Stephanie McCullough is founder of Sofia Financial and co-host of the award-winning Take Back Retirement podcast. One of Investopedia's Top 10 Financial Advisors of 2023, Stephanie provides non-judgmental, truly holistic financial planning for professional women. She has found that women “of a certain age” are faced with a particular set of problems around the goal of retirement, especially those facing it on their own. Her mission is to empower women to make wise financial decisions so they can control their future, and thus she speaks to women’s groups regularly. Stephanie is married with two kids in their 20’s, and has degrees from Duke University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Follow Stephanie @sofiafinancial and www.sofiafinancial.com.
Monthly Insights from Sofia Financial - December 2022
I'VE BEEN PONDERING
I have a few younger friends who are just getting to their 50's, and they're not necessarily thrilled about it. I try to tell them it's actually a great phase of life! But I think novelist Deanna Raybourn says it much better in this article. I've been a fan of Raybourn's books for several years - give me a good mystery with a strong female lead any day! And now I know why - we share some important views on life. (This might be too much information, but I'm totally with her on the underwires and the heels - they're out!)
More seriously, I'm also feeling the gift of self-knowledge, but also the courage to begin to act on it. It feels easier to give myself permission to let things go. To find the courage to try something new, even with absolutely no assurance it will work out. As Raybourn says, "that isn’t because I’m confident in my abilities as much as I am in my resilience." That's a resource we've all gained.
TIMELY TOPICS
Did you ever get the same message from two totally different parts of your life? It happened to me just the other week, and it has prompted me to buy some gel pens! First, my daughter and I love to listen to the podcast Ologies by Allie Ward. It's a fun deep dive into a different scientific specialty each episode. Host Allie interviews an "ologist," and we learn some interesting stuff.
Driving home from Thanksgiving in Maryland we listened to the episode on graphology or handwriting and forgery. The guest was a forensic document examiner and expert trial witness. When asked about her favorite pen she said the Uni-ball gel pens linked above because the type of ink they use cannot be easily removed from a document.
Then, in my latest day of Grand Jury service (we focus on fraud and economic crimes), we heard testimony about an individual who used a bleach solution to remove things written on important documents with ballpoint pen, and replace them with other names, numbers or signatures!
Holy cow, I thought, I gotta go get some gel pens! True, much of what we do anymore is digital, from payments to signing official documents. But when you do need to sign something important - a will, for example (listen to the podcast episode!) - there's much less likelihood of dastardly doings down the road if you use a gel pen.
RECENT NEWS + SIGHTINGS
- On December 7 I hosted a discussion on Women and Money Management for the Women's Resource Center in my hometown. They are an amazing organization, and I'm happy to offer this event to help promote their new free financial coaching program.
- One of the things I'm very passionate about is having more women financial planners. On November 30 I co-hosted an event to help women advisors understand the full landscape of the industry and the various ways to do this work. We need more diversity in the profession!
- Did you know we have a YouTube channel? We're working on getting more of my talks and shorter useful snippets out into the world. Please check it out and we'd appreciate if you'd subscribe!
FREE BOOK OFFER!
I've written (one chapter of) a book! Along with some fellow financial planners, we've contributed stories of real, comprehensive financial planning - something many people have never experienced.
If you'd like to support our project, here's my offer. Pre-order a copy of the book, send us the confirmation and your mailing address, and we will mail a free copy to share with a family member or friend!
Stephanie McCullough, Financial Planner, Speaker and Podcaster
Monthly Insights for Women
Stephanie McCullough is founder of Sofia Financial and co-host of the award-winning Take Back Retirement podcast. One of Investopedia's Top 10 Financial Advisors of 2023, Stephanie provides non-judgmental, truly holistic financial planning for professional women. She has found that women “of a certain age” are faced with a particular set of problems around the goal of retirement, especially those facing it on their own. Her mission is to empower women to make wise financial decisions so they can control their future, and thus she speaks to women’s groups regularly. Stephanie is married with two kids in their 20’s, and has degrees from Duke University and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Follow Stephanie @sofiafinancial and www.sofiafinancial.com.
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