A lot has changed in my life over the last year and, probably not surprisingly to anyone but me, those changes have made me feel a bit overwhelmed. I was sharing some of those concerns with my husband the other day and started down a spiral -- saying that I should be able to handle all of these changes and not have any negative reactions. He stopped me and asked me what I would say if one of my clients said that to me. 

Woof. 

What a perfect way to stop me in my tracks. Of course it is reasonable that I feel overwhelmed with the changes in my life! Of course it is reasonable to not always feel on steady ground right now! Coach Me reminded Client Me that the important thing is to be kind to myself and give myself the time and grace to figure out how to create that solidity again (and recognize that full solidity doesn’t really exist). 

When a client is going through similar challenges I help them figure out how to step back from the situation and be realistic. And then I help them figure out what practices they need to help them feel less overwhelmed. But, if I’m being honest, I haven’t kept up with some of the practices that I know help me stay grounded. These are things like: 

• Going for runs

• Making time to read for fun

• Journaling

• Money Dates

I’ve gotten back into my journaling practice and I’m decent at going for runs, but I don’t often read for fun anymore and I’ve missed way more money dates over the past 6 months than I’d like to share. After I told all of this to my husband he immediately stopped me and sat me down to do a couple’s money date. We reviewed upcoming bills, we checked on a few pending tax forms, we discussed our savings goals, and talked about how our spending has changed since our baby was born. It took about 30 minutes and afterwards I felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. 

So, if you can relate and are feeling bogged down, may I suggest making a list of things that make you feel grounded and then pick one to do right now? Maybe your shoulders can feel a bit less heavy too.

XOXO

Often when having Get To Know Verdi calls (free 20 minute consults) with potential clients Marguerite and I realize that what a client is searching for, but doesn’t know exactly how to verbalize, is financial health. Financial health is akin to mental health -- one’s emotional and psychological well-being -- but is focused on two areas: 

1. Strong financial systems and metrics

2. Positive emotional reaction to money and financial decisions

The first aspect is usually what I think of as the nuts and bolts of our work. If we’re working on personal finance with a client that could mean anything from debt elimination to creating an investment plan. If we’re working on business finance with a client that could mean anything from creating projections for the next quarter to determining appropriate pricing for their products and services. This piece of the puzzle is about numbers. It is about making sure that the math works out. But, the numbers alone don’t tell us the exact path forward -- they definitely tell us what not to do, but they usually also show several good options. 

That’s where emotional reactions come into play. 

The second piece of the puzzle is less quantifiable, but is how final decisions are made. It is about making sure that your financial decisions are aligned with your values and make you feel good. This work is actually largely the same regardless of if we’re working on personal or business finances. It often means helping a client figure out the root cause of their negative emotional reactions to money and financial decisions and then figuring out how to create a replacement narrative that serves them better. For example, it may mean walking a client through a process to figure out where they first learned a negative financial behavior -- maybe from a family member or friend -- and then discussing how that negative behavior was emotionally reinforced over time. This emotional detective work is key to reframing and building new narratives that serve clients. 

Often this work is casually sprinkled in throughout our work together, but not talked about explicitly (i.e. I help a client figure out why she doesn’t want to price her products a certain way and then we figure out a pricing strategy that helps her reach her revenue goals while alleviating the emotional stress that the first option brought up). Sometimes it is really explicit. This could mean that either Marguerite or I notice a specific emotional block that comes up over and over and we address it head on or it could mean that creating a healthy emotional relationship with money is a goal in itself. Regardless of how we address this aspect of financial health, it is always part of our work.

XOXO

Today’s post is an informal case study on why taking breaks is crucial for our mental and physical health and, therefore, our financial health.

I’ve now been officially back from maternity leave for about a month and a half and am slowly figuring out my schedule and the realities of being a working parent during a pandemic. The logistics are not simple and I’m not sure I’ll ever master them (perhaps that isn’t even possible). In general this is how things are supposed to go: I work about 20 hours a week. Vidalia is in daycare for 15 of those hours and the other five are cobbled together from other times throughout the week -- naps, times when she is with her dad, early mornings before she’s up...you get the picture. We will increase the amount of time she’s in daycare in the coming months, but for now this is what feels best for all involved, and, in theory, the plan works great.

In reality the whole system could fall apart at any moment because of any number of “children-are-gross-and-there’s-a-pandemic” reasons: 

• Vidalia could get sick and need to stay home

• Vidalia could get one of her parents sick and we’d have to keep her home because of Covid protocols

• One of Vidalia’s classmates could get Covid or someone in their home could get Covid and the whole classroom of kiddos would have to stay home

Basically there are a lot of ways that childcare can disappear at the drop of a hat. 

Because of that I often feel like I need to use every little moment I have available to get work done. A little voice in my head eggs me on reminding me that I don’t really know that I’ll get those 5 hours of childcare so I should really use this 6am hour on a Sunday to respond to emails. As you likely can imagine, that little voice in my head has been making me feel like I’m both always at work and never really working enough, when in fact I had a plan for working part-time in 2021 and if I just stuck with it then I could get what I need to get done. I won’t get everything done, but, as I said last week, that isn’t possible anyway.

This weekend I decided to try a different approach at making that little voice shut up. Instead of giving in to its demands, I resisted. I didn’t do any work on Sunday and Monday. I read a book. I journaled. I went on a hike with my husband and daughter. I drank my coffee while talking to my cat. I called my sister. I went on a run with a friend. I played with my daughter. And you know what? It was incredibly restorative. It is now Tuesday morning and I feel happy to use this little window of time to work on the newsletter and I’m looking forward to daycare time this afternoon when I can tackle the rest of my action items for the day. I don’t feel exhausted. I feel ready.  

I think the same thing happens with money work. Sometimes we focus so much of our mental energy on something, whether it’s squirreling away money in our emergency fund, whittling down credit card debt, or tracking our business revenue, that we become exhausted. Those goals are all good, but spending too much time on them can make us lose sight of the reason we’re shooting for them in the first place. So, if you’re working hard on a money goal and feeling exhausted, can I recommend a weekend away from it? Maybe just a little time apart will make you feel more motivated when you come back to it. 

XOXO

For those of you who aren’t aware, I’m pregnant. Like, really pregnant. I’m rounding up on month 9 and will be going on maternity leave sometime next month. A lot changes during pregnancy and, while very few of those topics are on brand for a money centric newsletter, one thing that I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about recently absolutely is: how to talk about money with children. 

For those of you without children, I urge you to keep reading because talking with kids about money isn’t too different from talking to other adults (or yourself!) about money. 

As regular readers know, I’m obsessed with financial transparency (check out this, this, this and this). However, I grew up in a household where money conversations did not happen and if the topic came up naturally in conversation it was quickly squashed by my parents. I now understand that that familial trend contributed to a really unhealthy money mindset that I had until my late 20s. I know that it contributed to a serious lack of knowledge that led me to make some pretty poor choices. I also understand why my parents didn’t talk about money in front of me and my sister - they had no roadmap for how to do so and had culturally been taught that it was wrong. 

