Episode 310: Six Habits of Financially Secure Women with Michelle Taylor

On this episode of the Women's Money Wisdom podcast, Melissa Joy is joined by Michelle Taylor, founder of Women in Wealth, for a practical, honest conversation about what actually creates long-term financial stability for women.

Rather than focusing on fear or restriction, this discussion centers on habits — the everyday behaviors that help women build confidence, resilience, and freedom with money over time. Together, Melissa and Michelle break down the six core habits they see consistently among women who feel financially secure and in control, regardless of income level.

You’ll hear why tracking your money builds confidence (not stress), how “paying yourself first” creates momentum, and why investing — even in small amounts — is non-negotiable. The conversation also reframes budgeting as a flexible spending plan, explores how to set financial goals that actually align with your values, and explains why regular “money dates” can transform how you relate to your finances.

This episode is especially helpful if you’ve ever felt successful in life but uncertain about money, struggled with confidence around financial decisions, or wanted a healthier, more empowering approach to building wealth.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why awareness is the foundation of financial confidence
• How paying yourself first prevents burnout and financial guilt
• The difference between restrictive budgets and flexible spending plans
• Why investing early matters more than investing perfectly
• How to set financial goals that reflect your version of success
• Simple ways to build accountability through regular money check-ins

Whether you’re just getting started or refining your financial habits, this episode offers practical guidance you can use immediately — without shame, overwhelm, or unrealistic expectations.

Follow Michelle: https://www.instagram.com/women_in_wealth/

The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only.  No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https...

Transcript

Welcome And Why Women Need Wealth Communities

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and the founder of Pearl Planning. My goal is to help you streamline and organize your finances, navigate big money decisions with confidence, and be strategic in order to grow your wealth. As a woman, you work hard for your money, and I'm here to help you make the most of it. Now let's get into the show. Michelle's going to give you a little bit of her background. And then today we are going to get right into the six habits of women who are never broke. Michelle, welcome to the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Thank you so much, Melissa.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

I'm happy to be here. You and I both work in the world of wealth management, which is financial planning, helping people to make financial decisions and investing. But we both, me through this platform and you through a community that you're building, women in wealth, are trying to reach out to broader audiences because we know not everyone has a wealth manager to call when they have questions. And I love the work you're doing. So give me a little background about the genesis of women in wealth and kind of how you got things going.

Building The Women In Wealth Platform

SPEAKER_01 1:42

So, as you know, I'm in wealth management as you are, and we are in a very male-dominated industry. And I think we're making. Yeah. I think we're making great strides. I've seen a lot of growth in the last decade, but still, we have a long way to go. And what I found in starting my practice is that women were so excited to refer other women to a woman wealth manager. So, you know, it was surprising and jarring how different the conversations were that I was having with the guys versus some of the ladies. And over time, I ended up kind of niching into working with mostly business owners and the same theme of most of them being women. And what I was so passionate about doing in all of this work is how do I make sure that the women that I'm talking to are learning and having the same kind of conversations, same access to tools that the guys are, so that the young women that are around them are never in the same position that these ladies were and that I was. So I worked on this for four years. Women in Wealth became a true standalone business in addition to the wealth management a little over a year ago. And really, I just wanted it to be a place that we, you know, had mentorship, had access to tools, resources, conversations, um, and most importantly, mentorship. You know, I think that you can relate, and so many of the women listening that it's a lot easier to chase something that you can see someone who's like you that has already slayed that dragon. So that's my favorite part of the community is is making a place where you're around like-minded women and changing the way we feel and think and approach money is really what I try and do every single day.

Confidence Gaps And Changing Money Norms

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Well, case by case, one-on-one, I hear the need for exactly this. And women are so used to sharing with their friends their challenges, their um aspirations. And it just we don't have the culture of being the part of the household or or of the community that makes the big financial decisions, and you hear the history of women couldn't control accounts until X date in the 20th century, things like that. And what you don't recognize because that has changed is that there's a catch-up time period for the, you know, kind of echoes of how you're trained to make decisions. And so what the thing that probably is shocking for many listeners is that many women we work with, I'm sure I don't want to speak for you, Michelle, but you can confirm or deny, um, who are very successful share those um the lower confidence or the imposter syndrome when it comes to money. So I think the work that you're doing is is so critical to provide more oxygen to these types of conversations um and make them more regular.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Yes, I and I appreciate that. And same to you. I think that it takes women like us to say, wait a minute, I love all of the things that it means to be a woman and a friend and a mom and an aunt, but let's add in some of the conversations that are going to change the narrative, right? Like you said, the ketchup period. And I now I'm just gonna say it for you. I don't mean to speak for you, but I know even in my own friend circle, you know, money, religion, and politics, we've all been taught as women, those are things that, you know, you just don't necessarily dive into. And I think that we have to change that because having those conversations with our friends at a happy hour, it doesn't mean you have to, you know, be an expert in the SP, but just saying, what are you doing? Are you investing yet? I'm curious about real estate. Have you guys done that? You know, those are the conversations that are going to rise the tides for all of us. So that's the work that we can immediately do to have an impact while we change the narrative that may take a little bit longer.

