Today's episode is about financial literacy. The term sounds a little daunting, but it is really about distilling down the key things we women really need to know to take control of our finances. Our guest, Reesa Manning, is the perfect guide, having taught women about money and investing for a decade. What do you absolutely need to know about your financial situation? What is a good process for helping you see your financial “big picture”? I think you will find Reesa’s insights valuable and enjoy her inspiring story!
Guest – Reesa Manning
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reesamanning/
Reesa Manning was a former Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor at UBS Financial Services for 12 years. Prior to her career in financial services, she founded Southern California based, 140 store franchise, Penguin's Frozen Yogurt. She served as president of the nonprofit, 2000-member National Council of Jewish Women in Los Angeles for three years and was past president of the Desert Cities Chapter of NAWBO (National Organization of Women Business Owners) and Women Leaders Forum of the Coachella Valley. She resides in Rancho Mirage with her husband and currently serves on the Board of Temple Sinai and The Springs HOA. She is a firm believer in women's empowerment and financial literacy.
Host – Teresa Mitchell, CFP
In my 20 years in the industry, I have had over a thousand conversations with women who have not felt they have reached their financial potential – usually in the areas of investing and subsequent financial security. I have found the key to moving forward from the image of bag lady to empowered lady is having a different kind of conversation with women than they usually experience with a financial advisor. It is about focusing more deeply on what matters in terms of family, community and life purpose. Approaching the conversation with compassion and a goal of honest, authentic connection creates a sense of trust that makes financial education and taking investment action not only possible but desirable.
To that end I left my longtime wealth management firm and am launching a personal financial coaching platform -- LADY MONEY, LLC. It is intended to help women achieve a sense of financial wellbeing around investing for retirement that imparts peace of mind and ultimately leads to financial security.
Teresa Mitchell: Values and money don't mix. Hm. Or do they? Join me, financial coach, Teresa Mitchell to find out. Let's explore how women can make money while making a difference. This is Lady Money.
Welcome! Today's episode is on financial literacy. I have to admit I don’t care for the word much and prefer education. Probably because it is associated with a negative – illiteracy. Regardless – and more important than the term, is clarifying what we women really need to know about finances – the non-negotiables.
Our guest today has some great insights on this subject after 20 years as a financial advisor and 10 teaching financial literacy, primarily to women.
Reesa Manning has an even more impressive background as a successful entrepreneur. I think you will find her story inspiring.
Let’s get started!
Teresa Mitchell: Welcome to Lady Money - The Podcast. I think I would like to start. I know, um, you have a very interesting story about how you became a financial advisor, and your background is even more amazing than that.
So, I guess this is a long-winded way of saying, could you just share some things about yourself for us?
Reesa Manning: Yeah, I'd be happy to do that. I found myself with what I say -- two kids and a clock radio and an iron. I was about 30ish. All I had was a high school education, and I had to figure out how to support those two kids. I did real estate for a while. I was very fortunate that my mother happened to have been in the mobile home business and sold mobile homes. And I got a job selling mobile homes and actually did very, very well doing that. Took about five or six years and saved enough money to be able to start my own business, which was called Penguin's Frozen Yogurt. And that turned into a 140-store franchise. It was very successful. If anybody lived in the San Fernando Valley (I was actually in six states) but the San Fernando Valley was where most of the stores were.
And every kid that was 16, you know, that was their main job was to go to work for Penguin’s. And about five years into that, I, um, unfortunately, I had stage four lung cancer. And so, I had to make a decision that was at a time when we were ready to either go public or explode. I was told to get my house in order and, um, and I had all these buyers.
I thought to myself, well, you know what Reesa. That's what most people that want to do. They want to build a company, sell it and make lots of money. So, I sold the company. It was just heartbreaking for me because it was really something that I, I just, I lived, I lived on a daily basis. Not just me, but my kids worked for me.
Everybody worked for me. It was that kind of a family. It was, it was amazing. And fortunately for myself, obviously I'm here today and I sold successfully sold Penguin’s. And went about healing, about getting myself well again, which I didn't know that I was going to, but I did.
