The Intentional Money Method: A Values-Based Approach to Building Wealth

A few years ago, I was sitting across from a client who had done everything "right." She had a solid income. She was contributing to her 401k. She had no credit card debt. On paper, her finances were in great shape.

And she was miserable.

Not because of the numbers. The numbers were fine. She was miserable because none of it felt like hers. Her financial plan had been built by a previous advisor who never asked her what she actually wanted from her life. He asked about her risk tolerance and her time horizon and her tax bracket. He never asked what kept her up at night. He never asked what she would do with her life if money were not a factor. He never asked what mattered to her beyond the spreadsheet.

So she had a plan that looked good on paper and felt hollow in practice. She was saving for a retirement she could not picture. She was investing in a strategy she did not understand. She was following a financial path that someone else had drawn for her.

That conversation, and dozens like it, is why I created the Intentional Money Method.

Why the Traditional Approach Falls Short

For decades, financial planning has been treated as a purely analytical process. Advisors focus on numbers, returns, and technical strategies while overlooking the emotional and psychological layers that influence every financial decision a person makes.

Those strategies matter. I am a financial planner. I build strategies for a living. But strategies tell only part of the story.

Many women come to me after working with traditional advisors and still feel disconnected from their money. They might have a portfolio or a plan, but they do not feel empowered or clear about how their finances connect to their actual lives. Others feel unseen because their advisor never explored the "why" behind their goals. They were handed a plan and told to follow it, and nobody stopped to ask whether the plan reflected who they really are.

The Intentional Money Method exists because I believe financial planning should start with you, not with the market. Not with a model portfolio. Not with a generic retirement calculator. With you. Your values. Your story. Your vision for your life.

The Foundation: Six Pillars

The Intentional Money Method is built on two layers. The first layer is the foundation, the inner work that makes everything else sustainable. I call these the six pillars, and they are the operating system for your entire financial life.

Clarity is where it starts. You cannot make good financial decisions if you do not know where you stand. Clarity means understanding your full financial picture, your income, your expenses, your debts, your assets, your insurance, all of it, without judgment. It also means getting honest about the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Most people skip this step because it feels uncomfortable. But clarity is not about perfection. It is about truth. And truth is where real progress begins.

Values anchor every decision. When your money reflects what matters most to you, spending does not feel like sacrifice and saving does not feel like deprivation. It all feels purposeful. This pillar asks you to define what you actually value, not what you think you should value or what social media tells you to value, and then align your financial choices accordingly. For one client, that means prioritizing travel with her kids over a bigger house. For another, it means building a business that gives her flexibility even if it means earning less than she would in a corporate job. There is no right answer. There is only your answer.

Mindset is the pillar where most of the transformation happens. Your beliefs about money, many of which you have carried since childhood, quietly shape every financial decision you make. If you believe you are bad with money, you will avoid engaging with your finances. If you believe wealth is not for people like you, you will unconsciously sabotage your own progress. This pillar is about identifying those beliefs, questioning them, and replacing them with something more grounded and true. I wrote about this in depth in my post on where your money beliefs come from and in my post on scarcity vs. abundance mindset, which challenges the idea that you have to choose between scarcity thinking and toxic positivity. There is a better way, and it starts with mindset.

Strategy is where the planning gets practical. Once you have clarity, values, and a healthy mindset, you need a plan that translates all of that into action. Strategy is about building a financial roadmap that is specific to your life, your goals, and your timeline. Not a cookie-cutter plan from a robo-advisor. A plan that accounts for the fact that your life is complex and your goals are personal.

Action is what separates intention from results. A plan that sits in a drawer is just paper. This pillar is about building the habits, systems, and accountability structures that move you from knowing what to do to actually doing it. Small, consistent steps compound over time. Action does not have to be dramatic to be transformative.

Support is the pillar people underestimate the most. Money is emotional. Change is hard. Doing it alone is harder. This pillar is about surrounding yourself with people who understand what you are working toward and can hold you accountable without judgment. That might be a financial planner, a community of women on the same journey, or both. It is the reason I built The Empowered Sisterhood, because I watched too many women try to do this work in isolation and lose momentum.

