Episode Description - The Money Mistakes Most Women Make Without Realizing It
What if the biggest threat to your financial future isn't market crashes or economic downturns, but simply not being part of the conversation? In her 25 years of working within the financial services industry, Dr. Barbara Provost discovered that women’s financial needs (including the need for a financial education) were being largely ignored. As a result, women were making money mistakes they didn't need to make. She and her daughter Maggie Nielsen are now on a mission to change that.
Together, they operate Purse Strings, an organization designed to provide women with clear, practical financial education and connect them with vetted professionals who understand their unique challenges. Whether it’s preparing for retirement, navigating divorce, or recovering from unexpected loss, Dr. Provost and Maggie focus on helping women make confident, informed financial decisions during major life transitions and beyond.
In this podcast episode, we dive deeply into the most common and costly financial mistakes women make - like staying out of financial conversations, undervaluing their contributions, or trusting advisors who don’t engage with them. We also talk about simple, practical steps you can take to start regaining control of your financial future, and to build the right support team who will help you do that.
If you’re feeling uncertain about your finances (especially if you’re facing a divorce!) this podcast episode is a great first step toward building the secure financial future you dream about.
Show Notes
About Dr. Barbara & Maggie
Dr. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen are a dynamic mother-daughter duo committed to empowering women with the tools they need to make confident financial decisions. As a consultant, educator, and entrepreneur, Barbara connects women with trusted financial professionals to help them plan for a future full of choices. Maggie, with her curious mindset and passion for personal growth, inspires others through motivational talks and equips women with the financial knowledge they need to thrive. Together, they are dedicated to helping women build lives free from financial stress thanks to the support of their community of trusted professionals.
Connect with Dr. Barbara & Maggie
You can connect with Dr. Barbara & Maggie on LinkedIn at Purse Strings and on Facebook at Purse Strings. And follow them on YouTube at Purse Strings and on Instagram at Purse Strings. To find out more about their work visit their website at Purse Strings and listen to their podcast Women and Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About. Grab your free Divorce Prep Guide.
Key Takeaways From This Episode with Dr. Barbara and Maggie
- Purse Strings, created by Dr. Barbara Provost and her daughter Maggie Nielsen, serves as a resource hub and directory that connects women with vetted financial professionals who understand the female market.
- The idea grew out of Barb’s career in financial education, her own divorce, and witnessing bright, capable women still struggling with basic financial questions.
- Research confirmed her observations, showing that the financial industry largely overlooks women and that many women are unprepared for their financial futures.
- Women often make the mistake of stepping out of financial conversations, deferring all money matters to their partners, undervaluing themselves, and neglecting essentials like life insurance.
- Broader systemic issues such as the gender pay gap, heavier student debt loads, career interruptions for childcare, and higher living costs further undermine women’s long-term financial security.
- Taking the first steps can be as simple as tracking income and expenses, scheduling regular money conversations with a partner, and participating in every financial planning meeting.
- A financial advisor who fails to acknowledge or engage a woman in discussions signals a red flag, and women are encouraged to find professionals who respect their role in decision-making.
- When a partner restricts access to accounts or hides information, the behavior amounts to financial abuse, and women should exercise their legal right to obtain information and seek outside help if needed.
- Different professionals meet different needs: money coaches provide hands-on support with budgeting and financial habits, while advisors focus on investments and long-term planning.
- The overall message is that action matters most—women should begin wherever they are, lean on supportive communities like Purse Strings, and build the knowledge and confidence to shape their financial future.
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Transcript
The Money Mistakes Most Women Make Without Realizing It
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
empowerment, security, independence
SPEAKERS
Karen Covy, Dr. Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen
Karen Covy Host
00:10
Hello and welcome to Off the Fence, a podcast where we deconstruct difficult decision-making so we can discover what keeps us stuck and, more importantly, how we can get unstuck and start making even tough decisions with confidence. I'm your host, Karen Covy, a former divorce lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, turned coach, author and entrepreneur. And now, without further ado, let's get on with the show.