And in the process, I had all this money. That I didn't expect. I had never had a lot of money. I'd had money to pay the bills, put the kids in school, do all those things. All of a sudden there was money. You have to invest it.
And so, I was fortunate enough I was with a financial advisor. His name was Larry Smith. If he ever happens to pick up, listen to this from so many years ago. And he was new in his business as well. And I just, I just drove him crazy.
I was so possessive of this money. I had been in a bad marriage. I did not want anybody to get their hands on this money that I had earned all by myself. And, after about four or five years, my health was getting better and better. And he said to me, you know, Reesa, you should come in this business.
And I really loved it because I was just learning about it, learning about it. Other things happened too. I met my future husband. His name was Steve Manning. We moved to Palm Springs, and I got interviewed at PaineWebber in Palm Springs. And they hired me. I was the oldest trainee in their group.
But at the time the industry was going through a huge shake-up, as it is even today with discrimination against women. And they needed women financial advisors. And so, I think they overlooked the fact that I didn't have, you know, the special educational things. And I became an advisor. I did it for almost 20 years. I had a partner, the same partner all those years, young man, he was 20 years younger than me.
And we had a great practice. It was very holistic, and I was able to bring to that practice all the lessons that I had to learn to invest my own money. So, when I sat down with a client, I felt like, I wasn't an advisor who was just advising them. I had experienced so many things, the divorce, the sickness, that having to get your house in order and having your, you know, the legacy planning, all of that.
And then about halfway through, I started teaching a class called “What Happens When Harry Dies?”, because I found that so many women came to us. They were so unprepared. That if something happened, the husbands had taken care of it. So that really was the kind of the business and the career that I had. And I sold it about four years ago.
Teresa Mitchell: Wow. It's an amazing story. I guess, one of the things I wondered is about Penguin’s. I know you'd had some successes in real estate and some other things, but that seems to be a bigger leap, you know, than most of us would take so...
Reesa Manning: Yeah.
Teresa Mitchell: Were you scared? How did you get the confidence and the courage to do that and to be so amazingly successful?
Reesa Manning: What was so interesting is that by the time I had finished a major project, and actually in Santa Maria, California, and I'd worked with a wonderful builder there. His name was Michael Tobes, and I learned a lot of things from him. For me, it was sort of, everything was learning as you go, kind of by the seat of your pants, kind of the fake it till you make it thing.
And I was around really good people. There's a lot of kind of life lessons that I learned. I was finishing up the project that I was on, I was going to move back to the desert and my daughter went to work in a frozen yogurt store. And it was just sort of the start of the whole frozen yogurt business.
And I could come back to the desert, I could open the store and my mom could come work for me. The kids would have a job. And I'm going back, you know, almost 30 years ago. So, it wasn't like it was this huge amount of money say as it is today, but it was a lot of money. And it was my money.
I spent about six to eight months traveling around California. There were some very successful stores up in the Berkeley area because of the university. By this time, I was like 40ish, and I was learning to listen to myself, and I just felt very strongly about it.
And I figured if it didn't work, I always go back to work, you know?
Teresa Mitchell: Well, it sounds like. You know, everything you've described is that it wasn't just a job. It was part of your life.
Reesa Manning: Exactly. Yeah,
Teresa Mitchell: You talked about involving your family and community, which are two big passions for most women. I know you care deeply about giving back. So, I wondered if you could say something about how you view financial literacy especially in terms of women.
Reesa Manning: Well, I guess my, my famous saying was, I'm going to teach you how to tell time and not how to build the clock. So, in other words, when those financial statements come in, where does the money come from? How is it invested? How are all these basic things that were never taught in school - and they look, it's like a special language the financial industry. And if you don't know the meaning of the words, then it just floats over your head. So, to really bring it down into, like I said, how to tell time.
What we would do is we start with real basic - what I call "know, where you stand". And it was really like getting your house in order. Where was the money? Where was it invested? Where did it come from? All that, and that was all written out.
We talk about how to guarantee your income, about legacy planning, ethical wills, on your life through retirement. Finance 101, introduction to know where you stand. And you go through that process, it really is just life shifting. It makes it clear and simple and not complicated.
