Why Women Must Take Control of Their Finances (Even If You Feel Confused)

A lot of women feel unsure, overwhelmed, or even left out when it comes to money conversations… but that has to change.

In this episode, we’re having a real, honest conversation about why women NEED to take an active role in their finances whether you're starting from scratch, relying on a partner, or suddenly responsible for managing money on your own.

We talk about what happens when you inherit money but don’t know what to do, why speaking up in financial meetings matters, and how to confidently take control of your financial future even if you feel like you “don’t understand anything.”

This isn’t just about investing… it’s about having a voice, building confidence, and making sure your future is protected.

⏱ What You’ll Learn in This Video
 ✅ Why women must be involved in financial decisions
 ✅ What to do if you don’t understand your investments
 ✅ How to start investing even if you feel overwhelmed
 ✅ The importance of speaking up in financial planning meetings
 ✅ What happens when you inherit money without a plan
 ✅ Why risk tolerance is different for everyone (and that’s okay)
 ✅ Common financial mistakes people make (and how to avoid them)
 ✅ Why asking for help is one of the smartest money moves

💡 Key Takeaway
 You don’t have to know everything to start… but you DO have to start.
 Your voice matters. Your money matters. Your future depends on it.

🎙 Featured Guests

Dr. Constance Craig-Mason, MRFC®, NSSA® CEO, Concierge Financial Advisory | Founder, Money Talks Movement 

🌐 https://www.conciergefg.com/
/ ccraigmason  

Laura Pesek, CFP®, CLU, ChFC Certified Financial Planner & Fiduciary 

🌐 https://rosefinancialassociates.com/
/ laura-pesek-cfp%c2%ae-clu-chfc-a8b76517  

🖤 Join the Luxie Community 
▶ Subscribe:    / @erica_rawls   
📲 Instagram:   / erica.rawls  

🎙 Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/69pekqC... https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

📖 Own Your Luxe Without The Guilt — coming soon

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Transcript

Start Investing And Ask Around

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What can you say to our luxies out there? Like, hey, do something. Start investing.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

One thing that uses women are very good at is telling others about great experiences that we've had.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Oh, that's uh yeah, we do. We do like to boast about it. Yeah, we need to go to such and such. Yeah.

Women Stepping Into Money Decisions

SPEAKER_03 0:24

So so as I think about this network of of uh of people that you have, your followers, um, I just think we're all so good at that. Um, I know that when I have a great experience, I want to share it with others. So just start asking people, who do you know? Who have you talked to to help with this need? Ask for help. Um, people that have a great experience will love to share that. Don't go to the internet because the people that um have a bad experience, they want to share their loud bad experiences, right? Um, it's usually the folks are gonna tell you word of mouth. Oh, I had a great experience with Constance. She she helped me so much. Um, our clients, we invite them to our events. So they're uh in that environment and they love us, but they also really love and care about the people that they want to help, their friends and family. So, so ask around who have you used for this? Um, that's a great place to start because as females, we are connectors and don't feel like you're alone. Um, I know that in a lot of um family um situations, um, it used to be where maybe the man was the person who handled the money. You know, we see that a little more changing now to where, you know, the woman is the person who handles the finances, or maybe she gets put in a position where she has to now because her husband um has passed away. So don't be afraid. It is okay. There are people that can help you. Um, we have um we handle a lot of um situations where um people have passed away in our business. We have the um a large client base, and those people uh are now coming to us as the beneficiaries saying, I don't know what to do. And that could be the spouse, that could be the kids, and we sit down with them and help them talk about well now what you should do. Yeah, the steps. Um, just just take it one day at a time, but ask for help. It is okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Um, I was getting ready to we're on the same page. I was getting ready to touch on that because a lot of times, especially if the man handles the money, and then the wife trusts that he trusts, she trusts his opinion, things are going well, so why would I disturb what he's doing? But in those financial planner, uh financial advisor meetings, if you're a woman who doesn't know a lot about money, please speak up. Yes, in those meetings, that planner or advisor is not just the planner advisor of the man. Right. It's your household planner, right? And don't be afraid to say, I don't understand. Say, well, wait, what did you what did you mean? Break that down, break that down for me. Speak up because to your point, uh historically, women are outliving men. And so if you inherit all these investment accounts that the man has established with his planner over the years, and you know nothing about what he did, how it works, yes, you inherit a million or two million or more, but you're sitting there not knowing anything about how to get the money out, if you're gonna be taxed on it, if it goes to the kids or to you, like you don't know anything about it because you were just living in this comfortable bubble of he's got it. He's got it. Right. And so when you inherit this money, there are statistics that show, especially the widowed, the female widows that inherit money, they oftentimes will leave that planner because they never felt important all those years. Oh, so then you never talk to me. At the meeting, better job, too. Exactly. So we're thinking about do I have a voice in this whole thing? You do, yeah, right? Even if those are monies coming from his businesses and the stay-at-home mom or whatever, you still have a voice in what happens to me and the kid if something happens to him. Yeah. And so you want to know how this works if that occurs, being able to say, okay, well, do I get to set up an account as well? Or am I gonna be the sole beneficiary of this money? Um, being able to pick your own things that you would want.

