Inspiring Women, Episode 17: Charting A Financial Course For Women
Host Betty Collins addresses the importance of women actively planning for their future, charting a financial course, and finding good advisors to help. She also interviews Helen Colon of Capstone Wealth Advisors. The Inspiring Women podcast is presented by Brady Ware & Company.
Helen Colon, Capstone Wealth Advisors
Helen Colon is a Financial Advisor with Capstone Wealth Advisors. With 38 years of industry experience, her areas of focus include women’s financial strategies, retirement income strategies, cash flow management strategies, business retirement plans, divorce financial planning, and investments.
Helen is also a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA). As a CDFA, she helps clients with pre-divorce financial planning such as providing strategies for providing financial information and assistance, including evaluating the tax implications of dividing property and the settlement options for dividing pensions, marital property and awarding of child and/or spousal support.
Helen is active in her community, including serving on the board of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA). She has also volunteered with the Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland teaching financial literacy workshops for the Women at Ohio Reformatory as well as for the young girls.
Betty Collins, CPA, Brady Ware & Company and Host of the “Inspiring Women” Podcast
Betty Collins is the Office Lead for Brady Ware’s Columbus office and a Shareholder in the firm. Betty joined Brady Ware & Company in 2012 through a merger with Nipps, Brown, Collins & Associates. She started her career in public accounting in 1988. Betty is co-leader of the Long Term Care service team, which helps providers of services to Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and nursing centers establish effective operational models that also maximize available funding. She consults with other small businesses, helping them prosper with advice on general operations management, cash flow optimization, and tax minimization strategies.
In addition, Betty serves on the Board of Directors for Brady Ware and Company. She leads Brady Ware’s Women’s Initiative, a program designed to empower female employees, allowing them to tap into unique resources and unleash their full potential. Betty helps her colleagues create a work/life balance while inspiring them to set and reach personal and professional goals. The Women’s Initiative promotes women-to-women business relationships for clients and holds an annual conference that supports women business owners, women leaders, and other women who want to succeed. Betty actively participates in women-oriented conferences through speaking engagements and board activity.
Betty is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and she is the President-elect for the Columbus Chapter. Brady Ware also partners with the Women’s Small Business Accelerator (WSBA), an organization designed to help female business owners develop and implement a strong business strategy through education and mentorship, and Betty participates in their mentor match program. She is passionate about WSBA because she believes in their acceleration program and matching women with the right advisors to help them achieve their business ownership goals. Betty supports the WSBA and NAWBO because these organizations deliver resources that help other women-owned and managed businesses thrive.
Betty is a graduate of Mount Vernon Nazarene College, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants. Betty is also the Board Chairwoman for the Gahanna Area Chamber of Commerce, and she serves on the Board of the Community Improvement Corporation of Gahanna as Treasurer.
“Inspiring Women” Podcast Series
“Inspiring Women” is THE podcast that advances women toward economic, social and political achievement. The show is hosted by Betty Collins, CPA, and presented by Brady Ware and Company. Brady Ware is committed to empowering women to go their distance in the workplace and at home. Other episodes of “Inspiring Women” can be found here.
Show Transcript
Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Today, we’re going to have a topic that I’m probably most familiar with and could probably talk about for more than one podcast. It’s charting a course for women that … A financial guide is so important, and it’s something that doesn’t always get done. I really want to talk about it because I think you’ll find some statistics that are very bothersome about it.
Betty Collins: [00:00:23] Back in the day, when my mom and dad were married and raising kids, my mom did very, very little with money til later in life. But she made up for time, that’s for sure. My dad just carried the day with all of that. Then, he retired earlier than she did, and he went back to handling money. Then, she really wasn’t too sure of things. When it came time to for her – she’s a widow now – to deal with money, she really had been out of the loop a long time. Fortunately, they had planned well, but they never worked on it together. They never charted the course and had a plan; they just kept doing what they do, which is work hard, save; work hard, save. Not a bad way to go, and they did pretty well.
Betty Collins: [00:01:06] It’s mind boggling that this is 2019. We’re almost at the end of a decade, and that women today take financial planning and put it in a drawer; maybe a closet; under the rug. You would be amazed. It’s not something that they really are at the helm of. Why is that? We’re dominating in so many ways. We’re educating ourselves further than men. We are definitely dominating marketplace, where we’re starting more businesses. We’re providing for our families – sometimes, THE provider. We’re becoming a lot more influential in top leadership positions, such as CEOs, you hear a lot more; executive management. Politics, we are on the rise there. I don’t know why anybody would want to do that, but they do. And we’re really just now making a lot of room in the boardroom. It’s becoming more of our place. We actually have a seat at the table.