I’m determined that my daughter will experience money conversations in a completely different way than I did, but I don’t yet have a clear roadmap of how to do that either. Unlike in the 80s, there are now a lot of resources out there that tell you how to handle these conversations (just google “how to talk about money with kids” - you’ll get 2 million+ hits), but much of the advice is incredibly vague -- i.e. be age appropriate, impart the value of hard work, use teachable moments. None of those ideas are bad, but they also aren’t terribly helpful because 1) most adults don’t feel confident enough in their own financial literacy to follow through, and 2) the decision on how to talk about money with children is really about what you want children to walk away with as young decision makers and vague, blanket advice doesn’t take that into account.

Tackling both of those issues in one newsletter is a bit much, so today I just want to focus on #1. While it is impossible to directly impart specific knowledge to children that you yourself don’t have, there are still wonderful ways to make sure that children grow up financially literate and that you are part of that conversation. 

Here’s a starter kit of ideas: 

• Allow conversations about money to happen in front of children. Even things as simple as, “did you pay that bill yet?” or “how much were groceries this week?” are great. This teaches kids that money conversations are normal. 

• Talk about how you weren’t taught about money and why you want that to be different for your children. This could be a serious sit-down conversation or just something you share in passing when it comes up. For example, if you choose to give allowance and you discuss how that money is being used you could say, “did you know that I got allowance when I was a kid, but your grandparents never discussed it with me? I’m really glad we get to talk about it so you can ask questions and decide how you want to use the money”. 

• Learn and ask questions together. It is okay to not know everything! Heck, I don’t know everything. That’s why I’m constantly researching and learning about new financial topics. If a question comes up that you don’t know the answer to, use that as an opportunity to learn together. Do some online research, find a book on that topic, or call us! 

• Most importantly, when the topic naturally comes up don’t squash it. Kids need to know that money is an integral part of our world and therefore it is okay to talk to talk about 

You can use this same list with friends and loved ones. If the ultimate goal is that more of us are financially literate and comfortable being able to discuss money matters, then it doesn’t really matter if you’re talking about having these conversations with toddlers, teenagers, or adults. 

Next week we’ll tackle #2: determining the end goal for money conversations with children.

I’d love to hear from you! What money questions or topics would you like to see addressed in the blog? What questions do you have about today’s topic? Just hit reply to send me your thoughts!

XOXO

Last week we talked about the recent not-so-good news on the U.S. economy and dove deep into why GDP is used as a metric and how it can be misleading. 

This week I’m going to share more about another metric that is getting a lot of attention these days: the unemployment rate. On Friday of last week unemployment data for the month of July was released and, although 1.8 million jobs were added during the month, the unemployment rate is still above 10%. 

But what does “unemployment” actually mean? 

Colloquially unemployment just means exactly that - someone without a job, but the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates it a little differently. The U-3 unemployment rate (which is the most common statistical measurement of unemployment) includes folks who are: 

• Available to work

• Actively seeking work 

• Are furloughed 

It does not include folks who are: 

• Employed in part-time jobs, but who want to work more

• Underemployed

• Work 15+ hours a week of unpaid “family work” 

• No longer seeking work because they haven’t been able to find work for a long time (these people are considered “out of the labor market”)

It also, unfortunately relies on answers from folks who may end up misclassifying themselves. For example, a freelancer unable to find work during the COVID-19 pandemic might not say they are “unemployed” and therefore wouldn’t be counted in the rate. However, they likely should be as they are not bringing in income. 

There is a better indicator: the U-6 unemployment rate includes folks who are working part-time, but want to work full-time and folks who are “marginally attached to the labor force”. Being marginally attached includes people who have given up searching for a job.

So, while July’s U-3 unemployment rate was 10.2%, the U-6 rate was 16.5%. Not to be a negative Nancy, but I’m going to go ahead and say that the U-6 rate is much more accurate and is the metric we should actually be using when we’re talking about employment in the U.S. I mean, how are we supposed to successfully tackle the problem if we’re not even talking about the numbers accurately? 

I talk about being financially transparent with yourself all the time and, while I am usually talking about personal or small business finances, I think that same advice goes for the government as well. One of my favorite templates I use with clients (that you can get for free here!) is the Know Your Numbers spreadsheet. The purpose of the template is for you to be able to see all of your key metrics in one place:

• How much liquid (i.e. easily accessible) cash you have in checking and savings

• How much illiquid (i.e. would have to sell to access) savings you have

• How much debt you owe

• How much your assets are worth

• What your income is

• What your credit score is

All of this information is valuable because it can help you see where you financially stand now and recognize areas that you’d like to change. 

For example, when I look at my Know Your Numbers spreadsheet I feel proud of my lack of credit card debt and increasing savings, but know that I haven’t reached all of my savings or investing goals yet. Seeing that clearly helps me know what my next steps should be. On the other hand, if I have to open seven different tabs in order to get this information I’m likely going to be pretty confused and will not have an accurate read on my real numbers. I might end up thinking because I don’t have credit card debt that I don’t need to do anything else to improve my financial outlook. Or I might end up focusing in on just one account and miss the forest for the trees. Looking at the U-3 unemployment rate is very similar. It may look better than the U-6 rate, but it doesn’t tell the full story and therefore likely doesn’t point us in the right direction for how to make improvements. 

XOXO

On Thursday of last week the U.S. government released economic statistics from the second quarter of 2020 (April - June) and to put it mildly, they were terrible. The indicator they used, GDP, is often talked about, but rarely explained, so today’s post is all about what that indicator means, why it is used, what looking at it tells us about the recent state of the economy, and what it might show about the future. 

To start - just about every headline I saw about the economy on Thursday said something like “the worst ever” or “record low”. To be clear - GDP was not used as a metric until the mid-40s so we aren’t comparing our current economy to the Great Depression, just everything over the past 80 or so years. 

So, what is GDP anyway? GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and is a measure of the total market value of all goods and services produced within a country’s borders. Note: GNP, or Gross National Product, is the same, but includes foreign investments. 

I think sometimes looking at the mathematical formula for GDP makes it a little clearer: 

GDP = C + G + I + NX

C = consumption (everything we bought)

G = government (all government spending)

I = investments (all stock market and other investments)

NX = net exports (value of all of our exports minus the values of all of our imports)

Basically, the more all of us spend, whether it is at a grocery store or an investment in venture capital, the better off GDP looks. The thinking behind using this as an economic indicator is that if folks are comfortable spending and are spending more than they used to then that means they have enough income and are feeling confident in the economy. While I think GDP is helpful, I don’t love this as a standalone indicator because it doesn’t take into account the overall picture of economic health -- it just shows overall spending. For example, over the past decade GDP has been growing and yet the wealth gap was also growing -- looking just at GDP makes things look good, but we know that the reality in many households is completely at odds with that. 

There are a lot of scary things about Thursday’s statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, but the one that I find most worrisome is that the country experienced its worst quarter on record while at the same time the government (remember G! Government spending is one of the parts that make up GDP!) was pumping $2.2 trillion dollars into the US economy through the Cares Act. Now that most of that funding has either been used up or discontinued (think PPP and the additional $600/week in unemployment benefits) it seems like the third quarter (July - September) will look even worse, especially if the coronavirus continues to spread at the rate that it has been. 

But, because I am solidly a “glass half full” person, I can’t leave us on that depressing note. Instead, I’d like to end on a reminder: GDP is not an accurate metric for the economy as a whole. There have been institutionalized issues with our economic system for decades (think wealth inequality, unlivable minimum wage). GDP’s downfall makes all of that even more obvious (I know, I know, that’s even more depressing - hold on). 