With me today I have two guests. They are Dr Barbara Provost and Maggie Nielsen. They are a dynamic mother-daughter duo committed to empowering women with the tools they need to make confident financial decisions. As a consultant, educator and entrepreneur, Barbara connects women with trusted financial professionals to help them plan for a future full of choices. Maggie, with her curious mindset and passion for personal growth, inspires others through motivational talks and equips women with the financial knowledge they need to thrive. Together, they are dedicated to helping women build lives free from financial stress, thanks to the support of their community of trusted professionals. Dr Barbara and Maggie welcome to the show.
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
01:30
Thank you so much, Karen. Nice to meet you.
Maggie Nielsen Guest
01:33
Yeah, thank you, Karen. Great to be on.
Karen Covy Host
01:34
I'm excited to have you and I want to talk. I want to start by talking about the organization that you've created, which is something known as Purse Strings, and I know, Dr Barbara, you created that just a few years ago. I don't want to date anybody here, including myself, but can you just tell the audience what is Purse Strings and what motivated you to create it?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
02:02
Sure, Purse Strings is a go-to resource for women at any point in time along their financial journey. When they have questions concerns, something comes up in their life, whether divorce, widowhood. They have a financial windfall, they're ready to plan for retirement, want to pay down debt, any kind of financial transaction transition, something's happening in their life that impacts them financially. They can come and learn what they need to know to make good financial decision by grabbing any of our resources that are free for the taking and then also free access to our directory of vetted financial professionals who focus on serving a female market. And we kind of say it's almost like an Angie's List of financial professionals that focus on women.
02:51
And the directory is curated of men and women financial professionals and we do handpick them in a way. We have a conversation with each one of them. We want to make sure that they do understand the female market. They lead with education. They're going to be in the financial industry for a while. They're not part-time, they're not almost ready for retirement, but they're going to be part of her financial team for the long run. So that's the model of Purse Strings.
Karen Covy Host
03:22
I love that, but I'm curious what motivated you to create?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
03:28
this. So I was a consultant in the financial industry for about 25 years. My background is that I'm an adult educator, hence the doctorate of adult and higher learning, so I do not sell financial products or services, I actually educate financial professionals, leaders across the financial industry. That's what I've been doing for 20, 25 years and so I've worked across a lot of financial institutions. Everywhere I went I did see that women were an overlooked market. I could see it by the very transactional processes that they were using to sell product. I could see it by the marketing materials that really did not show women of today and I could see that they were really painting women with a broad brush. And I oftentimes would bring it to leadership and say I think we're missing a market here. And there was really no traction, no listening.
04:26
And then, Karen, what happened was I went through my own divorce and I met other women who would know that I was in the financial industry. So they would say things to me like Barb, how do I know if I can afford this divorce, how do I know if I should keep the house? How do I know if I should get life insurance? So they were asking pretty fundamental questions around their finances. That I thought was interesting because of course these were bright, smart, educated, talented women and yet they were asking fundamental financial questions. And I thought, hmm, this is interesting.
04:58
I'm in an industry where I see they're overlooking women. I'm meeting women, my peers, who are asking fundamental financial questions and then at the same time, during my daily routines, I'd grab Maggie, we'd go shopping, I'd see women of retirement age bagging groceries, stocking shelves, things like that, and I'd say to Maggie, why do you think these women are doing this work? Do you think they want the social outlet or do you think they really need the money? And at the time, her being a senior in high school or whatever, she'd be like I don't know, mom, just come on right. So, but those three kind of triangulated, for me there's a gap here somewhere.
05:40
So I commissioned a researcher to say answer these two questions for me how is the financial services serving the female market and are women prepared for their financial future? And it came back the financial and insurance industry, when the award has been the least sympathetic to women and women are not prepared for their financial future. And so I could see it in the industry, I could see it in my own peer group and I could see it in my everyday life. So with that I'll let Maggie take it from here, because I grabbed her. I asked her grab your, uh, grab your um computer and let's go talk to women.