Betty Collins: [00:02:04] As we’re dominating, moving certainly forward, really scary statistics by UBS, who is a financial planning firm. 85 percent of women today manage the expenses of their household, whether they’re married or single. It’s just the woman takes that on. Only 23 percent take the lead, when it comes to long-term financial planning. Really, it’s kind of important because, first of all, women live longer than men, so you’re going to have to have some dollars that last longer. Women tend to be a little more risk averse. We miss those growth opportunities because we don’t necessarily want to take the risk. A savings account and security sometimes comes a little bit before that. What they did find was that women who do invest are much more strategic. They’re more goal-driven. Those two things don’t make sense. What it tells me, though, is that we need to have more women thinking about how they’re going to invest.
Betty Collins: [00:03:03] Women put others first. That’s really nice, but I want you to envision yourself as a greeter one day at Walmart because you made sure everybody was taken care of before yourself. You need to pay yourself first, even above your children. I look at my kids today and go, “You’ve got 40 years to work and deal with your life. You can do it.” I’ve had to really be one of those parents who drew a line in the sand. Earlier, as they were kids, I was really obsessed with leaving them money, and making sure they were set for life, and different things like that. Now I look at it and go, “You’re healthy, and you’re educated. Go figure out what you want to do.” So, I put some other things before them that are more important when it comes to financial things.
Betty Collins: [00:03:48] Early and often is the only way to live, when you’re talking about financial planning. Sometimes, we just look at it as, “Well, it’s too late.” I don’t think it’s ever too late to start somewhere. I didn’t start til in 1998. I was going through some personal things that changed; that was my late 30s. I really had to sit down and prioritize what was important. As much as I am a CPA, I am not a financial planner. Those are two different things, so I had to listen to professionals, and I’m still listening to them in my fifth decade of life.
Betty Collins: [00:04:23] The biggest thing I had to do was face my fear with it, and I had to make up for lost time. That took me owning it. I look at financial planning as very complex. I hate reading the statements of how my investments are doing. I don’t like seeing what I should buy and sell. I don’t want to make those decisions. I’m like most women – I’m conservative; I like my security. Yet, I had to make up for some time because I didn’t start til late 30s. I can really say I’m probably not going to be a Walmart greeter because I did those things.
Betty Collins: [00:04:54] I want to talk to you a little bit today about … That’s just my personal experience, and I’m being honest with you. I didn’t start out, from the beginning, putting money in the bank. My husband did. My husband works for the post office and he, from day one, not making a whole lot of money, believe it or not, at the post office 30-some years ago, put something in a 401(k). He started much earlier in life and was able to retire probably much earlier in life because he did those things.
Betty Collins: [00:05:21] What should you do? First, you’ve got to manage your own money. It’s just too hard to make. It’s too hard to earn, and you never know when your earning ability is going to not be there. You have to manage it, and that’s really on you. It’s not on anyone else. As I tell my kids with student loans, who, they don’t want to pay them back, I said, “When you signed those loans, you didn’t say, ‘I’m going to really try to make every effort to pay this loan.’ You said, ‘I need to do this, and I’m going to do that. I’m going to take responsibility.'”
Betty Collins: [00:05:51] If you have a confidence issue with money, and you hate money, and you don’t want to face it, and you don’t want to deal with it; you’re not an accountant, and it’s too much, then picture your life over the next five, 10, and 15 years without money and a plan. What is it going to look like? What are you going to look like when you don’t have the ability to work, if you’re in labor, and now you’re older? What does it look like if your industry’s changing, and you’re not changing with it? What does it look like, when you just want to maybe hide behind the desk? Then, one day, you’re like, “I don’t have this taken care of …”? I still am somewhat intimidated by financial planners because I don’t feel like I know everything. I just found people that I trust.
Betty Collins: [00:06:32] Then, there’s the whole caretaking, and enabling the people in your life. You know what? That takes your resources. My adult children are educated and healthy. They do not need me to hover over them. They do not need me to rescue them. Right now, I have to, as the parent, and as the aging parent, take care of myself. I will tell you, with my parents, who didn’t always put together a plan together, we never had to take care of them because they did have their ducks in a row. But they also made sure they didn’t hover over us for life either. You have to be careful with those relationships that do that. Then, you’ve got to focus on earning while you have the potential to do it. You make hay when you can. You seize your opportunities. Life can change on a dime, so you have to really focus on that.
