SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A San Diego financial expert in San Diego has a message for women looking for success: a man is not a financial plan.
Most women would rather talk with the grandmothers about their love lives than talk about financial planning, according to an investment survey done by Oppenheimer Funds.
CPA Ginita Wall has a clear message.
“Every marriage ends in either divorce or widowhood and 70 percent of the time it’s the woman who’s left alone,” said Wall. “Then thinking that magically, someday, I’ll start saving for retirement, someday I’ll be able to buy a house; living in the someday and not really planning for it today.”
Wall moved her CPA practice to San Diego 31 years ago. She realized there was a need.
“Women were out in the marketplace, but they weren't managing the money, and sadly, often nobody was.”
Wall and financial planner Candace Bahr launched the Women’s Institute for Financial Education (WIFE), a nonprofit to give women the tools to start making a difference.
“We didn't have anything to sell anybody. Our whole goal was and continues to be ‘our goal is education,’” said Bahr.
Wall and Bahr established Second Saturday, a monthly workshop to teach women what they need to know during divorce. Each session brings in an attorney for matters of the court. Wall gives financial advice, a counselor helps with family issues, and a mediator can settle the differences. The experts volunteer their time.
“It’s a decision for many people that may be the largest financial decision of their life, and if you're going through it uninformed or too emotional, it's going to be difficult to make the right choices.”
Wall says love and money go together, but so do arguments.
“if you loved me more, you wouldn't be spending this money, spending more on me, or you would understand how I feel.”
Wall advises couples to talk about what’s important to them, make goals, create a concrete plan and monitor it.
“So we want women to be partners in a relationship, not dependents,” said Bahr.
Wall and Bahr’s money message has gone national. Second Saturday is now in 115 other locations around the country, and there are plans to be in 500 cities soon.
“It's amazing because we didn't set out to do this for 31 years. We set out to make a difference, and I never expected it to get this big,” said Bahr.
WIFE is now the longest-running nonprofit devoted to the financial education of women.