Habit 1: Track Every Dollar’s Job

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Well, exactly what I so often in in our um podcast conversations, we're identifying that need. And but what I love about today is we're going to roll up our sleeves and get talking on some of the technical considerations that can really help you be financially secure. And so this conversation is about the six habits of women who are never broke. And I think so often, not only for women, but especially for women, there's conversation of I still wake up every day wondering, uh, fearing that I would run out of money. And so if you can build on some of these building blocks, then I think that it gives you the space to entertain the idea that you might not have to wake up every day fearing that you may run out of money. Um, so I'm excited to talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah. Okay. So we'll go step by step. The first might seem a little bit obvious, but it isn't. So, number one, we've got to make sure that we're tracking our finances. You need to know where your money is going. So it doesn't just mean what you're spending on, but also what you're investing in, doing kind of that gut check. Every one of your dollars that is coming in and going out needs to be assigned a job. I often equate your finances to like kids, right? If you're a parent, you don't want your kid to be 45 living in the basement, sleeping on the couch. It's a lazy. No, we do not. Emphasis on that one. Yeah. And so often when, and I can speak to this, when I was not necessarily in a good space financially in my early 20s, and it used to wake me up in the middle of the night. I used to think, I can't wait to get to a point where I don't even have to look at my bank account. And I think that that's a misconception that is really important for women in general to clear up is we always need to be checking our bank account. We need to be looking at it, even if it's just a quick little peruse every day, your accounts to know where you're at, to feel like a relationship, emotional connection with your money is so important. So you want to make sure that we are tracking expenses, not necessarily every day, but maybe that weekly, certainly monthly, where those dollars went. And then the ones that you are keeping, what did you assign them to? We didn't let them just stay in the basement. We gave them a job that was satisfying multiple goals at the same time and not just focusing on one.

Seasons, Statements, And Shared Visibility

SPEAKER_02 8:59

That is great advice. I would say for those of you who aren't used to checking on things every single day, that you can use seasons to kind of manage things as well. So we're sitting in the first quarter of the year. It's a great time to have a retrospective about what happened in the past. It's a great time to look through your accounts, or maybe you know what's in your bank account, but everything runs through credit cards and gets paid off. Yeah. I mean, yay, if it's getting paid, fully paid off each month. But it still matters what's the recurring transactions are or the money slippage that you may not even notice because you signed up or your kid signed up for some subscription that you never even knew you were sending money to, unless you're looking at a deeper dive on the credit card statements. Um, and the same goes for maybe you're putting money into your 401k, but you haven't looked at the statement and you didn't get around to investing it, or you don't have beneficiaries designated. So so many of the little details need to be observed more frequent frequently than never. And the other thing, I don't know if you have any comments on this, is so so many times I hear people say, especially women, I life got so busy that I delegated the financial decisions to my spouse because I was, you know, maybe taking care of the kids and the there was not time for me to be doing everything. And then you wake up one day and have no idea what your financial circumstances are because the delegation it's okay to delegate if you also have inside and access. Um, you know, dividing and conquering in terms of a household works, but not if you have no information that does not work.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Well, and I always tell ladies, you know, we're still going, you know, against the grain in so many scenarios where it's the common driver of the canoe is the is the husband or the the guy in the situation. And if you don't want to be the driver of the canoe, that's okay. You just need to be in the boat. So make sure that you understand, and that'll get me, and we'll come to this in a few minutes. But um, I think that understanding and not adding it as a stressful thing. I don't want anyone listening to think, okay, now I've got another thing to my list of things to do. You know, it could be as simple as when you wake up in the morning, you're having a cup of coffee, just logging into your bank account or your credit card and just scrolling for a minute. Because, like you said, you can catch those things where it's like, hey, wait a minute, that's a recurring expense that was canceled. Or, you know, it's that's just the time to connect with it and pivot quickly if you need to.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

I love it. So let's keep moving. What do you find to be the second building block? Because I'm I'm fully invested in on this and actually have some to-dos myself, I will say, um, when it comes to number one. So, you know, we are practitioners when neither of us are probably perfect. Um, so I'll I'll um redouble my commitments to reviewing, for example, my credit card statements for this month.