Karen Covy Host
06:18
Yeah, yeah, Maggie, I was. I'm curious, like what I mean? Obviously you had your mother as a role model, but what drew you into joining this business and kind of growing Purse Strings?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
06:33
Yeah. So I mean living with Barb. She was always talking about this. You just kind of get sucked in.
06:38
And so I was kind of the note taker for a lot of these focus groups and to see like one woman just get up and storm out saying it was rude to talk about money before we got started, I was like that's interesting, noted.
06:50
And then, you know, all these other women would bring up these stories about how their financial professionals didn't even look at them.
06:57
And you know, I was still young, I wasn't saving much for retirement at the time, but I was very baffled that these women were giving their life savings over to someone who doesn't even look at them. And retirement, you kind of get one go at it, you know. And so I would want to make sure it's like the best go I can get, not with someone who doesn't look at me. And so from there and doing this research with Barb and finishing up my MBA and talking with some women of my age who, again, didn't know anything about their finances, I knew this is something I wanted to jump in and really solve, because the gap everywhere I looked just was getting worse and worse. And so I knew this was something I really wanted to jump in and work with Barb on to really help women as we take care of everybody else, and so I just really want to make sure that we can kind of secure our own financial future regardless of anyone else.
Karen Covy Host
07:51
That makes a lot of sense, and I don't know which one of you wants to take the next question, but obviously you saw a gap, you saw a need. You jumped in with Purse Strings to fill that need. But I'm curious what were the financial mistakes maybe the biggest financial mistakes that you saw women making, other than Maggie, to your point, giving their money to somebody who wouldn't look at them, which to me that seems like a pretty big red flag. But beyond that, what are some of the financial mistakes that women make that you see routinely?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
08:27
A lot of them are just not being in the conversation at all, either giving all of the responsibility to their husband or to their partner and just not worrying about it, which, you know, we always understand that people divide and conquer all the household duties, but this is just not something that can divide and conquer. Everyone has to be part of the conversation. I think another thing is just not talking about it, which not saying something is saying something, as always, and then I think a lot of times women kind of undervalue themselves, whether that be not asking for negotiation, not getting more money, not getting the life insurance that they're. You know, even a stay-at-home mom needs all that life insurance. Their job is priceless there, and so a lot of those different things I keep seeing are red flags. Dr Barb, would you add any there?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
09:15
Yeah, and I would say it's really systemic and a larger problem because you know, when you think about it, there's a pay gap still today 82 cents on the dollar for women. The other thing is is women really have to out-educate themselves to be on par with men, to make a higher salary wage? So we are out-educating ourselves Fantastic. But we are also taking on a larger share of student loans. So we take on student loans, we educate ourselves. Then let's say we get married. We get married, we want to have a child. We have a child, maybe two. Someone needs to care for those children. So we step out of the workforce. We still have student loans, maybe $50,000, $70,000, maybe more. We're not earning income, we're not getting social security, we're not getting any benefits. We're not getting any retirement benefits. We're really solely dependent on our partner, especially if we're not getting, like spousal IRA contributions or anything like that.
10:15
Time is going by. We're not. If we're not stepping into getting some ongoing education or anything like that, we're getting. We're not getting upskilled or retooled. Something can happen. The average age of a widow is 59.
10:31
Divorce you know about divorce, you know about gray divorce. So what happens is women are then saddled with not only childcare stepping out of the workforce. They're losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in salary, in increased salary, in contributions towards retirement, social security and everything for their retirement. So they're slowly going behind, right, and they still have, you know, student loan debt. And also, let's think about the cost of living as a woman. It's a lot more expensive. We're thinking pink tax, we're thinking, you know, in a course I teach, I say to the gentleman what do you pay for a haircut? They're like $65. Karen, what do you pay for a haircut? I'm sure it's a lot more than that, right? Yeah, so just the cost of, you know, beauty care and nails and all of that. And one would say, well, you don't have to do that. But what does society tell us? You have to do that to some degree, right? So the cost of being a woman. So there's a lot of things, systemically, that women are up against as well.