Speak Up In Advisor Meetings

SPEAKER_03 4:50

The other thing you said in those meetings, I often hear, well, um my husband's more aggressive than I am, and that's okay. That is okay. But and many times it is like that's that's he wants to be aggressive with his account, but here we have this meeting because the woman is feeling uncomfortable and feeling uncomfortable about the market. Yeah. And they'll say, Well, we're gonna think about it. But yet she said, I want to be more conservative with my investment. It is okay to speak up, you don't have to choose the same, especially if it was your account that you worked for, it was your money that's in your plan. It is okay to have different risk hell rates, right, or different feelings or different thoughts for what you want to have. And in other times, too, uh, we have uh maybe uh someone that wants to be the spender, and then the other, yeah, uh, the significant other wants to pass it on to the kids, right? You you need to communicate that in that plan because you never know when something's gonna happen. So you want to have those wishes be um spoken out loud, have that voice. It is it's it's perfectly okay to want certain things that are different than my significant other. And as a planner, we need to be listening to those wishes and and kind of maybe even being the the mediator between that conversation. Help, I hear, I hear what you're saying. You know, let's talk about this, and maybe be that voice for the woman who maybe doesn't feel like she can speak up or is is afraid of speaking up that maybe this was a a uh a uh a painful conversation that they they are having afraid because they don't make the most money.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

They thought they don't have a shit at the table because they don't make the most money. No, I'm here to say your money counts too, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:51

Yes. I've even had it where the woman is the mouthpiece in the meeting, right? So the man he makes the money, it goes in the pot, and then he's like, Well, my wife, she handles it all, right? So he don't know nothing about nothing, he just know that he goes out and makes it, yeah, yeah, it goes in that account, and that's all he's responsible for. And then the woman is like, Well, I invest in this for us, and I've seen it chargeable ways, right? But I still in those meetings, I hear what she's saying, and I'm taking good notes and everything, and I look him dead in the face and say, Hey Bill, what do you think about that? Yes, and he'll be so uncomfortable because he's like, USD me for. And I'm like, Because it's important for you to know what's going on and have a voice too. And then then he perks up. It's like, well, I can't, I matter. I kind of feel like you know what I mean. So it's it's not, we're not stereotyping, right? We see a myriad of things, but as far as our profession goes, when we're listening to these different money stories, when we are listening to these different risk tolerances, it all makes sense because we're the ones that have to come up and make it all work out for their good, right? If you if you have couples, right? I'm listening to what he's saying, I'm listening to what she's saying. And thankfully, we do have like systems and protocols that can make it a lot easier for us to specify here's what he has and what he needs and what he's saying, here's what she has, or whatever the combination is. But to that point, everybody has a voice at that table.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Yeah, and we all bring experiences from our own money background.

SPEAKER_02 8:29

Yeah.

College Funds And Market Risk

SPEAKER_03 8:30

Um, and that's where you have to find the the planner or the person right for you. If it's if it's in a relationship with another person that you want to be with, or if it's on the financial side too. I mean, we all have different viewpoints, we have different things that we have been through, we have experiences um when it even comes to our recommendation. Yes, you know, maybe it was, you know, our client base has experienced a lot of this. So then we want to share those experiences, or maybe we've had some people that have made this mistake and we want to let you know this is what we recommend so that you don't make the same mistakes that others have had. Right. I want to share a funny story with you, kind of off topic, but made me think of um, you know, mistakes that we've made and especially in our business. Um, I uh my my kids grew up in COVID, so I had my kids' college funds um invested in the stock market. And uh so uh two of them back to back. And um part of this emotional side of money is the greed or the fear. So when the market was doing really good, I didn't really see a need to make a change. And then as COVID comes into play, we know what happened, and that's for like this, you know, since 2008, we've not really had a time in the market where we've seen something so dramatic happen. And so I've got my kids that are applying for schools, and here I am making the cardinal sin of having all of my money invested so aggressively with those kids coming up to that finish line at 100% of my kids' money invested in the stock market. So when the market came down, I lost a lot of their money for with uh for their college funds. So I became more aware of it. And as the market recovered, I kept watching it closer and closer and said, okay, I've made that money back now. I've been given a second chance. Now I'm not gonna make that same mistake again. And where uh that story relates to the viewers would be as we get closer and closer to that finish line, whatever that may be for you, whatever age that is, we might need to be making sure that we're paying close attention to toning down that level of risk. Because in that example, I just didn't have the time for that money to come back. Fortunately, I was given that second chance for that money to come back up. But I think that's a mistake that a lot of people make is that they don't take the time, right? We spend more time planning a vacation than we do sitting down and and reviewing our plans. So um if you I mean anything, it's not this stuff.

Watch More And Subscribe

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah, we spend more time planning a vacation than we do what? Planning our future.

Erica Rawls 11:25

Planning our future. Yeah, that's really good. So, what did you think? I hope you enjoyed that full clip. We have the full episode right here. And did you know, I am an associate broker at Kelly Williams, and I have a real estate team. We sell help people buy and sell real estate all throughout Central PA, and we would love to help you. That's how we're able to fund this channel. So do me a favor, go click on here so you can watch the full episode. And then by the way, subscribe. We would love to have you.