SPEAKER_01 12:03

So, number two is paying yourself first. And ladies, if you're a business owner, I mean, this goes without saying, certainly. Um, but not because it's a requirement by the IRS if you're um an S-corp and you know, we won't spend too much time going there, but you want to pay yourself first, even if you aren't a business owner. And what I mean by that is you want to set aside money and give yourself permission to say, okay, this money is going to me. And I don't care if you're working towards some big goals or, you know, paying down debt, whatever it is, and think, well, I shouldn't be doing that. What I have found, and I'm sure Melissa, you can speak to this, is when, you know, people start to really dive into this, especially in the beginning of the year, there is such an excitement around it. I'm gonna be so committed. This is my year. But what happens is you put some really tight parameters on yourself. And when it becomes too restrictive, it becomes harder to stick to and easier to say, I wasn't perfect, so I'm not doing anything.

Habit 2: Pay Yourself First

SPEAKER_02 13:06

I think that I say it's like a crash diet where you're just like, oh, I'm I'm gonna stick to 1400 calories a day and you set yourself up for failure because you try to do everything at once versus kind of incrementalism and and lifestyle change, unless it's you know, just a dire situation where bankruptcy is near or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah, but but yeah, to your point, just because you overspend a little bit, I think that if it feels too restrictive, then you kind of go on a crash course and are you know online shopping. And yeah, same with eating a cake in the middle of the kitchen because you're like, well, I messed up, right? So paying yourself first kind of builds in that buffer. And depending on where you are in life, where you are financially, that number will always change. But I think it's really important to give yourself some permission. You know, people will say, Oh, I just got this big uh bonus or I had this windfall, and I'm gonna put all of it towards X. I will always tell someone to pause and think, and I'm gonna make up a number. So, ladies, don't think that this doesn't, if you can't relate to it, it's okay, it's imaginary. But let's say you had a$10,000 bonus. Don't put all$10,000 towards something. Maybe take$500 or even a thousand, depending, and saying, you know what? I worked really hard to get this. I'm gonna go celebrate a little bit. All of the rest of it is going towards this. And by paying yourself first, it puts some skin in the game for you and makes this a little bit more fun and collaborative instead of feeling like you're paying the piper with every single penny that comes in.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Yeah. And also that one thing that often causes decision fatigue when it comes to money is oh, I've got competing interest. And then sometimes, just like we're describing, um, in terms of, you know, a financial makeover, you just quit because you're like, I don't know. I I know I gotta pay for kids' college. I know I retirement is important, um, not sure when I'm gonna do the debt. And then the money just goes to cash and sits there and the decision gets delayed. Um, and it also adds to stress. And so it's okay to be incremental. It's okay to say there's three buckets that deserve attention. Um, and what are some examples? What does paying yourself look like? Is that debt pay down, investment savings? What is what is paying yourself?

SPEAKER_01 15:28

So actually, I would consider that something totally separate. Okay. So again, let's pretend that someone's bringing in$5,000 a month and I'm gonna talk about this one next. But uh, once your your fixed expenses are paid, you wanna give yourself a little bit of money that you're not monitoring so closely. Okay. So it's not like, hey, I'm gonna give myself an extra$50 this month when I go to Home Goods or the, you know, whatever your poison is. It's more of just saying, hey, I'm gonna set aside$200 that is really truly a buffer so that if whatever comes up, if I'm on uh a date night and we want to do something that's out of our what we had planned, now there's a little bit extra. There's me money. It's kind of like you money. So every month, once you just figure out what you have left over, before you deploy that to the saving investing or paying down debt, carve a little bit off for yourself to feel like you could catch it, set it on fire, go buy that pair of you know, shoes, something that makes you happy to make it, you know, a little bit fun along the way.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Okay, I'm in.

SPEAKER_01 16:39

I like that.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

What do we do next?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Okay. You are gonna be shocked what I'm gonna say, but I hate the word budget.