Karen Covy Host
11:42
Yeah, and, Maggie, I like what you said too about insurance for stay-at-home moms. I mean, yes, once divorce comes into the picture, if there's a stay-at-home mom, then she's going to hopefully get life insurance on her spouse or the spouse is going to get life insurance on himself to take care of, you know, child support if something would happen to him. However, even if you're not divorced, you need that. I know a story this was a personal story of a friend of mine who died.
12:12
He was in his 50s, I think at the time and his wife, like he was the primary breadwinner. His wife thought and he was a financial guy, so his wife just assumed everything was taken care of. He died of a heart attack suddenly and he left her with nothing. There was no life insurance, the retirement account was not what she assumed, that it was going to be. Never looked and was in a world of hurt, and she was. So she was dealing with the emotions of, you know, grieving her spouse but at the same time being incredibly angry with him, like how could you leave me like this, and I know she's not the only one.
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
12:54
Oh no, we hear these sad stories every day and that's the reason we created Purse Strings. We need women to come to the table and start being a part of these conversations and being, because, as you know, women will outlive men. So if women are not part of the conversation, the only way they found out is when they're somebody dies and they're left holding a bag, and then they look in and see what's the bag? What's in the bag right? What do I have for the rest of my life.
Karen Covy Host
13:22
So let's say, a woman is in the situation where you know to your point Maggie divide and conquer, like he takes care of the money, she takes care of the house and the kids and the whatever else, right. But she's listened to this podcast, she understands there's a gap there that she needs to fill in her own education. What does she do? Where can somebody who really like they, have this nagging feeling like they should know more about their finances but they don't? Where do they start?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
13:56
Yeah, I would. Just, you know, don't eat the whole elephant at once, one bite at a time. And so it's just starting with the daily money. Do you know where it's going, what's coming in and what's going out every month? And so what is that? If you're the stay-at-home mom, what is your partner earning every month? Is it different due to sales and commission, or is it the same amount? Where is it going? Just knowing where the accounts are, whose names are in them, whose beneficiaries are there?
14:22
But I would start with some things as like setting up a weekly, biweekly or monthly, like money meeting with your partner, just so everyone's on the same page and you can talk about some things. I would also say be at every meeting with the financial planner. You guys should always be there together, and I'm almost worried about financial planners who don't force both people to be there. So you should be there and in those conversations and then just start. You know, from there you'll start seeing, okay, this is what we're doing. Really well, this might be a gap. Maybe. You know, I realized now that I do need that life insurance. Let's go talk about that or start building some of these plans.
15:00
And then the last thing is really you know so many women we talk to just get told to save money, save money, save money. And that's like the stockpile. But no one ever asks like what do you want your retirement to look like? What is the dream here? What do you want? And so take some time as well and dream and think about that. Is that traveling? Is that buying a new house by the lake? Is that just building a little farmstead? It can be really big or really small, but you won't know how much you need for retirement unless you have an idea of what you want that to look like. And so allow yourself just to dream a bit and have that goal, because it's not just about stockpiling away, but it's really about funding your dreams. So what does that look like to you?
Karen Covy Host
15:45
Okay, Barb, I want to jump in and ask you a question because I'm figuring you've had personal experience with this, but it's a tough question, right? So I'm giving you fair warning to begin with. Let's say you are that woman that has listened to, Maggie, has taken, you know, starting to take more control of their financial future, and they go to the meeting with the financial advisor and the financial advisor completely ignores them and talks only to their husband. How do you deal with that situation? You know, gracefully, not to be rude but to be paid attention to.
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
16:22
I would have a conversation with my husband that we're leaving that financial advisor, because 70% of women will leave their financial advisor within the first year of losing their husband or getting a divorce, and that's exactly why. It's because they were never engaged in the conversation, and any financial advisor that does not engage her in the conversation at every point in turn is not worth their. You should not be paying anyone for those types of services.