As the economy slumps this is a perfect time to be able to rebuild in a way that is inclusive, focused on true equal opportunity and in harmony with long-term goals of environmental and economic protection for all. You may not be the one to decide to pump $2.2 trillion dollars into the economy, but you do make an impact towards this larger vision. You decide how to vote politically and you decide how to vote with your wallet -- you decide where to spend money, where to avoid, who to donate to and where to offer your resources and services. Things aren’t looking great, but I believe that we can use that outlook to make 2021 better. 

Next week I’ll be diving into a few other metrics that may be better (or worse!) ways of measuring our economic health. 

XOXO

Last week I shared some tools for how to better understand your economic privilege and a few ways to act upon that privilege. At the end of the post I wrote that this week we’d be discussing how to determine what actions make the most sense for you and how to get started on those actions. However, as the week progressed and I worked on that draft it became clear to me that there was a missing link: why you should act on your economic privilege. So, I’m rearranging the posting schedule and moving forward with the why this week.  

The United States has an economic disparity problem. Income inequality is higher than in any other G7 country (Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Italy, UK). The wealth gap between the richest and poorest families has more than doubled since 1989 (read that again please), and, compounding this, the redistribution of wealth through taxes and federal spending does very little to shift the income distribution throughout the population.

This isn’t a political issue - it is a humanitarian one. We can have a range of beliefs on the government’s role and correct economic structure for this country and can still agree that the widening wealth gap is problematic. It is problematic because:

• It causes health disparities that in turn cause inequalities in access and outcomes (i.e. more disease and more death for those lower on the socioeconomic ladder - just check out the stats on COVID-19 if you’re skeptical).

• The current system doesn’t allow for free-will and ownership as it is almost impossible for folks to move up the socioeconomic ladder. This trend goes in direct opposition to one of the core values in the founding and creation of the US: individualism.  

• The wealth gap is intertwined with environmental disparities that cause physical and mental health issues and contribute to global environmental issues as a whole.

• The wealth gap stifles creativity and ingenuity, thus hurting our economy and well-being as a whole. Just think of all the businesses, medical breakthroughs, and inventions that are not being made because folks are unable to get access to capital, time, or other resources to make them reality. 

While there are larger, structural forces that could impact the trends in our economic disparity, I believe that it is too big of a problem to wait for those to be put into place (if they ever will be). Instead, we, as individuals, have the power to use the areas of privilege that we have to improve the lives of those around us, and, I hope, that if you are reading this newsletter you agree with me. 

Next week we’ll revisit specific action steps you can take and the process for how to decide which make the most sense for you, your values and your lifestyle and money goals. 

As always, I’m here for you and your money journey, wherever you may be on that road. 

XOXO

Last week I shared the first of several posts in a series on economic privilege. I talked about how many people are beginning to touch on their own privilege during the current social justice movement, but that recognizing it alone does not do enough. 

This week, I want to dive deeper into how to unpack and recognize your economic privilege and how to begin to transition this understanding into actions that are aligned with your values. Be forewarned: this is not something that you can just do in a day and be done with. As a lover of checklists I am always tempted to action-item away my own personal emotional and developmental work, and I suspect a few of you have similar tendencies. So, for those of us who like to cross things off lists, know that working on your own understanding of privilege and how you want to move through and impact the world around you will be an ongoing checklist item. Think about it more like “drink water” as opposed to “file taxes”. 

In the last post I shared a list of common instances in which folks experience economic privilege. Today, I want to walk you through a couple journaling exercises that I have put together to help folks dive deeper into their own understanding. This is HARD WORK, so I recommend starting with whichever prompt speaks to you first. Don’t worry about going in order and don’t worry about fully answering the question in one sitting. Instead, try out a prompt for about 10 minutes (or as long as you’d like!) and then give yourself some time to let it ruminate in your head. Come back to that same prompt in a few days and see if you have anything to add or if any new ideas have come to mind. Do the same with each question that feels relevant to you. 

Journal Prompts to Help Uncover Your Economic Privilege

1. What are some examples of times when you were given opportunities that other people may not have been offered? Did you recognize that as privilege at the time? In what ways have those opportunities helped you throughout your life? Note: one helpful way to answer this may be by creating an impact timeline (i.e. because of that unpaid internship I met the person who connected me with my first boss. That first job helped me learn x, y, and z which then made it possible for me to…).

2. Imagine that as a young adult (18 years old) you had the responsibility of economically caring for other members of your family. What school and career decisions would you have made? How would that have changed your life trajectory? 

3. Most people take their economic privilege for granted. When are some times that you have taken it for granted in your life? What if instead you recognized your privilege at that time? How would that have changed your attitude or actions? 

4. How would your life trajectory have changed if you had/have large student loans? Would you have made the same career choices that you have made? How would that impact your day-to-day life experiences?

Once you are primed and have begun to really understand your place in the spectrum of economic privilege, you may be asking yourself: “but what do I do with this information?”. The answer is, unfortunately, that it depends. It depends on your values and how you want to interact with those around you. I hope that for all of you it means that you’ll decide to use your privilege in a way that helps others, but the way you help will likely differ greatly. Below are a few ideas to get you started. 

• Use some of your cash privilege to donate to organizations that are aligned with your values (check out this post, this post, or this post on voting with your wallet)

• Use some of your material privilege to donate items to organizations that can help others

• Use some of your economic privilege to sponsor events 

• Use some of your economic privilege to donate your professional time to others (i.e. Verdi Advising has an ongoing pro bono client program and is now expanding to include regular pro bono workshops for nonprofit organizations and their communities)

• Use some of your connection privilege to help those who are less privileged than you (individuals or organizations) get connected with potential employers, mentors and donors. 

• Use some of your time privilege to volunteer with organizations that are aligned with your values. Not sure about venturing out in public during the pandemic? Totally fair! Lots of organizations have opportunities to help remotely. 

• Use some of your privilege to reach out to your political representatives (don’t forget your local ones -- they often are the most important!) to encourage them to vote in a way that is aligned with your values. 

  • Not sure who to call or what to say? Check out 5calls.org as a great first resource. 

Next week we’ll discuss how to determine what makes the most sense for you and how to get started on your actions. 

XOXO

Note: I posted an article on privilege almost exactly a year ago, but upon re-reading it, I realized that not only did it not go far enough, but that by only having one article I was doing a great disservice to my readers. 

It feels like everywhere I turn there are discussions about discussing privilege. The term comes up in conversations with friends in passing -  as in “I know and am grateful for my privilege, but…”. It comes up on my social media feed - as in “we need to confront our privilege”, and it comes up in news stories - as in “Tammy Duckworth didn’t come from privilege”.

Saying the word and acknowledging our own privilege, whether racial, gender, or economic (or all three), is good. Recognizing that it exists is an important first step, but it is only a first step and a pretty minor one at that. Conversations in passing, instagram and the periodic news story are all great forums for pushing a term to the forefront of our lexicon, but they are often not great spaces for going deeper (of course there are exceptions to this rule). I’ve been finding myself growing increasingly frustrated by the conversations, or, perhaps a better way of putting it, the “almost-conversations” that I’m surrounded by. 