Habit 3: Ditch Budgets For A Spending Plan

SPEAKER_02 16:47

I'm open-minded. Uh budget is a um curse word in my book because I'm just not I'm more of a I'd like to make more, save more, invest more, but not live with restrictions. It has to do with the way I was raised, probably with less money in my single mom household. But I that is me.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

But I'm the same.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

So for me, and it's okay if you're not like us too, because I know a lot of people are like, um, I'm getting hives hearing a financial planner say that. I get it. There's all types of people, so it still requires responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Trust me. I was gonna say, listen, and ladies that are listening, the key to all of this is just finding what works for you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

So and I am very like flexible for other people. I get the budget people and I embrace them. And um, honestly, I'm like, I don't know how you do it, but it's really cool. But it's just not me.

Habit 4: Invest Early And Consistently

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Okay, me either. So when I hear the word budget immediately, and maybe this is my own, like you, trauma of it feeling just so suffocating, I immediately want to run for the hills. So, what I challenge everyone to do is yes, stick to a budget, have a budget, but let's call it a spending plan. And I'm the first person that said that, but it really works for me and a lot of the people I know and work with. But when you're thinking about creating your spending plan, going back to what we just mentioned, when you sit down and go over your finances, I always challenge people to say, what are your fixed expenses? And these are not things that are like, again, going back to that Starbucks example, I am a coffee drinker. I'm not gonna set a number in my budget for Starbucks because I'm going to build a spending plan. So I'm taking all of my fixed expenses, the mortgage or the rent, the car payment, things that if you don't pay and they are the same every month, you have a knock on the door or a call to say, you owe this or, right? So once you get that number, and let's go back to that$5,000 a month number coming in. If your fixed expenses are$2,500, you now have$2,500 of discretionary spending. That does not include food. Food is not fixed, it is discretionary because let's go back to that date night example. You and your love interest could be going to Chick-fil-A and for a drive by the beach, or you could be going to an expensive dinner. Food is discretionary. So if you've got that$2,500, I always say to people, carve out that piece that you want to set on fire. That is kind of paying yourself first. That's where the food comes in, that's where all of those extras come in. And let's say that that number for you is$1,500. That$1,500, there should be no guilt around. And again, going back to the oversimplification, if you're so concerned about, okay, well, I said I would only spend$100 on food, and then I've only spent$50 on coffee, and I'd only spend$100 on brunch with my friends, and you go over, it kind of gets messy and can be a kerfuffle that we don't need. So give yourself that pay yourself money. And in this example, it's a$1,500. That leaves you with$1,000. With that$1,000, now you sit down and you say, okay, what are my goals? Well, I'm saving money for X, Y, and Z. I am investing money on autopilot every month, and I'm paying down debt. Every one of those things needs attention. And depending on your situation, which is why you really do need to work with a uh financial advisor, wealth management, somebody in this space could be financial coach too. The uh coach kind of build up an accountability partner because people like you and I, it's really easy because we're not emotionally tied to the money. When it comes to my own and your own, it's different. But having that person to say, I can see the forest through the trees. Um, I know that your debt feels really big, but it's maybe it's student loan debt and it has a 4% interest rate. You don't want to not save or not invest to pay that down. And maybe their natural inclination is to do that because of their relationship with debt. So you want to live in an and universe and pay attention to all three of those things. And it just will have to be customized to where you're at. So building out that spending plan is going to give your fixed bills the attention they need. You're going to give yourself the flexibility of paying yourself first, having not the stress of over tracking that. And then you're also paying your debts down, you're saving for today or emergencies, and then you're investing in your future. I like it. Let's keep moving. What oh, what do we do next? Back to investing. You ladies have to invest. Have to. The most precious commodity that any of us have, regardless of walk of life or age, is our is time, right? So saving, investing, paying down debt, all important. But investing is something that if you wait, you never can get that time back. It's a true loss. So even if you're putting$25 away towards something, just do it. Even if you think, well, I don't want to open up an account, uh, a brokerage account on my own to put$10 away. Okay, if you know that's your choice, then look at what your employer plans are doing and increase that percentage by just a little bit. But make sure that you are investing today. It should be part of every single month. And the wealthier you become, the bigger that number comes becomes. But start today. Start where you're at, even if it's$5.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yes, I agree. I just met with someone who has never opened that investment account, always been self-employed or um lower employed, but has money piling up. And getting started feels so good. We're gonna help her get started. Um, but the it's such a gift if you start investing when you're younger. So those of you listening who are thinking, oh, I've got to let my kids listen to this as well, that would be great advice. Because when you start in your 20s, you don't have to have it all figured out. It's it's really something that you can build upon during over time. But by the time you get to midlife, as I am approaching or in like in your 50s, there are so many opportunities and uh choices for flexibility that are built in when you've started to invest early and over time.