Karen Covy Host
16:51
Wow, so would she. In a way, I like that because she's not forced into a confrontation with the financial advisor, so it doesn't become this head-to-head power struggle. But what do you do? Another tough question what do you do if you're in the situation where your husband doesn't want you there or your husband doesn't want to share the financial information with you? You don't have access to the data, Because a lot of the women that I come across in my practice there's a substantial percentage of them that their husband wants them to be uninformed, right? How do you deal with that situation?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
17:33
Well, that is called financial abuse and that is a whole nother conversation of what's going on in the relationship, and that can be really scary Because if that's going on, what else is going on in the relationship? And it's important that you know what's going on with the money because too often, like what happened with the scenario you described, you could end up with nothing. Who knows where the money's going? Somebody that I was just in conversation with. She realized, after she tiptoed around and got some access to some credit card bills, that unfortunately, she found out her husband had a porn addiction and a lot of money was going to it.
18:19
So if you are unsure of where the money's going, where the accounts are, what the cash flow is, there could be a lot of things going on that could be hurting your own retirement funds, and so you need to get some therapy, some counseling, some ways to be able to have those conversations and come clean. You can also go to the banks and ask, you know, find out what accounts your names are on and get statements online or at the bank. And also, you know, go to a financial professional who's you know if you're on some of those accounts as well. If your names are on your access, you have access to those accounts as well.
Karen Covy Host
18:58
Yeah, you bring up a really good point that I think a lot of women don't realize is that if your name is on the account, you're entitled to the information and you can go directly to the source and get copies of that. Now that doesn't mean that if your financial advisor is best friends with your husband, they're not going to tell your husband that they just gave it all to you. But most, like the bank, they don't care, they're not going to. Most of the time they're not going to say anything. So there are other ways to get the information. But speaking of information, Maggie, what kind of information should women be looking for? I mean, obviously, bank statements. But what else are they looking for?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
19:38
I mean, part of it is you want to know, like, where all the money in the paycheck is going, because you can have that paycheck, go to multiple different accounts or to 401ks Like what are they funding? And then you kind of want to keep an eye on those accounts, because we've seen way too often where people, yes, they're funding their 401k, but they're also taking a ton of money out of there and funding those addictions, and so you don't see it on the credit card, you don't see it on the bank statements, and so you really want to take a look at those things. Yeah, just see where the money's going, see if anything brings up red flags. We've seen. I mean I don't want to always mention the worst of the worst. Sometimes nothing's happening and they just don't want you to be worried. Other times it is. Well, I'm also funding my girlfriend's apartment in Arizona.
20:24
I'm also doing some of these other things that are just not beneficial to the family, and so I would just keep your eye on where that money is going and so you're on the same page about it, and usually when people have these discussions, we always encourage just to lead with curiosity. You know, I listened to this podcast and I want to be part of the conversation. If you lead with that accusatory like you're not letting me in these things, then it's going to start as a fight and so you've got to lead with this question mentality and then if you start getting pushback and those red flags, your red flags and warning sign should be going up that something's happening that they're not going to share with you, because if they are your partner, you would expect them to be supportive and answer those questions and be on your team and help your curiosity there, rather than push back and say, no, that's not your business.
Karen Covy Host
21:16
I'm curious how often should a woman be looking at this financial information? Because, let's face it, I mean everybody's busy. We've got a million things to do. Are you talking about, like I should be looking for this every day, every week, every month, once a quarter? Like how often do I have to look at this?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
21:34
You know, I think if you set up a system, it should be pretty easy to check these almost daily. I mean, check your balances, right. If you know if you have access to your accounts like if you go on Chase, you can get on your phone any point in time right, you can pull it up daily. And if you know if you have access to your investment accounts if it's Fidelity or wherever it is and they're online, you should have access to it pretty easily so you can keep your eye on those things fairly easily these days. And, like Maggie said, wherever your 401k or retirement funds are invested, you need to keep an eye on those. Even those are long-term investments. You want to make sure there's nothing coming out of those.
Maggie Nielsen Guest
22:14
So I'd probably say, like bank accounts, like regular everyday credit debit card accounts, every day to every couple of days. But then some of those bigger accounts, like your 401k and your investments, maybe more quarterly, just to keep your eye on it. I mean, you don't need to check your investment every day. That can make some people anxious, but I would probably go in every quarter. You should get a piece of mail that has the information about it as well. But I also see people who steal the mail before you get it, so you don't know that the mail came. So I would say, some of those bigger things is more quarterly.