It feels frustrating because I know through my day-to-day work that privilege runs deep within our understanding of our own financial realities and relationships. Privilege impacts how we earn, how we spend and how we discuss money. And those things -- the hows of money -- impact our society at large. By just touching the surface we are never going to be able to unpack our own privilege or make larger organizational and structural changes that will change the status quo. Instead, we just sit in the space of recognizing some guilt and shame we feel and hope that the recognition relieves us of our individual pain. Unfortunately, economic justice isn’t about individual pain, it is about collective disenfranchisement. 

So, let’s have a real conversation about privilege. Or, since this is just one small article, let’s at least start a real conversation about privilege -- one that we can come back to and continue to unpack over the following weeks, months and, let’s be honest, years. 

Since my expertise is financial, I’m going to focus on economic privilege, but I highly encourage you to have these same internal and external conversations around other forms of privilege (race, gender, sexual-orientation, body, nationality). 

A Guide for Understanding Your Own Privilege

First, we need to better understand the bare bones data on where we fall in the economic ladder of our society.

Because of the way we talk about money in this country (or rather, don’t talk about money), many of us assume that we are farther down the economic ladder than we are. The Pew Research Institute created a calculator that shows where you fall economically based on your geographic location, household income and number of members of your household. Take a minute to go find where you fall. Are you surprised? Play around with the calculator a little bit -- how easy is it for you to move from tier to tier? What happens if you pretend you got a raise? What happens if you add or subtract a significant other from your numbers?

My family falls within the middle income tier in the Los Angeles area, but only barely. If we have a good year financially (i.e. not a pandemic year) then we quickly move into the upper tier. Once our baby is born it’ll be slightly harder to stay in the upper tier because our household will be bigger and therefore each of us will have a smaller portion of the income allotted to us within the family unit, but I expect, based on past experiences, that over the next few years we’ll continue to earn more and therefore move back into the higher tier. The fact is that even though I am not part of the 1% of Californians (who make a minimum of $514,694 per year), I am far from poor. To see the minimum income to be in the 1% by state, check out this article. To learn more about the tiers and change in concentration of wealth over time in the U.S. check out this Investopedia article. 

Next, we need to understand the ways that we experience economic privilege and recognize that much of our success is buoyed by our own privilege. 

The American dream ideal encourages us to try to fit into the “I pulled myself up from my bootstraps” storyline regardless of our own backgrounds. My family lore certainly leaned into this narrative -- my father grew up in a upper-middle class neighborhood in the Milwaukee suburbs, went to college (granted, there were some bumps in the road for him during this time) and then worked his way from an entry level position at a bank up to Vice-President in a multinational corporation. He absolutely worked hard and he did move from near the bottom of the totem pole to very close to the top, but this is not a “pulled myself up from my bootstraps story”. My father is white, tall, has all of his hair and, while not receiving regular financial support from his parents after leaving home, benefited greatly from the place of economic privilege he was born into. 

Similarly, I grew up in a upper-middle class suburb of Chicago, went to a top rated public school (where I attended honors classes, which in retrospect, were blatantly tracked based on race), attended a private university paid for by my parents and then took advantage of the opportunities surrounding me to go into education and then, later, finance. I worked hard. I still work hard! I also am working within a societal framework that sets me up for success. Perhaps as a woman in finance, less so than my father, but I have removed myself from the typical financial industry in order to avoid the sexism that so often coalesces in large, male-dominated fields. Being able to remove myself was only possible because of my privilege. I knew that I could start my own business, I knew that if things went really poorly I could find outside work and I knew that family and friends would help me if needed. 

You experience economic privilege if any of the following is true (note: this is not an exhaustive list, just a starting point):

• You grew up in a neighborhood with good public schools

• You went to private school 

• You were taught specific ways to interact with those in power so that they would help you (i.e. writing thank you notes, dressing a specific way for specific events)

• You were able to choose your post-high school pursuits without focusing on cost or income

• You received at least some financial support from family and friends when you attended college and/or graduate school

• You’ve been able to take unpaid internships

• You have a network of friends and family who are able to help you get employment or other career related opportunities

• You do not have student loans

• You have not had to take loans or use credit cards in order to take advantage of non-paid or poorly-paid “great opportunities”

• You have been able to take advantage of career opportunities that cost you money instead of pay you money

• You are able to pay for equipment, materials and clothing that is “necessary” to be comfortable or taken seriously in professional settings

• You are able to outsource work, either professional or personal, to others that would otherwise take time out of your day

How many of these experiences have you had? Are you surprised by the layers of privilege you experience? 

Over the course of the next week I encourage you to spend time reflecting on your experiences of economic privilege. Take time to journal, think quietly, talk to close friends and family members to try to delve deeper into this work. You will not be able to fully understand your privilege in a week. Society has done an incredible job of creating social norms that make it very difficult to unpack the invisible threads that help us, but, with time and effort, you will be able to understand a lot and, perhaps more importantly, create neural pathways that allow you to continue to delve into this uncomfortable awakening again and again in the future. 

Next week we’ll turn to focus on how to transform your understanding into action, but, as I’m a big believer in the power of truly understanding your own desires and values before taking action, I’m going to leave it here for now. 

As always, I’m here for you in your money journey, no matter where you are.

XOXO

When I started my coaching business I was told by countless peers, business coaches, books, blogs and podcasts that I should not under any circumstances list my prices on my website. What they all recommended instead was to have client acquisition phone calls, win over the prospective clients with my charm and amazing services and then right at the very end (preferably after I had gotten the prospective client to voice their desire to hire me) tell them what my prices were. Because I was new to entrepreneurship I listened to them. 

It felt awful. I always felt like a slimy salesperson and hated that gaining clients essentially felt like I had to trick people into signing up for coaching sessions with me. I shouldn’t have to trick people! What I do is awesome! I knew that my services were valuable and I knew from experience that people loved working with me, but none of that came through in my client acquisition process. 

After a few months I decided that I was going to ignore the recommendations by these so-called experts. I didn’t add my prices to my website right away, but I started being very transparent about them in any interactions I had with prospective clients, both verbally and in writing on fliers and workshop notes. Sometime in 2018 I added the prices directly to my website (you can find my individual coaching pricing here and my group coaching pricing here). Making my prices transparent was a game changer. I got more clients. I had an easier time explaining my services and the value that I bring to the table. And, the best part, is that I felt aligned with the values that are at the heart of Verdi Advising. 

Verdi was founded on the belief that everyone can manage their money well if they are given the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence they need. My ultimate goal is to improve economic equality in this country through individual change -- the more people (who have traditionally been left out of the financial advising market) who are financially confident and skilled, the more people out there who have access to capital and economic power than they had before. In a country with an incredibly stark wealth gap that is largely gender- and racially- based, this has always felt like my guiding light. 

If my ultimate goal, my vision in business terms, is to create a world in which economic equality exists, then part of my work must be on promoting transparency. The way that economic inequality has been maintained is partly through the policing of information. By making it socially acceptable and legally condoned to not share financial information, financial institutions and those that have traditionally held the financial power in this country have been given the greenlight to actively not engage with the have-nots. I may not be able to change the laws by myself, but I can begin to chip away at the taboos around money. I can speak freely about what I spend money on (check out my Day in the Life of my Wallet highlight on instagram), and what I charge for services. I can encourage others to do the same. I can expand my role to look outward at what other, larger companies are doing and what the government’s role is in this work.

