and approach to financial planning resonate with you, contact me. Let’s set a time for a free initial consultation, with no obligation. I’m eager to meet you!

Financial planning offered though Wealthy Choices®, a registered investment advisor and a separate entity from LPL Financial. Wealthy Choices® and LPL Financial do not provide legal advice or services. Please consult your legal advisor regarding your specific situation. Five Star Award is based on 10 objective criteria associated with providing quality services to clients such as credentials, experience, and assets under management among other factors. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of 2014-2019 Five Star Wealth Managers.

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