Karen Covy Host
22:43
Yeah, and the other thing that's happening, of course, these days is that everything is online and they just don't give you the password, right. So the mail used to be just a treasure trove of information, and that's not necessarily so true anymore. But I'm curious. Let's say that a woman is in the position where she's gotten a divorce or her spouse has died or something has happened and she's got to start from scratch. Where do you even begin?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
23:15
Well, you hope that this is another reason to have a financial professional working with the both of you, because typically there's a one-stop shop to go to that has all of your paperwork and everything that you need in the event that somebody passes. If you have a really good financial professional working with you, they've planned for this. They've planned for either one of you to pass away. I mean, that's what their role is. Their job is is to make sure that you're financially covered, your insurance is covered, that you have your proper you know will, your powers of attorneys, your beneficiaries are up to date. So if you are working with the right financial professional who's overseeing all of this on your behalf and that's what you're paying them for then you should just go right to your financial professional. If you don't have one, then you need to make sure you and your spouse have a go-to lockbox resource place to go that has your documentation in order.
Karen Covy Host
24:14
Well, let's talk divorce, right? So you're starting over and you don't want the financial advisor that you used to have, because that person didn't pay any attention to you. So what you're looking for is a fresh start. You've got some money coming your way. You don't know how to manage it. You don't know what to do. You don't know how to start to build the financial security that you really want in your later years. Where does someone like that start?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
24:48
Personally, yeah, I mean go to Purse Strings to find a financial advisor that focuses on women, but I would, you know, a lot of times when we're starting over like that, I think a money coach can be a really great spot to start, especially because sometimes you need, like a partner just to hold you accountable, to make you do the thing, and so having a money coach can really sit down and work with you on the day-to-day spending Where's money going in? Where's coming out?
Karen Covy Host
25:14
Okay, let me interrupt for a second. What's a money coach?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
25:16
A money coach is like someone who just helps you with the day-to-day things. A financial advisor more does the investments, the big picture, all of that stuff where this is more managing your budget, understanding that, planning for when you need those new tires, how do you deal with these emergencies, how do you plan for the insurance that you pay every six months.
25:39
Also, some of that money mindset A lot of us have scarcity thinking or fears around money or these money stories we grew up with or we might be scarred from a previous relationship about money and so really diving into that money mindset as well. And so these people you can either meet with like sometimes a couple more meetings at the beginning to get everything settled, and then you can meet with them every two weeks or every month just to help you really stay in line, stay focused, really have that partner when it comes to your money and then whatever else, you save extra or you're ready to invest more then you can go to your advisor and be like, hey, I have more money to invest, I have this stuff, but they're not specialists on that day-to-day spending where I think it's really helpful to have that partner help you with that, as it can be confusing when you're raising kids, having different sorts of income coming in, have a lot of moving parts and you've never done it alone.
Karen Covy Host
26:32
Yeah, that makes sense. And will a money coach get down and dirty with you? For example, I know women who have been the stay-at-home spouse for decades and they literally don't know how to pay a bill because they never had to. So is that something? What professional would help you at the very, very basic level of saying, okay, this is what you've got, this is how you do it, this is how you set things up? Is that a money coach? Is that the right professional? Who is it?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
27:02
Yeah, that would be a money coach. Sometimes they're called like a financial coach, but, yeah, a money coach would be great for that. They can sit down with you, help you pay the bill, help you automate it and make sure, like, your money comes in on the 15th, let's make sure this is paid on the 16th, so all your cash what they call is cashflow works smoothly, and so they'll help you with all those different things that I know so many people have, like shame and embarrassment that, like I should know how to pay a bill, I get it, no worries, this is why we have people here. I mean, it's the same thing you would hire if you were trying to lose weight. You would hire a nutritionist and someone to help you at the gym. It's just the same thing to learn how to use those muscles, how to use your money, and they usually save you the money that you would have. You know, the money that you spend hiring these professionals usually saved through any overpayments, late fees, credit card fees, all of that stuff. They usually end up just paying for themselves because of that support they give you.