Betty Collins: [00:07:18] You have to track your expenses somehow, and I don’t mean you need to be sophisticated. I will tell you, and this is almost embarrassing, but I have QuickBooks in my personal life, and I track how we spend money. There are times I look at it … My husband wants never to look at it. He hates it. But I look at that sometimes and look at what I spend it at Kroger in a month, and it’s mind-boggling; or Starbucks coffee. Before you know it, you’re going, “Wow, it took me all that time to earn, and yet I’m throwing it out the door.” Not that Kroger is a bad place, but I probably over-shop, and I have too much. Tracking how you spend is part of the financial planning. It’s just not earning and saving; it’s when you get that, what do you do with it? There is that middle-class millionaire all around you; you have no idea, because they do really watch how they spend. I don’t like being around tight, cheap people. I hate that. I hate people that constantly think a coupon is the answer to everything, but there is a lot of respect I have, when somebody really is intentional about not wasting their money, when they spend.
Betty Collins: [00:08:23] This is a big problem for women, and I think you need to … I need to say it out loud, and then you need to really look in the mirror and see this as a problem in your life – you cannot let relationships sabotage your finances, whether that’s significant others, kids, aging parents, friends, or family. You have to figure out when someone is constantly in your checkbook, and you constantly are working and they’re not, or whatever the case is. They basically are sabotaging … I’ve seen enough women be completely taken advantage of and didn’t even have a clue; or they were so wrapped up in the relationship, when they finally were able to break off – if they did, they saw it – a lot of hard money went out the door in a relationship that also went out the door. I would encourage you, with relationships like that, you have to let go of those, if you don’t want to be a Walmart greeter; if you want to make your dollars that you work hard for worth their time.
Betty Collins: [00:09:25] It’s a long journey – 40 years. I can’t believe I’m in my last 10, probably, of working. It’s best if you take the whole 40 years to plan and not the last 10, because there is no quick fix. There isn’t any, “I’m going to now just become a huge saver.” It always discourages me, even when I see people who have saved tremendously, and all the sudden, they’re diving into what should not be touched until they’re 65. I see it all the time. It’s a long journey. It’s a journey that takes you all the way til the time you can retire. People even don’t know how much they have, in those 40 years, or how much they would need to go beyond 20 years. Don’t do that in your life, because, when you finally get some free time, you finally have a little bit of choice, you want to have some financial freedom there, if you can.
Betty Collins: [00:10:17] What should you do when someone says, “I can do this for you,” and Shazam! It’s called quick fix. It’s called luck. It’s really sad that 28 percent of our country thinks that the lottery is a great way to plan for retirement. The other sad part of those statistics are most people … not most, but a good amount of people that win the lottery end up in bankruptcy because they don’t really know how to handle something, first of all, that big, and they didn’t earn it. Then, they have everyone at their doorstep – those typical sabotage relationships. Quick fixes and lucks are not there, but neither is hope. Hope is just not a strategy. “I hope it all works out …” “I hope I don’t have to work at Walmart as a greeter …”
Betty Collins: [00:11:03] I’m not making fun of people who work at Walmart as a greeter. My dad worked til he was 73 because he wanted to. He just wanted to. When he got to a point, where he knew he was going to have to pay taxes on the money, he worked for free; because, for him, getting out and having that purpose was there. But it’s not a strategy, if that’s when you still have to pay your mortgage, and your rent, and all those things. So, don’t look at hope as a strategy. If you catch yourself going, “Well, I just hope my business works out because then I can retire …” – not a strategy.
Betty Collins: [00:11:32] You have to know the difference, when you’re financial planning … Women, you want to really have it all and do it all, as we do, sometimes. You have to know the difference between bad and good debt. There is good debt. I think your house, having debt on it, is not a bad debt. It’s an investment, and it’s a place that you can one day call your own. However, when you have to make a $2,000 payment on a house, you probably have to earn $3,000 or $4,000 to do that. By the time you tax it, and give the government their share, and then you’re paying interest on that, as well, you have to still go, “I know that’s good debt because I have an investment, but I still have to really earn a lot to do that.” When you’re thinking about decisions, like mortgages on a house, which might be good debt, you have to look at the course you’re charting, and say, “Is it worth having to make this kind of money to pay this kind of good debt?” Those are questions, when you hit certain ages in life, you really do have to confront.
