On February 21st over 100 women attended our WISE Financial Fitness event, which was held at Amegy Tower and featured Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s Today Show. She was an amazing speaker and a great addition to the variety of experts WISE has presented since its launch in 2016. Traditionally the Financial Fitness event is held in September, but our 2017 event had to be rescheduled after Hurricane Harvey hit Houston.
Jean shared her extensive financial advice that applied to attendees at all different stages in their life. Her money philosophy is focused on five things everyone needs to do in order to live comfortably:
- (1) You need to earn a decent living. Decent, not outlandish. Earning more than you need to live comfortably is nice, but it doesn’t increase your happiness.
- (2) You need to spend less than you make. Learning to do this is difficult – particularly during cycles when credit is free flowing. And retrenching if you’ve overdone it can take time. But it’s absolutely possible and I can help you get there.
- (3) You need to save, then invest. All the money that you’re not spending needs to work as hard for you as you work yourself.
- (4) You need to protect the financial world you’ve built for yourself. With both insurance and a basic estate plan, you can ensure that no disaster – large or small – can take it all away from you and the people who depend on you.
- (5) And finally, you need to give back in a way that is meaningful to you. For some people this will mean giving money, for others money and time. It’s key. People who give back are happier, healthier and, in ways not limited to money, wealthier. They get a psychological boost that is difficult to achieve in any other way.
At the conclusion of Jean’s presentation, she hosted a Q & A session and our WISE women asked questions that varied from how to create a budget, how to saving for retirement vs saving for your children’s college education and how to manage your 401k plan. For more financial advice from Jean please check out her podcast which is titled “HerMoney”.
WISE Houston looks forward to presenting continuously these unique opportunities for members to learn, grow and network. Please join us at our next event, Power Play, featuring executive level women from the Houston Medical Community, which will be held on May 10th at 8:00am.
-Written By: Lana Ramirez