Habit 5: Set Big, Personal Goals

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Well, and and here is the the fact of the matter is no one saves their self themselves to wealth. You can save yourself to feeling secure, but your money has to have a job. And there is a very well-known statistic in our world that the first hundred thousand dollars, and for some of you that may seem like such a big number, unattainable, yeah. Right, but you're never gonna get there if you wait. Right. So the first$100,000 is the absolute hardest to make. But once once that money is there, it snowballs and it takes money to make money. And there's no way to do that in a savings account that is at least appealing to most people. So start today.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

So true. It is so incrementally difficult to get over that hurdle of beginning. Um, but really time works in your favor after you've gotten started. And for those of you who haven't started yet, there's no time like the present. There are so many easy ways, including employer plans, including apps nowadays that help you to get started, including professionals like ourselves. And so I I couldn't uh emphasize enough how there's no time like the present to get started on investing. Right. That's right. So what is we're that was number four, right? Are we on number five?

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yep. Yep. Okay. So number five is setting true financial goals. And this doesn't mean just, hey, I'm I'm gonna pay off this debt or or save this. I tell everyone, wherever you're at, you should be setting some goals that are a little bit scary. If they're not a little bit scary, then they're not big enough. The worst thing that's gonna happen is you don't hit it. But I can almost guarantee you that you'll get closer if you set the goal than if you don't. I think about that in business.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

You know, if you just say, oh, here's what we did last year, let's do the same plus like 1%. We're guaranteed to come in under if we were striving for something that might feel a little uncomfortable. So, and same goes in personal.

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Yep. So one of those, one of the ways that I would encourage everyone to do it, business owner or not, is set that goal. And this is the perfect time, beginning of the year, and think, okay, if I'm sitting in this seat alone or with a spouse a year from now, what do we want to look back and say that we did? And maybe it's, hey, you know what, we really want to work towards that second house. Maybe it's, hey, you know what, we really want to have an investment account that's worth$20,000. Whatever it is, set the goal. And then I want anybody listening to break it down monthly, quarterly, and then like with lump sum surprises or windfalls. Because the monthly number, that should feel really comfortable. That should feel like something that you're gonna do no matter what. And then quarterly, based on how everything goes, you should be able to say, you know what, I'm gonna throw this amount in based on these quarterly bonuses that I'm getting or uh a good quarter in business. And then the lump sum amount is, you know, if if a windfall, something unexpected, a tax return or something like that. But really have a plan mapped out of what that will look like. And then what are you gonna do with it? Don't just say, I want to build this savings account by getting it to hear, what is that going to allow you to do? Because that's where it gets really fun, especially for women, to visualize because it's more of the emotional side of money. So set your financial goals for the year, for the quarter, and then back into those and track them every month along the way.

Habit 6: Money Dates And Accountability

SPEAKER_02 27:58

That's fantastic. I think goals are there's certain goals society imposes upon you, you know, say for retirement because Social Security isn't gonna pay for uh most people's anybody's lifestyle. Um, but the be creative and dream about what your goals are. Don't let other people's Instagram accounts impose goals on you. It's not not everybody needs a G-Wagon or, you know, whatever the case may be. Think about what is inherently aligned with your values, your family culture, your personal identity, and try to get away from, you know, just everybody else's um vision of of how your life should be and really be introspective about what matters to you. Um, you know, so so that you can really be working toward something that is is right for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Right, because it makes you actually want to hit that goal. And I'm so glad you brought that up because you know, we live in a culture where we can see what everyone is doing and what their highlight reel is, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:09

Especially it's cultivated, it's curated, it might not be as real life as as um, you know, as it seems.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

As a mom of two, I can tell you that those pictures that are we're all smiling took about 20 to get for, but those don't make the the highlight reel. So I tell everybody success is gonna look very different to each of us. And that's really important. And again, a great time this year to say, what are we chasing? What does success look like for me? And maybe it just means, you know what, I want to do enough as a business owner that I can take my kids to school every day and not have my first meeting until 10 o'clock. And if that is success, then girl, go after that. Don't feel like you have to go after these big things that might not matter. Because if you're chasing something that really isn't personal to you, you're not, you're not driven to really hit it, you know?