In the Verdi Money Club I share everything I spend in a whole month. Even after years of inner work on my money relationship, that day of the club always makes me a little uncomfortable - and that is one reason I do it again and again. The reason I’m uncomfortable is because I, probably like you, was taught from a very early age that sharing these kinds of details is inappropriate and socially unacceptable. Countering that deep narrative is extremely difficult. In future posts I’ll share how I work through these uncomfortable feelings and explain why some of them are so deep seated in our psyches. 

Before then I’d love your input - what do you want to know about? What money taboos have the strongest hold on you? What do you want to know about encouraging transparency at a wider scale? 

As always, I’m here for you and your money journey - wherever you are on (or off) your path. 

XOXO 

Disclaimer: I’ve really struggled with writing this post. I knew I wanted to talk about voting with your wallet this week, but, in light of the escalating protests that have spread throughout the country, I had a hard time expressing my thoughts in a way that felt useful. 

As a white, middle class woman I am incredibly privileged. So privileged that I’ve been able to stay disengaged with the fight against systemic racism and police brutality in this country. I’m working to change that and one of the ways that I am doing that is by being more focused on how I vote with my wallet, which is the subject of today’s post. As I shared with my instagram community last week, I am committed to doing better and I need your help. That means that if I say something that is steeped in racism or that ignores the greater cause of equality, please call me out. 

-- 

I talk about voting with your wallet all of the time. Voting with your wallet is simply the idea of displaying and adhering to your values by how you spend money. For some people that means donating to specific causes and for others it means supporting certain businesses and organizations over others. For me it means both (and I urge you to include both too), but, if I’m really honest, I’ve done more work on the latter than the former. I want to increase the power of my donations by spending more and spending smarter. I am sharing my plans with you in part to show you a financial coach’s thought process on the matter, but also because I selfishly know I need accountability to do this well and knowing that you know what my plan is will help me follow through. 

I have a constant running list of money goals, some of which are incredibly action oriented a la some of these past gems: 

• Pay off credit card debt (done and done!)

• Save for trip to Japan (done!)

• Surpass $100k revenue goal (done!)

Some of the others are more, as I say, squishy: 

• Feel at peace with all clothing purchases (sometimes, sometimes not)

• Have all income come from work I enjoy and feel aligned with (done!)

• Vote with my wallet by supporting organizations that I love (a work in progress)

I want to spend time today on that last bullet point. Right now I donate money regularly in the following ways: (1) recurring monthly donation to an organization I love; (2) member of a non-profit board and pay my annual give-get; (3) regularly give “randomly” to organizations or causes that I feel strongly about. By randomly I mean truly randomly - there are months when I give to multiple organizations and months when I don’t. The frequency and amount is all over the place. While all of the ways I give are aligned with my values, the third way always feels haphazard and, because of that, I know that I don’t end up giving as much, as often, or in as targeted a way as I would like. 

So here’s how I’m going about changing that: 

My Long-Term Plan

My husband and I would like to work up to donating 10% of our annual income each year. We are nowhere near that goal yet. Right now we are averaging about 2%. I don’t think of that as a failure though. We’re on a financial path that is continuously allowing us more flexibility and freedom to give more. We probably won’t reach this goal in 2020 or 2021 or maybe even 2022, but I know we’ll get there. And, I hope, that once we reach that goal we will move the target out even farther.

My Medium-Term Plan

I love recurring donations. They are easy for me as the donor because I’ll never forget to pay them and they are wonderful for non-profits that are trying to project revenue in uncertain times (note: I have many non-profit clients and this is hugely helpful).  However, I haven’t yet decided on another organization (or handful of organizations) that I would like to commit to giving to every month. My 3 month goal is to have narrowed down to a list of organizations I love whose work I care deeply about and then move over to a system where I have multiple recurring donations each month and give additional money to other organizations when it seems especially timely or when I feel moved to do so. The amount I give per month will be dependent on our household income (i.e. right now I am the only one working, but my husband’s work will likely restart in the next couple of months assuming that no plans change re: film and COVID-19 safety. When that happens our monthly donations will go up). 

My Short-Term Plan: 

Over the next 3 months I am going to set aside an additional $100/month to go to any organization or organizations of my choosing. This will be my time to research organizations to determine which are the best fit for my values and which are able to impact the most change right now; experiment with monthly amounts to determine how much I want to give on a recurring basis after the 3 month period ends; and most importantly, spend more time unpacking my values and deciding how I can be of the most service.

I’ll keep you all posted on how this plan plays out over the next several months, but in the meantime I want to hear from you. Are you struggling with something similar? What are your voting with your wallet goals? How can I support you in that work? 

As always, I’m here for you and your money journey. 

XOXO

Last week I shared the origins of the narrative that most directly harms my relationship with money. The narrative is that I should be a martyr, but with really nice clothes. Today I want to share how I’ve reframed this narrative into something positive and helpful. 

The first step is to determine whether there are any helpful nuggets hidden in your not-so-helpful narrative. Even though my narrative conflicts with itself and made it difficult to make financial decisions that feel aligned with who I am, there is a lot of good in there. 

Once I’ve identified the good, which in this case is: (1) doing good things for others and (2) appreciating things that make me happy, I’m able to rewrite the phrase into something that aligns with my values. 

My new narrative: I do good for the world, and for myself. 

There are still times when I struggle with maintaining the positive, reframed version of my narrative as the one that steers my relationship. I notice that when I’m particularly stressed, tired, sick, or not in tune with my emotional state I fall back into my old thinking patterns. I think that I should help others in ways that directly hurt myself or break my own healthy boundaries. I think I need to live a lifestyle that puts wealth on display (but, you know, in a classy way…). 

On my better days I catch this thought pattern and I’m able to stop it. I have to disengage from whatever I’m doing (get off the phone, get off my laptop, leave the room) and take some deep breaths. I then have to repeat my new narrative over and over again. Sometimes I can do this in my head and it’s plenty. Sometimes I have to do this out loud. Sometimes I have to emphasize the first part of the sentence: “I do good for the world”, and sometimes I have to emphasize the latter: “and for myself”. 

There are other days when I don’t even realize that the negative pattern is running in my brain. Those are the days when I end up making decisions that feel prickly because they are misaligned with my values. I know they don’t feel good, but it is often that I can’t pinpoint why until the next day, or sometimes the next week. 

I know it is a cliche, but this process is truly a journey. I promise your path won’t be a straight line, and it’s impossible to say how many loop-de-loops you’ll end up doing. My path feels a lot like this: 

As long as you continue to move forward, continue to reflect and continue to work toward alignment you are going in the right direction. Wherever you are on your journey, I’m here for you. 

XOXO

Last week I shared a personal struggle that I’ve been working on since the start of the pandemic: how to comfortably continue to sell my services when I know that paying for anything “extra” during a time of financial crisis is hard. Part of my struggle stems from the money narratives I’ve held since childhood. Today, I’m going to dive into those and ask you to try doing the same!

1st you will need to dive into your past! Use the following questions to get started, but feel free to go in whatever direction the process moves you in. I share some of my takeaways below. 

• What are your earliest money memories? 

• Were there any money expectations that your family or community put on you? 

• What money values could you see around you? Was it clear that money was important? Not important? Evil? 

My Takeaways: 

I was raised in a strict, Southern Baptist household. I was also raised in a liberal Chicago suburb (Oak Park). This was simultaneous, and just as those two sentences are direct juxtapositions, so were the money values I left my home with at age 18. 