These six pillars are not a checklist you complete once. They are a practice you return to over and over as your life changes. They are the foundation that holds everything else up.

The Framework: Six Steps

The second layer of the Intentional Money Method is the practical framework, the six steps that tell you what to actually do with your money. If the pillars are the inner work, the steps are the outer work. They are the actions you take once the foundation is in place.

This is the framework I walk through in detail in my book, Intentional Money. Here is an overview of each step.

Set your intentions. Financial success means something different to every person. Before you can build a plan, you need to define what success looks like for you, not your parents' version, not your ex's version, not the version you see on Instagram. Your version. This step asks you to get specific about what you want your money to make possible.

Grow your income wisely. Money is a resource, and you need enough of it to support the life you are building. This step is about identifying ways to grow your income that are sustainable and aligned with your energy, whether that means negotiating a raise, building a business, creating additional income streams, or investing in skills that increase your earning power over time.

Spend with purpose. Every dollar you spend is a vote for what matters to you. Spending with purpose does not mean spending less. It means spending consciously. It means looking at where your money goes each month and asking whether those outflows reflect your actual priorities. When they do, spending feels good. When they do not, that is a signal worth paying attention to.

Save for stability. Savings are your safety net and your source of peace of mind. This step helps you build the kind of financial stability that lets you handle life's surprises without panic. It is not about hoarding money out of fear. It is about creating a cushion that gives you the freedom to make choices from a position of strength rather than desperation.

Invest for freedom. Investing is the bridge between today's choices and tomorrow's possibilities. This step helps you make thoughtful investment decisions that align with your long-term goals and your risk tolerance. Whether you are just getting started or refining a strategy you have had for years, the goal is the same: building wealth that creates independence and options.

Give with heart. Generosity is a powerful expression of what you value. Giving with heart means using your resources to make a meaningful impact, whether through charitable giving, supporting people you love, or investing in causes and communities that matter to you. This step is about making sure your financial plan includes the things that make your life feel full, not just financially secure.

How the Pillars and Steps Work Together

Think of it this way. The pillars are the soil. The steps are the seeds.

You can plant seeds without healthy soil, but they will not grow well. You might set an intention to save more, but if your mindset is telling you that you do not deserve financial security, the savings habit will not stick. You might try to invest, but if you lack clarity on your full financial picture, you will make decisions based on incomplete information. You might commit to spending with purpose, but if you have never defined your values, you will not know what purposeful spending looks like for you.

The pillars make the steps sustainable. The steps make the pillars tangible. They work together, and that is what makes the Intentional Money Method different from a traditional financial plan or a mindset-only approach. It is both.

Who This Is For

The Intentional Money Method was designed for women in transition. Women navigating divorce, changing careers, rebuilding after a loss, starting over in midlife, or simply reaching a point where they are ready to take control of their financial future on their own terms.

If you have ever felt that traditional financial planning missed the human side of money, this approach was built for you. If you have ever had a financial advisor make you feel small, confused, or like your questions were not worth asking, this is the opposite of that. If you have ever wanted a financial framework that honors both the practical and the personal, this is it.

You do not need to have it all figured out before you start. That is the whole point. The method meets you where you are.

Where to Go From Here

There are three ways to experience the Intentional Money Method.

Read the book. Intentional Money: The Modern Woman's Guide to Building Wealth, Purpose and Peace walks you through the complete framework step by step. It is the best place to start if you want to understand the method in depth and begin applying it on your own.

Join the community. The Empowered Sisterhood is a membership community where women practice the Intentional Money Method together. You get monthly themes, live discussions, financial tools, and a safe space to talk about money without judgment. It is where the method comes to life in real time.

Work with our team. When you are ready for one-on-one financial planning built around this framework, Intentional Wealth Partners is where that happens. Our advisors use the Intentional Money Method as the foundation for every client relationship, combining the values-based approach with professional financial planning and investment management.

Your money should feel like yours. Not stressful, not confusing, not someone else's plan that you are just following along with. Yours. That is what the Intentional Money Method is designed to create.