Betty Collins: [00:12:40] The other thing about debt is everyone’s very consumed in- because this is just now how we are, and I’m kind of this way. If you asked me to donate money to your organization, if you gave me a card that says, “We want to deduct $30 a month out of your account, and you can give us $360 over a course of a year,” or if you say, “Can you write a $360 check tonight?” I’m probably going to tell you I like the monthly payment, because we are so geared to that. What you really have to ask yourself – and it’s okay that you have monthly payments … Can you afford it? – But do you really know what you paid for the car? Do you really know what you paid for the house? Do you really know what you gave to the charity? The mindset of monthly payment is sure, it’s good for budgeting, but you still have to know, was this worth the buy?
Betty Collins: [00:13:30] I’m a big person of, as soon as Kohl’s starts sending me 30-percent off, I’m thinking, what do I need? What I need? There’s good and bad debt. If you save 30 percent, but then put it on one of their cards, and you just took your time paying it, you didn’t pay 30-percent less, right? We laugh, and we say those things are common sense, but it’s how people live. Then, they get to a point in life- they’re like, “What happened? I can’t go back and make some things change.
Betty Collins: [00:13:57] Here’s a great way to think, when you are charting your course – overestimate the money needs, and then, you get to enjoy maybe the surprise of some excess cash. Now, I’m the person in life, if I lose 10 pounds, I know I can eat what I want for the weekend, instead of going, “I could get to 12 pounds …” That’s just how I think, sometimes.
Betty Collins: [00:14:19] So, sometimes, overestimating, putting yourself to go, “I really need a thousand bucks, but, man, if I had 1,400 … Let’s try to go there and then, we’ll see what happens,” right? When you needed the thousand dollars, and now you need nine, you really did well, but if you need the thousand and you needed 12, you still can cover it. It’s like when people estimate their tax payments. First of all, either people never will pay an estimated tax to the government, which I get, or they love to overestimate because they hate a tax bill, and then, they love getting a big refund. Both ways, to me, are crazy. Try and nail it in and having a little bit of access that the government has to give you back isn’t the worst thing in the world, or whatever the case may be.
Betty Collins: [00:15:03] Women are dominating in starting up businesses. We are one who are, “I gotta do this. I’ve got an idea. I’ve got a passion.” Then we get our, “Okay, my idea has turned into a business, but it’s killing me because I still … It’s this huge investment, and I’m not making probably the money I wanted to.” I think [inaudible] on the Big Bang Theory … Love to watch that show. It’s useless, mindless television.
Betty Collins: [00:15:32] Penny, of course, is an aspiring actress, and she works at The Cheesecake Factory. That’s her day job. She’s always broke, so she decides that she is going to sell some type of jewelry. She’s all excited because she’s making this jewelry, and she can sell it for five bucks; until Sheldon comes in the room and logically puts it through and says, “You would have to sell this many pieces of jewelry to even pay your rent.” At that point, she can’t have this mass production to make thousands of things to pay her rent.
Betty Collins: [00:16:02] When we are charting our course and saying, “If I started my own business, I have so much more freedom, and I can really make some money, and I love what I’m doing,” but it has to be part of the financial plan that it can really work. I’m very fortunate in what I do. I don’t have to sit and talk about a lot of, “I gotta make this many pieces of jewelry …” But in my business, even as a shareholder, I have to sit and say, “If I keep doing hundreds of 1040s without a business tax return, I’m probably not going to make the money that I normally do. Do I want to work that hard and have that much chaos in my life?” Some of it is that’s just what I do but is it part of the long-term plan that you can say, “Hey, I can do this, and I can live, and I can have a good course that I like?”
Betty Collins: [00:16:45] The other thing in business, and in your personal life, are budgets. Very few people live on budgets today. Very few people even know how to create one. When my kids … My daughter was starting to get an apartment, she realized, “I don’t know if I can afford to live.” I said, “Well, you’ve gotta figure it out.” Of course, she finds some app. The app tells you all these things. It creates the budget. She was a little blown away with what it took to live, and she was a little more logical in moving out and not moving out as quickly.
Betty Collins: [00:17:14] Then, she thought through, “We probably can only afford this.” She thought through a lot more. Still got to be independent; not live with her mom, and still got to have her own deal. The next apartment, though, she moved into, she just said, “It’s time to move.” They lost a roommate, and they paid more for rent, and she had to get a different car. All the sudden, she’s like, “Oh, my …” because she really didn’t think through in a budget format.