I like to think of it as being raised to be a martyr, but with really nice clothes. 

Let me explain by giving a few examples:

1. When I was graduating high school and deciding what I’d do with the rest of my life (as you do), I remember telling one of my best friends that I wanted to work with disadvantaged kids in the poorest parts of the world. Remote would be good. Someplace where I didn’t have running water would be ideal. His response? “You won’t do that because then you won’t be able to afford those pants”. Brutal. And very accurate. For reference, I was wearing a pair of 7 For All Mankind Jeans. They were not cheap and they were my favorite. I had zero concept of how many hours I would need to work in the kind of job I was describing to be able to afford those pants (they were probably about $150).

2. Every few years my mother would say that they had a rough year and therefore we wouldn’t be having a big Christmas. Those were the years that my sister and I tended to get mostly joint gifts. My personal *favorite* was the year they bought us a sewing machine. My sister was and is a gifted seamstress. I can manage a button. I interpreted this gift to mean that I was either less loved or that they thought if I wasn’t distracted by other presents I would finally get my act together and fall in line with the long line of seamstresses in my family tree. Even though these “small Christmases” were less extravagant than other years, there wasn’t much of a difference, and they were often followed up with random January sales shopping trips that would have more than made up for what wasn’t spent in December. 

3. My dad worked for an international bank and made good money. I never did find out what his salary was. I remember asking a few different times over the course of my childhood and I was always berated, told that was an incredibly inappropriate question to ask and told that we were “fine”, but not “rich”. This meant nothing to me then and I think would still mean nothing to me now. Also, in retrospect, we were rich. Telling me that we weren’t meant that I had a very hard time as an adult living with less than what I grew up with. I thought what I had was normal and since I was working in a career that my family approved of, then it would surely pay me enough to live that same lifestyle I was accustomed to. It did not. 

Learning about your money narratives can be an incredibly empowering experience. By diving into these memories I am able to make connections with my present life and question the reasoning behind my beliefs. The next step in my process is to create new narratives that are accurate, empowering and fit my lifestyle goals. I’ll share how I do that next week!

As always, I’m here for you and your money goals. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. 

XOXO

Part of my job is to ask people to pay me money so that they get better with their money. Getting better with their money often means that they’re currently struggling with some scary money issues: debt, overspending, a lack of savings or harmful income inconsistencies. When I first started working for myself I really struggled with this ask. It feels uncomfortable to tell someone who is struggling with money to spend more money so that they can stop struggling with money. See that vicious circle? 

When the coronavirus pandemic hit the first thing I thought of with how it would impact my business was that my pitch was all of a sudden going to be a whole lot harder. And then I paused. The value of my work actually just went up, not down. It’s in my head that my pitch is harder. It isn’t harder, it’s that I still have some money mindset issues to work through. 

Here’s the real answer of why working with a financial coach is so important during a time of financial crisis. While this may feel like an incredibly bizarre time to be spending money on getting better with money, it also may be an incredibly important time to invest in this part of your life/work. I can help you manage your money so that it stretches farther while improving the way it feels when you spend it. I can also help you determine the best ways to use your time bringing in revenue so that you are getting more bang for your buck. Being able to use those skills and tools now means that you are in a much stronger position both during the pandemic and after. 

And here’s the money mindset work that I’m doing. I have recognized that asking for money for my services makes me uncomfortable. It makes me way less uncomfortable than it did a few years ago, but it still brings up some difficult feelings. I have realized that those uncomfortable feelings are connected to two things: 1) my not-always-stellar feelings of self-worth, and 2) some confusing money values that were pounded into me at a very young age. 

Most of the time I feel like a confident business owner. I’m proud of the work I’ve done, the impact my business has on my clients, and the money I bring in to my family. Unfortunately, most of the time is not all of the time. There are days when I feel like an imposter and there are days when I question whether or not anything I’m doing makes sense. I never doubt the quality of my work or how much I’m helping clients, which is good, but it is all the other things that I don’t stay consistently proud of. I know this is normal. I also know that when I focus on all of the good that I do for people most of my doubts melt away. 

The money values I was raised with are actually much more complicated and harmful than my self-worth issues. I was raised to believe that the only work worth doing is work that makes you a martyr to your cause. Being a public school teacher was great because I did a lot of good for the world, was wholeheartedly underpaid and overworked. Owning my own business that helps folks who are usually left out of traditional financial advising services because of their net worth, gender orientation, sex or ethnicity gets a check for doing good in the world, but fails at the martyrdom. Yes, I work a lot (I’m writing this on a Saturday evening), but I also make sure that I get paid an appropriate amount. This value of martyrdom creeps up when I’m feeling emotionally vulnerable (see self-worth doubts) and then makes me question whether I should even ask for money in the first place. See that vicious circle? I know that when I’m feeling more stable emotionally I’m less likely to feel these feelings, but they are still there and will probably still be there to some extent for the rest of my life. In the next newsletter I’ll dive deeper into this story and help you figure out your harmful money narratives and how to reframe them. 

Have you noticed any harmful money narratives come up over the past few weeks? How have you, or are you, dealing with them? 

XOXO

There are a lot of financial professionals out there who wouldn’t touch the word mantra with a 6 foot pole. There is a whole other contingent that spends 100% of their time focusing on mantras, mindset and manifestation. I’m in neither camp. I rarely find the extremes to work for me, nor do I find that they work for many of my clients. That being said, according to my family in rural Louisiana I am incredibly “woo woo”. According to my friends in Los Angeles I’m pragmatic and straightlaced. Clearly perspective matters and depending on where you fall in the spectrum, this post may feel particularly uncomfortable or particularly easy to digest. I urge you, regardless of your initial reaction, to give it a try. 

THE MINDSET/ACTION CYCLE

Your money mindset is the set of beliefs and internal narratives that you hold in regards to how you view money, wealth and your position in that world. No single mindset is right for everyone, but everyone deserves to have a healthy mindset - one that enables you to feel comfortable and good about your experiences with money and one that encourages you to make money decisions that align with your values. 

Most healthy money mindsets are relatively fragile. Many of us grow up with incredibly negative mindsets and therefore have had to do a lot of work to change our narratives. Even if you grew up with a positive mindset, social norms often tear that down and you will have to work to keep it intact. Therefore, any time you experience emotional distress, your fragile money mindset can easily get disrupted and become negative. Unfortunately, we, as human beings, have a very hard time removing emotion from our decision making processes (actually, I think this is a good thing, but it certainly makes life harder!). If your mindset is in disarray then your decision making process will almost inevitably suffer as well. 

You’ve likely experienced this at different times in the past. Maybe you were going through a particularly tough breakup and ended up booking a flight to Hawaii that you couldn’t really afford. Maybe you were feeling left out of a friend group and you spent money on clothes or experiences that helped you fit in, but didn’t really match your values. Maybe you were just having a shitty day so you ended up self soothing via online shopping or buying one too many glasses of wine because “you deserved it”. I’ve been there. 

Globally, we are now in a time of mass distress. Even if you are healthy, employed and safe, you are likely feeling the trauma that is happening all around us. And, unfortunately, many of us aren’t healthy, employed or safe.