Karen Covy Host
28:00
So, let's take that's the basic level, and, Barb, what about the higher level? You're talking now the investment level, and somebody knows okay, I got money, I need to invest it somewhere. I don't know where the best place is. How would a woman then go about finding the right investment professional for her? Because she doesn't even know what am I looking for? I don't even know.
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
28:30
Right. So at Purse Strings we have vetted professionals who focus on serving a female market. So, right out of the gate, they understand what women are up against. They've probably been in their shoes before. Many of these financial professionals have been through divorce, are widowed. They understand, you know, what it's like to be in their shoes and we always say don't ever, you know, go with the first person that you meet, always interview, interview two to three people, because you want to make sure not only they're answering questions well for you, the way that you would like them to, but also what's the vibe kind of. Are you vibing with them? Do you kind of feel like you can feel confident with them? And because you know, like we say, Karen, you're really getting financially naked with these people. It's a very vulnerable conversation and these are people you really want to be with for the rest of your life.
29:26
Right, the ins and outs, the trials and tribulations you're going to expose. You know how you're feeling about your money. You know money mistakes you may have made, how you might feel bad, or maybe big windfalls that you've gotten that you don't want maybe people to know about, whatever it might be. You're going to share some very important information that you need to share and be comfortable with. So, you know you need to go in and say you know I found you on Purse Strings. I have a couple of questions how do you work with your clients? How often do you communicate with us, kind of what's your philosophy on investing? You know, just have a conversation and ask some really good questions. We have questions listed on Purse Strings. If you're not one, if you're wondering, you know what do I ask them so you can just download that and then see what works for you, who's vibing with you and, you know, ask what are your fees, how do you charge? Don't be afraid to ask all of these questions and then go back and really select one that you think that you would want to work with for the long term.
Karen Covy Host
30:26
You know, speaking of fees, I know that there are financial advisors who are fee based like you pay them by the hour for their advice and there are financial advisors that take a percentage of investments under management right. When should somebody use one versus the other? Or is it just a personal preference?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
30:49
It's a bit of a preference. It's a bit about usually if you have less money, the hourly fee is good, especially if you have like not up to their minimums, and so sometimes an hourly fee is all you need. You just need a couple sessions for some help and support. But it really just kind of depends on your situation and what you prefer. There are a lot of different options out there and sometimes people do like a smaller percentage, but then they also have a fee structure and so you've really just got to ask and it's not rude, they should tell you. If they can't articulate it and you don't understand it, then that's probably not a good sign. But it's really based on preference.
Karen Covy Host
31:36
That makes sense. Ladies, this has been such a good conversation. I really appreciate it. I appreciate your being here and sharing all of your knowledge and experience and wisdom. If somebody has listened to this conversation, they want to find you. Where's the best place for them to do that?
Maggie Nielsen Guest
31:54
Yeah, everything is at pursestrings.co. Otherwise, you can follow us on any social media pursestringsco, and we encourage anyone to also subscribe to our podcast, Women and Money The Shit We Don't Talk About and we also will have a great episode with Karen coming out on there as well. So tune in there, jump in where you can and be part of the community, as we just feel like getting started is the most important thing. It's just taking some action.
Karen Covy Host
32:22
Thank you so much, Barb. Any other last parting words of wisdom?
Dr. Barb Provost Guest
32:26
Well, we find the most important thing, like Maggie said, is to just get started. Women have fear around money and these money conversations. I think that's the biggest nut to crack. And at Purse Strings, that all stops with Purse Strings. We are a community that's just going to welcome everybody in. Let's start where you're at and get you going so that you can live a beautiful life full of choices.
Karen Covy Host
32:51
That's awesome, ladies. Thank you so much, and for those of you out there who are watching or who are listening, if you enjoyed today's conversation, if you'd like to hear more conversations, just like it, do me a big favor. Give the episode a thumbs up like. Subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube channel and I look forward to talking with you again next time. Thank you.