Betty Collins: [00:17:39] Sometimes, when you’re starting your business, you need to take out as little money as possible versus just, “It’s kinda like my business. It’s my LLC. It’s the same thing as Joe Smith …” But you have to still go, “I only can take this much out of my business because if I’m going to use this business as a resource to get to retirement, guess what? I gotta plan just like I do in my household.”
Betty Collins: [00:18:01] Those are things that you have to do. It’s all exciting. I know you’re just thrilled … Depends on the Walmart greeter question, I guess. Be informed. It’s the biggest struggle I have with our society right now, because we have- it’s almost like we have way too much information, so we’re not getting the right information. That’s a problem for anyone trying to handle their finances. I have people who, “I’m not going to pay those brokers any fees. I can sell my own house. I don’t want to pay a realtor,” or, “I can invest my own money on E-Trade.” Well, you better know how to be informed when you do those things and get to the right information, or I would tell you to hire it.
Betty Collins: [00:18:49] I would tell you that you have that advisor … I have more than one adviser because I need to be informed with the right information. Clicking on Twitter’s article written by someone I don’t know, representing some agenda or opinion, is not information. You have to be very, very careful. Then, I think you have to read, and then you read. It’s all part of owning it. It’s all part of charting your course. There’s a tremendous amount of books which we will have that you can read that get you in the game, especially if you’d rather read a Dummies for Financial Planning than you would some economics book, right? Which, by the way, I don’t even read economics books.
Betty Collins: [00:19:27] There’s all kinds of things. Prince Charming isn’t Coming: How Women can get Smart About Their Money, by Barbara Stanny. All You’re Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan, by Elizabeth Warren; not the Elizabeth Warren you probably think of. Your Money or Your Life: Nine Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money. Again, you could go online and Google ‘guide to women financials,’ and you’ll find book, upon book, upon book. You also can get people that can recommend books to you, but I would tell you to do that.
[00:20:01] Life is too short, and it’s meant to be enjoyed. Chances are, you will have to work, so make it worth all the time and effort that you do. You can either live in control of your financial path, or you can be controlled by it. I would suggest to you, today, choose wisely and determine how you are going to chart your course to some financial freedom where you can enjoy life on your terms.
Betty Collins: [00:00:00] Today, we’ve been talking about a financial guide for women; hopefully you enjoyed the podcast. I’d like to really wrap it up today with someone who’s been in financial planning a long time. She’s definitely someone that I really do business with and like. Her name is Helen Colon, and she is with Capstone Wealth Advisors. I met Helen through NAWBO Columbus, which is the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Betty Collins: [00:00:27] She’s had an amazing passion for women, for sure, and financial planning. Really, she takes it a step further by making sure that they plan, and they are protected. She has an amazing career and background, and her passion, along with her New York sass, are what sets her apart, for sure. So, Helen, welcome today, and thank you for taking the time that you’re going to spend with us. Just tell the audience just a little bit about you and your journey in the financial world.
Helen Colon: [00:00:56] First of all, Betty, thank you for having me. I started out my career back in 1982 as a key punch operator on Wall Street. Then I grew myself, where I became an institutional trader for many, many years. I did that until 2009, where my life’s trajectory turned, and I became a caregiver for five years, which landed me in Columbus and private practice.
Betty Collins: [00:01:28] Well, I can’t imagine being on Wall Street for 28 years. You were definitely the Lone Ranger. Of course, I know you learned to play golf during that time because that’s what you had to do, right? Talk to me, just a few … I know you have some certain certifications that are geared to women.
Helen Colon: [00:01:46] I have a certification as a certified divorce financial analyst. I received my certification after I met several women who came to me after their divorce was final. They did not come out of that marriage with an equitable portion of the marital assets. It distressed me so much that I made it a priority to help in any way that I can so that other women don’t end up in that position.
Betty Collins: [00:02:17] Sure, sure. I think it’s one of things that I definitely have been attracted to you, because I represent a lot of women business owners, and you’re right, that happens. What do you see when you’re helping women? What are they doing well, and what are they struggling with in the financial world, or in their lives?
Helen Colon: [00:02:36] Well, Betty, women face unique challenges in their lives. The income gap, where we’re only paid 80 percent to the dollar, as opposed to a male counterparts. We have longer lifespans. Typically, we will live at least five to 10 years longer, minimum, than our male … We have multiple roles and responsibilities, such as becoming a caregiver, or going through a transition, such as a divorce. Most times women are not … They put everyone first and they, themselves, on the back burner. That’s a huge mistake, just because, as I said, they live longer; the challenges … So, they need to plan properly and save for themselves for that time.
