Maura Griffin

HOW YOUR FINANCIAL PLAN CAN GO OFF COURSE

Like potholes on a highway, there are lots of ways your financial plan can go off course. Part of a financial advisor’s job is to teach you how to drive defensively so that your financial plan doesn’t end up in a ditch.

 

Most People Don’t Complete Their Estate Plans

Gay or straight, when it comes to wills and estate planning, people have a hard time finishing what they start, says Jennifer Hatch of New York-based Christopher Street Financial, which specializes in LGBT clients.

More On Completing Financial Plans: Women Say Financial Planning Too “Stressful”

Student Debt Can Ruin All Your Dreams

Eve Kaplan of Kaplan Financial Advisors in Berkeley Heights, NJ has clients in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s who can’t afford to buy that nice house they want or, for that matter, do much of anything that costs money, because of the unending burden of student debt. Can their dreams be saved?

More On Student Debt:

Forbes: $1 Trillion Student Debt Problem Worsening

CNBC Special Report: The College Debt Crisis

You Need to Think of Yourself as a “Pre-Widow”

Think of it as pre-widowhood, that time when your husband is starting to falter and it’s becoming increasingly clear you’re going to be left in charge of your own finances. As a pre-widow, you need to prepare for what’s to come, no matter how unpleasant the thought, says Debbie Taylor of Taylor Financial Group in Franklin Lakes, NJ.

More On Pre-Widowhood: 

Pre-Widowhood “Preparation Guide”

Survivor’s “Checklist”

For Working Moms, Flexibility is the “Key to the Whole Puzzle”

Beware, single moms: the traditional corporate workplace can not or will not accommodate a woman’s need to work and raise kids at the same time, says Dorie Fain of AndWealth in New York. Above all else, says Fain, a single mom herself, you have to build flexibility into your life . . . and accept that you can’t “have it all.”

More On Moms’ Need For Flexibility: 

Six Steps to a Schedule with Flexible Hours

Would Work Flexibility Make You a Better Mom?

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HOW A WOMAN INVESTOR DIFFERS FROM A MAN

That old line about how women are from Venus and men are from Mars seems especially true when it comes to a woman’s approach to investing. For women, money is part of life’s complex mosaic. They want advisors who are good listeners, even confidants.

Many Women Fear Becoming “Bag Lady.”
Many Want Oprah to Advise Them

Even women worth many millions of dollars fear ending up on a street corner with a tin cup, says Dorie Fain of AndWealth in New York. While baring one’s soul isn’t what you expect to happen when a financial advisor meets with a male client, many women want to do just that with an advisor who reminds them of Oprah Winfrey, says Jennifer Hatch of Christopher Street Financial in New York.

More On Women’s Risk Aversion: Women vs. Men: Risk Aversion

More On Women Wanting Oprah Type: What Women Want in a Financial Advisor

Wives Need to Be More Assertive

When a traditional married couple sees their financial advisor together, the wife often ends up feeling that her financial questions are “dumb,” says Debbie Taylor of Taylor Financial Group in Franklin Lakes, NJ. Debbie goes through the specific steps she takes to financially empower wives.

More On Women Asserting Themselves:  Women & Money: “You Need to Take Control Now”

What Women Should Expect from a Financial Advisor

When Debbie Taylor invites clients to lunch, the invitation may read “For Women Only.” The guests are likely to include wives who need to be able to ask questions they might not in front of their husbands. It’s all part of Debbie’s financial empowering process for women, a process she emphatically says every woman needs.

More On Women Asserting Themselves:  Women & Money: “You Need to Take Control Now”

Naturally More Risk Averse, Women are Better Investors than Men

Being a risk averse investor isn’t necessarily a bad thing, says Eve Kaplan of Kaplan Financial Advisors in Berkeley Heights, NJ. Indeed, because they are more patient and take a longer view, women actually are better investors than men, according to Maura Griffin of Blue Spark Capital Advisors in New York.

More On Women’s Risk Aversion: Women vs. Men: Risk Aversion

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