MANTRAS TO THE RESCUE (kind of)

Mantras are simple phrases that we can repeat again and again to help us rewire our narratives. For example, instead of my frequent narrative, “I’ll never get another client again” (truly, I do not know where this comes from, it has never been true, but has been a persistent, unhelpful thought for years), I can say “I am constantly bringing in new clients and helping them reach their goals”. Putting the mantra in the present tense is important because it signals to our brains that this thing that you’re saying is true now, and not something that might happen in the future or something that used to happen. 

Mantras may feel silly when you first start using them. I mean, you are repeating the same phrase over and over to yourself, often out loud and often in a mirror,  but they are incredibly powerful when you are trying to rewire a specific, negative money narrative. That being said, mindset is only one piece to the puzzle. You can rewire those negative narratives and create an emotional space where you are primed and ready to take on your financial goals, but if you don’t have the knowledge or skills to actually achieve those goals, you’ll still be, as my high school World History teacher, Mrs. Young, used to say, "up poo poo creek without a paddle." That is why I believe in the power of mindfulness, emotional intelligence and introspection when it comes to creating a healthy relationship with money and reaching financial goals and I believe that specialized skills and knowledge are crucial. 

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE MANTRAS 

• I am healthy, wealthy and happy. 

• I have great ideas for how to make and save money. 

• I am enough.

• I am worthy of financial success. 

• Money improves my life and the lives around me. 

NEXT STEPS

Try it out! Start by asking yourself what your current money mindset is. Is it serving you? Is it hurting? If it is hurting, try to put that in words. Now spin that around and make it a positive sentence that will help you find alignment. If you’re having trouble, try out one of my tried and true examples, or reach out to me for some guidance. If you feel like you’ve got the mindset on point, but want some help with the skills, let me know. If you feel lost on both fronts, let me know (note: you can email me here).

I’m here for you on your money journey, wherever that may be. 

XOXO

A few weeks ago I led a workshop on resources available to entrepreneurs and small businesses during this time of crisis. One of the programs that I talked about and that, not surprisingly, got a lot of interest from the workshop attendees, was the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP is, in theory, a really useful resource for any small business, sole proprietor or non-profit. It allows organizations to get a forgivable loan for 8 weeks of payroll. There are a bunch of stipulations, which I won’t go into detail about here, but even with the stipulations the program is still incredibly helpful. 

That is, if anyone could actually get the money. 

The PPP went live on Friday, April 3. I tried to apply for Verdi, but wasn’t able to get through on Chase’s website (phone lines were backed up by hours) until Tuesday, April 7. Once I got into the site it was relatively easy. I already had all of the documentation I needed to apply because my payroll system, Gusto, made getting the reports really easy. I also already bank with Chase so I didn’t have to establish a new relationship with them. I assumed that even with the intense demand for the program, that I must have been among the first to successfully submit a completed application and therefore would certainly see the money show up in my account in a few days or weeks. 

Before I go down that rabbit hole, let me make clear why I applied in the first place. Verdi is incredibly lucky in a lot of ways - I run my business virtually already. I work with people all over the country (and in a few other countries -- hey Canada and the U.K.!) and therefore am not limited in who my clients can be. People and organizations need my help right now - perhaps more than ever. However, my client base has always largely been entrepreneurs, freelancers and non-profit executive directors. Almost every single one of my existing clients has faced economic hardship due to the coronavirus and that, inevitably, trickles down to me. I and my company will be fine. I’ve made adjustments that will allow me to both help a greater number of people and bring in revenue -- I’ve changed my pricing structure, I’ve offered another round of the Verdi Money Club before previously planned, and I’m sharing my insights at frequent virtual workshops. These changes will help, but they don’t fix the problem overnight and don’t change the fact that without outside help I would have to forgo payroll for a while in order to responsibly stay afloat. 

As I’m sure you’re not surprised, I didn’t get the PPP loan in the first round of $350 billion distributed. I, along with the vast majority of small businesses who applied weren’t fast or savvy enough to get through in time. The PPP was refilled with an additional $350 billion last week and applications went live again yesterday. Since I already applied I should be in the backlog queue and, in theory, receive the loan during this round. I’ll be thrilled if that happens, but, to tell you the truth, I’m not holding my breath. 

I considered not writing this post because I was worried it would seem too political, but I decided that my frustration with the federal government’s response in helping small businesses and individuals is not political, it is simply practical. Our politicians - both liberal and conservative - love to talk about how much they care about small businesses. They frequently praise small businesses as the backbone of the US economy. And yet, in a time of immense crisis it is not the small businesses who are being saved. Huge corporations are receiving and will receive massive bailouts to stay afloat. Countless restaurants, corner stores and service providers won’t get the help they need and therefore won’t make it. Money is an immensely powerful tool and it is clear to me that those who have the most power to wield it right now (i.e. the federal government) are choosing to back the organizations that already have enough money and power on their own to make a stink if they’re not taken care of. That is not the way the government is supposed to work. “By the people and for the people” wasn’t meant to disclude individuals and it wasn’t meant to disclude small businesses who aren’t able to work the system like the behemoth corporations.

XOXO

Note: This post is part of a series on money emotions and I want your help! I’ll be posting several more installments over the coming months (interspersed with other asked for content). If you have a related question or request, please email me here. 

I spend a lot of time working with clients on their money goals. I host workshops all about money goals and I talk my head off about them on instagram. They’re basically my favorite thing (that’s not true, my favorite thing is cheese and crackers or maybe peanut butter and marshmallows...coronavirus is giving me time to ponder snacks in a whole new, quite childish way).

Money goals are great! Coming up with them helps us figure out the most important things in our lives. If done right, our goals encapsulate our feelings and therefore are really exciting to work towards (i.e. get out of credit card debt so I can use that monthly money to start my new business/go on a trip/upgrade my apartment). Determining the right timeline and action steps helps us stay motivated and accountable, which in turn helps us feel accomplished and proud. And then reaching your goals is cause for a huge celebration! There’s a lot to love. 

But, what about now? What if the pandemic means that your money goals don’t make sense anymore, whether because they don’t feel right or because the action steps or timeline don’t seem possible anymore. 

That’s okay. 

You can do one of two things: 1) Check out your existing goals and modify them or 2) Ignore those old goals and make new ones. Both are valid and you should do whatever feels better to you. Don’t overthink it. 

If you are modifying existing goals…

• Start by finding wherever you wrote those goals down! Maybe they’re in your Google Drive. Maybe they’re tucked away in an old journal under your bed. No judgement here. 

• Read through your goals (not your action steps). Ask yourself: do these still feel right for my life? If they do, great! If not, move on to “If you are creating new goals”. 

• Next, ask yourself if the details of your goals make sense. Given your current situation, does your timeline still work? If not, how can you modify it? Do your action steps still make sense? If not, how can you modify them? 

• If you’re getting stuck or frustrated by trying to figure out those modifications, let me know. For the first time ever, I’m offering single coaching sessions (with a discount for a limited time!) and figuring out how to best update your goals is a perfect use of that service.

• Once you’ve updated your goals, find a prominent place to put them so you’re regularly reminded of what you’re working towards! Try something tucked under a fridge magnet, a sticky-note on your computer, a beautifully decorated piece of paper taped to your mirror or something taped inside your favorite snack cabinet (currently a very prominent place in my home and my heart).

If you are creating new goals…

• Take some time to brainstorm. What do you value most? How do you want your life to feel differently than it does? What are you searching for?