Betty Collins: [00:03:23] Right. What’s really distressful is I was reading, and I was surprised in the statistic that 85 percent of women handle the financial expenses in their home. Yet only 23 percent, I believe, handle financial planning. I will tell you, it’s an intimidating thing. Sometimes, you feel like, “Oh, no, it’s confession unto God. I’ve got to go tell them that I have money, or I’m doing this, and I don’t know what to do with it.” It’s a hard thing to confront sometimes.
Betty Collins: [00:03:57] But it all comes down, like I said in my podcast, do you want to be a greeter at Walmart or not? Do you want to really handle that? So, tell me what a successful woman looks like when she is in that 23%, and she’s doing what she’s supposed to because they tend to manage money better … They’re better investors, sometimes. They’re a little more aggressive and strategic. What does that successful woman look like that takes it and says, “I’m gonna own this …”?
Helen Colon: [00:04:25] Well, they have to take the fear out of the equation. They have to realize that they need some financial guidance; a professional that will help them take that first step. You need to walk before you run. So, a woman that realizes that she needs some type of financial planning is willing to talk to someone, regardless of whether they have knowledge of investments or not. That’s our responsibility to educate our clients in investments.
Helen Colon: [00:04:57] Financial planning is a relationship with the client. I take great pride in developing a team effect around my clients, as you know. I bring in the CPA for the tax strategies. I bring in the estate attorney for legacy planning, multi-generational planning. Those women that come to me realize that they find value in being- they feel safe. They feel they have their team around them so they can go on and do what they need to do.
Helen Colon: [00:05:32] Financial planning doesn’t just involve investments. We look at risk protection, long-term care. I work with a CPA, with tax strategies, things of that nature. I had a client come to me, as you know, several years ago that wanted help with financial planning. Her fear was that she was going to live in her daughter’s basement if she didn’t plan properly. Well, I can tell you, as of today, that will never happen.
Betty Collins: [00:06:04] Yeah, she’s a great success story, for sure. It’s because she just faced it. She owned it and said, “What do I gotta do?” Because women are that way … When we decide we have to do something, or that this is a priority, it generally gets done. We’re just sort of like that.
Helen Colon: [00:06:15] Face the fear.
Betty Collins: [00:06:19] Yep, face the fear. What are common mistakes you see? This is, “I’m going to just go online and trade all myself because I want to pay a fee,” or [crosstalk]
Helen Colon: [00:06:27] Stop! No!
Betty Collins: [00:06:28] Don’t do that. What are the common mistakes that women make?
Helen Colon: [00:06:36] Well, not taking that first step; not realizing that just because they don’t know what they don’t know, they’re frozen. They need to get out and find someone that they feel comfortable with; develop that relationship with that advisor; and start to educate herself. They need to save now, not tomorrow. Now. It’s imperative because, as you said earlier, wouldn’t it be sad if you got to that full retirement age and realized that you can’t retire because you didn’t plan properly. It would be wonderful if you could get to that point, and say, “You know what? The decision is mine. I’d rather choose to continue to work than not.”
Betty Collins: [00:07:23] Right. I know for myself, I did not start anything til age 38. I tell my kids all the time, I started with 50 bucks a month into something. They just look at you like, “50 bucks a month will never get you there.” Of course, now I’m a young 56 years old. I’m so glad I started somewhere, started something that … I had good advisers around me. When I realized they weren’t good advisors, I got rid of them. I just have a passion about it because you just don’t know, and life can change on a dime. You know [crosstalk]
Helen Colon: [00:07:55] One phone call changed my whole life.
Betty Collins: [00:07:57] Sure. Sure. You were the big dogs on Wall Street, and as you said … Wow, life changed, and you had to be a caretaker of parents, and you were ready to do that.
Helen Colon: [00:08:06] I was fortunate to be able to take that experience from my Wall Street days and translate that into my private practice. I find, most often than not, women want to be spoken to, not at. I like to coach my clients into educating them about what it is that they’re doing; why I recommended something – an investment, or whatever have you; that way, they don’t turn around and say, “Well. Helen told me to do it, so I did it.” No, this is why I did it.
Betty Collins: [00:08:41] Well, it was great having you here today. I appreciate you taking the time. This is Helen Colon, and she is with Capstone Wealth Advisors in the Polaris area, in Columbus. I would encourage you to reach out to her, or find her, or get with me, because she’s just done a fantastic job with other women in business. Again, we have a passion together with NAWBO Columbus. Women, do not let this part of your life go. Make sure that you have a financial guide that you … It’s your course that you are charting.
