Mom's Got Money. Catherine Alford

proven, especially now, that moms have an incredible capacity to learn and implement change quickly. That takes incredible strength on a daily basis. If you had a minute to really think about it, you'd realize we literally raise and mold and shape human beings—even in the middle of things like broken bones, fires, and even pandemics.

      Don't you think someone who is capable of all of that, who can weather storms that big, can do something as basic as create a budget and figure out how much life insurance to get? I sure think so. Remember, money is just some numbers on a screen. It's you who gets to give it meaning and tell it where to go. You get to be the boss of it, not the other way around.

      With practice and patience, you can step into that boss mom mindset with full confidence. It's already there; you already have it. You just need to give yourself credit for everything you've done and everything you're capable of.

      Once you're there mentally and recognize your own power, there's no stopping you. Once you're there, your entire outlook shifts.

      And, now that you have some acknowledgment of all the hard things you've endured and many new positive thoughts to practice, it's time to talk about the tools and the strategies that will help you become financially successful.

      But, before you start dreaming of your future wealth and all the goals you want to achieve, you have to know where you stand. We'll start by facing the numbers. You can't know where you're going unless you know exactly where you are today.

NOTES

      1 1. Gemma Hartley, “Women Aren't Nags—We're Just Fed Up,” Harper's Bazaar, September 27, 2017, www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12063822/emotional-labor-gender-equality/.

      2 2. Trish Bendix, “I Live With a Woman—We're Not Immune to Emotional Labor,” Harper's Bazaar, October 9, 2017.

      3 3. Weber Shandwick and KRC Research, “Digital Women Influencers: Millennial Moms,” www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/MillennialMoms_ExecSummary.pdf.

      4 4. “More Women Than Men Say They Are Solely Responsible For Financial Decisions According to New Regions Bank Study,” Regions News Release, October 15, 2015, www.regions.com/-/media/pdfs/Insights-Magazine/PR-WW-Study.pdf?la=en&revision=61bd1595-dfd9-4b5b-a2f2-7cf4f37e44d9&hash=1344F20D317CE5F8B930061C0CEB8202; “Women and Wealth Study,” www.regions.com/Insights/Wealth/hervision-herlegacy/your-life/women-and-wealth-study-2015.

      5 5. “The Allianz Women, Money, and Power® Study: Empowered and Underserved,” www.allianzlife.com/-/media/files/allianz/documents/ent_1462_n.pdf.

      6 6. Ibid.

      7 7. Britni de la Cretaz, “How to Get Your Partner to Take on More Emotional Labor,” New York Times, April 16, 2020 (updated May 8, 2020), www.nytimes.com/article/emotional-labor.html.