No kid wants to sit down for a lecture about budgeting. And honestly, no parent really wants to give one.

But games? Games are different. When kids are playing, their guard is down. They are making decisions, dealing with consequences, navigating wins and losses, and absorbing concepts without realizing it is happening. That is exactly why I love using board games as a financial literacy tool.

I have been a financial planner for nearly two decades, and one thing I believe deeply is that the money habits and beliefs our kids develop start early. The conversations that happen around a game board, about why they ran out of money, about whether to spend or save, about what it means to owe someone else, are some of the most natural and effective financial education you can give.

These are the games we actually play in our house, along with what each one teaches.

Board Games for Teaching Kids About Money

Monopoly

The classic for a reason. Monopoly covers an impressive range of financ...

Every January, millions of people write down the same financial goals they wrote down the year before. Save more. Spend less. Get out of debt. Pay off the credit cards.

And by February, most of those goals are sitting in a drawer somewhere, forgotten.

Here is what I have learned after nearly two decades of working with women on their finances: financial resolutions do not fail because people lack discipline. They fail because they are built on shame, vague intentions, and someone else's idea of what financial success should look like.

This year, I want to offer you a different approach.

Why Most Financial Resolutions Do Not Work

The traditional advice around financial goal-setting tends to focus almost entirely on tactics: automate your savings, cut your spending, track every dollar. And while those things have their place, they skip the most important step entirely.

They never ask you why.

Why do you want to save more? What would financial security actually make possible in you...

A budget is one of the most powerful tools you have for your financial life. Not because it restricts you, but because it gives you clarity. When you know where your money is going, you can make intentional decisions about where it goes next.

If you have tried budgeting before and it has not stuck, I want to gently offer this: the problem usually is not you. It is the budget. Most budgets are built around rules and restrictions rather than around your actual life, your values, and the goals that matter to you. When a budget does not reflect reality, it falls apart. When it does, it becomes one of the most grounding things you can do for yourself financially.

Here is how to build one that works..

Step 1: Set Up Your Budget Framework

Before you fill in any numbers, you need a structure to put them in. This is your budget framework, and it is simply a template that organizes your income, your expenses, your savings, and your goals in one place.

Your framework can be a spreadsheet, a ...

The holidays are one of my favorite times of year. The gatherings, the food, the people around the table. I love all of it.

What I do not love is the financial hangover that follows when hosting was not planned with intention. You know the one. You open your credit card statement in January and feel that sinking realization that the party cost twice what you expected.

It does not have to go that way.

Hosting with intention is one of the most practical applications of the Intentional Money Method. Before you plan a single menu or send a single invitation, the question to ask yourself is: what do I actually value about this gathering? Because when your spending is rooted in your values, it stops feeling like deprivation and starts feeling like clarity.

Most of us value the people, the warmth, and the connection. Not the elaborate spread or the coordinated tablescape. Getting clear on that first makes every decision that follows easier.

Here are the strategies I recommend for hosting...

I have been a financial advisor for nearly two decades. I have worked inside large institutions and built my own firm. And I can tell you with complete honesty that not all financial advisors are created equal.

Some are excellent. Some are mediocre. And some are genuinely not working in your interest, even if they seem confident and credentialed.

I say that not to scare you away from getting professional help. Quite the opposite. A good financial advisor is one of the most valuable relationships you can have, especially in midlife when the decisions you make now have real consequences for the next 20 or 30 years. I say it because I want you to know what to look for, what questions to ask, and what should give you pause.

Here is how to choose a financial advisor who is actually right for you.

Returning to work after time away from your career is one of the most significant financial transitions a woman can face. And it almost never happens in a vacuum.

Maybe you stepped back to raise children and are now re-entering after a divorce. Maybe your kids have launched and you are ready to rebuild professionally. Maybe a relationship ended and your financial independence is no longer optional. It is urgent.

Whatever brought you here, I want to start by saying something I mean: the time you spent away from traditional employment was not wasted. You built skills. You managed complexity. You made decisions under pressure with real consequences for real people. That counts. And in many ways, it has prepared you for exactly the kind of intentional, values-driven professional life that is possible on the other side of this transition.

The fear is real. So is the opportunity. Here is how to navigate both.

Start With Clarity Before You Start With Resumes

The instinct when returning t...

Here is something I see constantly in my work with women.

She has been in her role for years. She is good at it. She has taken on more responsibility than her job description ever anticipated. And she has not asked for a raise in a very long time, maybe ever, because it feels awkward or presumptuous or like she should just be grateful for what she has.

And the longer she waits, the more it costs her. Not just today. Every year she is underpaid compounds. It affects her bonuses, her retirement contributions, her Social Security calculation, and every raise that builds on that base going forward.

Asking for a raise is not aggressive. It is not arrogant. It is one of the most financially consequential things you can do, especially in midlife when you are in the prime earning years that matter most for building wealth and funding the retirement you actually want.

Here is how to do it.

Start With Clarity: Know What You Are Worth and What You Want

The first pillar of the Intentional Mo...

One of the most common money questions I hear from parents has nothing to do with their own finances.

It is this: should I give my kids an allowance?

And the honest answer is: it depends. Not because the question is complicated, but because the right approach for your family depends on your values, your kids' ages, and what you actually want them to learn.

Here is what I know after nearly two decades as a financial planner and as a parent of three: the allowance itself is not the point. The point is the money habits and beliefs you are building in your kids right now. Those habits will follow them into adulthood, into their careers, into their marriages, and into how they handle their own financial lives someday.

That is why I think about allowance through the lens of the first pillar of the Intentional Money Method: Clarity. Before you decide what system to use, get clear on what you actually want your kids to learn. Earning? Saving? Delayed gratification? Contribution to the fami...