• Next, take time to brainstorm your roadblocks. What is stopping you from achieving the life you brainstormed in step one? What is holding you back? Is it debt? Lack of savings? Income that doesn’t match your needs and wants? 

• Create your goals using the tried and tested SMART system I shared about in December.

• Start creating action plans. Your first try probably won’t get everything you need in it, so I recommend setting aside 2-3 20 minute chunks of time to work on this. These should be spread out over a week or so so you have time to think of new things in between the sessions. I like starting with just a few action items that you know you can do in the next two weeks and then build from there.

• Note: If you are stuck on how to create goals that really work for you or aren’t sure how to make an action plan that keeps you accountable or that has everything you need in it, let me know. 

Regardless of whether you choose to modify existing goals or create new ones from scratch, don’t let yourself forget that this month (and likely this year) will not be normal. Your goals may need to change again and your action plans almost definitely will. That is okay! The important thing isn’t to create a plan that never changes, but to create plans that fit your needs and are flexible enough to pivot when necessary. 

XOXO

Note: This post is part of a series on money emotions and I want your help! I’ll be posting several more installments over the course of the coming months (interspersed with other asked for content). If you have a related question or request, please email me here. 

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last 3 weeks leading virtual workshops on how to deal with money during this time of crisis. During each workshop I remind the attendees to pay attention to their feelings as we move into the nuts and bolts of the session. Our feelings impact how we spend, save and earn. They impact how we manage our money. And, at the best of times, dealing with our money feelings means that we’re working through societal expectations, family pressure and internally ingrained belief systems. That is a LOT. During times of crisis things get even more complicated. We throw on some extra layers of stress, emotional fatigue (and therefore short patience), personal and global uncertainty, and, for many of us, new, unexpected daily money challenges. We now have to ask ourselves a myriad of questions: How do I pay my rent when I just lost all of my income? Is it better to put this on a credit card or keep taking out of savings? Should I get a personal loan? Will I get re-hired? Since I haven’t lost all of my income should I start giving my money away? If so, to whom? Is it possible for me to still start that business I’ve been working on? I could go on and on, but I won’t, because writing out this list at 8:25am on a Monday morning doesn’t seem to be doing good things to my breathing.

I purposefully do not ask workshop attendees to list out all of their worries. That’s a great way to start a stress cycle and, while there are benefits to getting really clear on our worries so we can determine which are real and which are “praying for something bad to happen”, I don’t think a group virtual session with strangers is really the right place for that. At least I’m not emotionally ready to lead that yet. Instead, I ask attendees to do what I’m going to urge you to do: brainstorm how you want to feel during this time of social distancing. Take about a minute or two and write down everything you can think of. Next, take a minute or two and brainstorm how you want to feel after this time of social distancing. 

The answers thus far have been incredibly illuminating: They’ve ranged from “calm”, “centered”, and “empowered” to “not terrified” and “not stir crazy”. The “not” answers are always interesting to me. I see them as a stepping stone. We notice that the phrase without the not is what we are actually feeling right now and that we don’t like it, but we haven’t quite gotten to the point where we can replace the word outright with a more positive one. That’s okay! Just recognizing the importance of “not” can be a big deal. 

I digress. 

After you’ve brainstormed how you want to feel, I recommend that you spend some time looking at your current financial reality (you can use my new, free template to help ground you). Write down a few of your favorite brainstormed feelings on a post-it note and put it somewhere super visible -- maybe on the edge of your laptop or on the desk you’re sitting at (or, let’s be more realistic, on the cat that has now claimed your lap as its permanent place of residence). While you’re checking out the numbers ask yourself the following questions: 

• What is going really well right now? Is it that you’ve maintained at least some of your income? Is it that you were able to negotiate better terms for that loan? That you’ve removed those old subscriptions you don’t use? Slowed your spending?

• What doesn’t feel good? Is it something to do with your income? Your spending? Something that’s been problematic for a while now, but just feels even worse during a pandemic? 

• What can you do right now to help yourself? Can you modify spending habits? Can you apply for unemployment? Reach out to clients with new services that better help them during this time? 

• What do you need help with? Are there things you know aren’t working, but you’re not sure what you can do? Are you feeling lost? If this is the case, please reach out to me. You can set up a free consult call here or email me here. I am always happy to chat and if there’s something I can quickly answer I will. If it’s more complicated, I’ll help you figure out next steps - whether that means working with me or finding different resources. 

Regardless of where you are and where you’re feeling, know that I’m right here with you. I started Verdi because I believe that financial literacy through the lens of kindness, support and acceptance does immense good in this world and in the midst of today’s crisis I believe that more than ever. If you have questions, ask. If you want me to work together, but you’re not sure how, let me know and we’ll figure it out together. 

XOXO

I’m sure this is just as strange a time for you as it is for me, and while I don’t feel like I’ve had enough distance (haha) from the experience yet to fully understand the scope or impact, I do feel like I’ve already learned a few key things about myself and my business that are going to serve me way past this particular crisis. 

MYSELF: 

1 - Pregnancy is hard for a lot of reasons, but currently difficult because I know that at least some of my emotions are due to extreme changes happening with my body and with my hormones. Even though these emotions wouldn’t necessarily come up in the same way when I’m not pregnant, they are still real and deserve to be listened to and worked through. 

2 - I like rules (I already knew this, but perhaps not to this extent). Seeing local and state governments create requirements for how we live in this time is comforting. Knowing that no one else is out and about at events and restaurants potentially spreading a virus unknowingly (or, god forbid, knowingly) is comforting. 

3 - I am looking forward to a time of mass introspection. I know it will be difficult and I know our society is not prepared for this. I am terrified of what this means for the most vulnerable in our society and terrified for what this means for the semi-vulnerable. Simultaneously I have hope that society being forced to pull back from itself will give us space to better understand the needs that we have and the needs that those around us have. 

MY BUSINESS:

1 - I’m grateful that Verdi is already purely virtual. Yes, I speak regularly at events and I do occasionally meet a client in person, but the company is prepared and used to the virtual life.

2 - Even though my business structure is prepared for this crisis, the business offerings still need to be modified to better serve my clients and community. I’m really excited about this work because 1) I’m excited to be able to reach more people and help them with their finances during this stressful time and 2) I’ve realized how important it is for Verdi to be able to do more even when things are more calm. 

Expect to see some new things coming down the pipeline very soon: 

• An update to my online budgeting course (lower price, more goodies!!)

• Freebie webinars (topics & times TBD)

• Updates my one-on-one and group coaching services (details coming soon)

In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, concerns or silly cat videos (I’m serious).

Stay safe and stay healthy.

XOXO

I’m going to make this short and sweet this week (because let’s be honest, I’m tired). The current news cycle is rough. It is full of unknowns, intense ups and downs, and some pretty ominous predictions.

If you’re feeling stressed and it is creeping into your money life try a few of the following tips:

💸 Put on a timer for 3 minutes and write down all the reasons you are grateful for the money in your life.

💸 Pick one financial goal you have right now. Write down at least 3 things that you can do over the next month to help you reach your goal.

💸 Check out your transactions over the last week and write down the one that makes you feel the most pride and joy.

💸 Journal: How do you currently feel about money in your life? How can you rewrite your money narratives to better serve you and help you reach your goals?

As always, know that I’m here for you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

XOXO