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Yeah, I can tell you some goals I have for this year. They they aren't a financial goal to begin with, but I want to spend more time. I see a lot of my professional friends because we go to conferences and things like that. And um, that's easy. But the people in my life that have been friends for a lifetime aren't all in the same zip code as me. And so it's gonna take some both financial commitment as well as calendar commitment because time is such a valuable resource nowadays to be able to see more of them and family. And so um, that's one of my goals for this year, which is it's gonna require some edits for how I spend time. Like maybe I'll go to fewer conferences or um, you know, be really be intentional about long weekends. And so um, you know, but that I wouldn't see that if I just kind of maintain the status quo um and really trying to divide uh give time and and money to making that happen. I love that.

Resources, Where To Find Michelle, And Disclosures

SPEAKER_01 31:09

I think you're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 31:10

Working on it. So um, and then so how do we wrap this up? I can already see these are really what this list is. It's an empowerment list. It's an active engagement with your money and an active connection between your money and your life. And so I can see how it works because that's that is the secret sauce to um living intentionally with your money.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

Yeah. And I think the last one is an easy one, and that is just to review all of these things frequently. So as we wrap up, one of the favorite things that I do in my own household and encourage anybody listening to implement is have money dates with your family. Now, if you're just a uh in a marriage and don't, or you have kids and you don't want to include them, I would just think through what that looks like. But it's really important to review all of this and set the money date monthly, glass of wine, whether it's a 20-minute, 30-minute date when the kids are in bed or a date night, and just think through, okay, what did we do really well? Where did the money go? What are we working towards? Hey, your birthday trip is coming up. How do we pivot from that? And when you include the kids in it, even it becomes fun to say, okay, guys, this quarter is the quarter before we go away for summer. So what do you guys, what do we all want to do to make sure we have the best time? And it involves them at a young age and it starts those conversations, but review all of this regularly. We call it a state of the union in our house, but set the money dates, do it monthly, have bigger ones quarterly. Then everybody knows what's going on. No one is caught off guard, and everyone has buy-in to what the big goal and exciting thing is that they're working towards.

SPEAKER_02 33:03

That's great. And I think for people who are single or maybe they're in a relationship, but money isn't shared. You can also have a financial accountability partner who, like a financial BFF who is also trying to get serious about their money. And maybe you agree to share so that you can each encourage each other. And um, it's okay to, you know, just like it's okay to take yourself out on a date, you can take yourself out on a money date as well. So just set aside that time though.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

I've never thought about having uh one of your friends be an accountability partner or an aunt or a sister, but what a fun way to make it something that, you know, the two of you are talking about or three of you, and that each quarter you hold each other accountable and maybe celebrate in some way. But I love that. Just have a money date with yourself, with someone you care about, or with somebody that has, you know, done the good work ahead of you.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Well, these six steps, I can see why they help to build someone who's never going to go broke. And I think that, you know, if you are in a season of your life where it's not a crisis, you're not triaging, then it's a great time to build these behaviors. They're not so intimidating that you can't get them done. And um, it's a fantastic way to protect yourself, de-risk your financial life, um, and be prepared for anything. What I found is those of us that go through financial um discipline in a way that, you know, doesn't feel like it's it's an imposition, but feels like it's, you know, kind of built into the habits of your life, is you are more prepared for anything unexpected, which we all go through at certain points in time. So these are this is just such a valuable exercise, Michelle. And I I really love how you've developed it. Oh, thank you so much. Can you give us a little insight on how people can find you and follow up? Um, just tell us a little bit more about how people can do some follows.

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Absolutely. So on Instagram, my handle is at women underscore in underscore wealth. And my website is www.womeninwealth.co. I also have a podcast called Talk Wealthy to Me. And yeah, send me a message, DM. I'm happy to be a resource and let's continue to change the way women think and feel about money together.

SPEAKER_02 35:41

Thank you so much for joining us, Michelle. Keep up the great work. Thanks, you too.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Thank you for listening to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. If you found value in this episode, the best way that you can support the podcast is to forward an episode to a friend or leave a review. Go to ProPlan.com and the podcast link to get all the resources and links mentioned. This presentation by Pro Planning is intended for general information purposes only. No portion of this presentation serves as the receipt of or substitute for personal investment advice from ProPlanning or any other investment professional of your choosing. Copies of Pro Planning's current rent and disclosure brochure and form CRS discussing our advisory services and fees are available upon request or on our website platform at ProPlan.com. The information that we share is meant to educate and inspire, not serve as personalized financial advice. Everyone's situation is unique, so be sure to consult with your own financial professional for guidance that fits your life. And just so you know, the opinions shared in this podcast are Melissa's own and those of our guests. They don't necessarily represent any organizations with which Melissa is affiliated. For more important disclosures, please go to our webpage at proplan.com.