Teresa Mitchell: I think that's a good first step. Most women don't get started because it does seem overwhelming to them. I know you also talked about the idea of women meeting in groups. There are a lot of financial coaches now, but we had talked about how effective that group learning is for women.
I know there are women out there that this is creating stress in their life and they're just reluctant to do anything. I think the class format is really helpful. Maybe you could talk a little bit about that and why that seemed to work for the women that took your course.
Reesa Manning: It was interesting. I taught a course called learning and retirement, and it was through the College of the Desert here in the Coachella Valley. And so, the women who came to the class were 55 and older. And I made it all women because I'd had the class with men and women, and I found that the women didn't really speak a lot or talk up a lot if there were men in the class. There'd be maybe 12 to 15 women. And after I don't know, maybe after the first session, the second session we were going through all this homework work, laying it out.
They were coming back with all these aha moments. And then sharing. And what was really interesting if the women were married or had partners or spouses, their husbands were very involved because most of the husbands wanted them to know, but the women were reluctant because they didn't have a path to how-to-know. And so, they'd come back to class, and everybody was different, but they'd all share. Once they got used to sharing and not feeling stupid about asking certain questions, then they realized that none of them knew that the answers that they were all more open. And women loved it. They really loved it.
I have to share with you is that I did it for almost 10 years. It's a small community. So, I go to Trader Joe's and it's like, “Hey Risa, guess what? We sold that house”. Or we did this, and we did that. Or the kids are finished school or, you know, whatever it was that they were looking at and trying to resolve. It was empowering. I think that was the most important thing. It was very empowering at the end of the day.
Teresa Mitchell: I still have trouble understanding this. Did you also think it was the money taboo? You know that people don't talk about it enough. This is a problem because women like to digest things. They like to think about them. And without being able to talk to your family and friends, it creates a real roadblock for most women. So, do you have anything to say on money taboos and how we get out of that?
Reesa Manning: Well, women were never taught. I would say money is power to men and security to women. So, it's just two different mindsets. And even though women make more money than their husbands, they still back away from the money issue. I think it's a risk issue. I think that women like to feel secure. They want to know that that rent is paid. Their kids are taken care of, or that the retirement monies in the bank. And they're not risk-takers in that sense.
And that's kind of my own personal conclusion that I came to because women aren't taught, you know, we're taught somebody is going to come along and save us, you know, on the white horse, what is it? You know, whatever...
Teresa Mitchell: Prince Charming.
Reesa Manning: Prince Charming...was going to come and save us.
The empowering thing is to understand what you have and what it's for. And I think the other thing too, Teresa, is going through that workbook and having all of that information in front of you. If you get to a piece that you don't understand, you're able to question it. And I think one of the big things was Social Security. That check is written to that woman. It's yours. I can remember giving talks in a room full of women at a country club. They were very, very wealthy but as soon as we started talking about Social Security, that was their check that came in the mail every month, and they really wanted to know. Women are so ill-advised on when they should take their Social Security. And that's a huge topic.
Teresa Mitchell: It isn't just women. There's a lot of misinformation. I think back in my own case, that it's a matter of the role of the man and the woman in terms of money in our society.
I know my father became ill suddenly and my mother had never handled anything. And when I got married, the same thing happened. My husband didn't die, but he became disabled, and he had handled everything. That was the big motivation, at that point, to become an advisor. I think that's the thing about the workbook. When you give someone something concrete, like the workbook, it shows they can put those feelings aside...
Reesa Manning: Well, even just to know. When I first went into the business, everyone in the old days used to have finance clubs and all of the women were there. And so, I would come to the meetings every week. And then gradually these people became my clients. They were married women living at a country club. And really always trying to figure out how we're going to invest in this stock or how are we going to make money doing this? But it wasn't about the big picture.
And a woman came to me and said “My husband's very sick. I'm lying in bed at night... And he always tells me “Honey, you don't have to worry. The accountant's got everything, everything's taken care of. You've got a son who's an attorney. He'll help you.” She said, “I need to know. How am I going to know?”
And that was sort of the references to put this whole program together. As I said, I called it “What happens when Harry dies?” And so, we went to her with her husband, and I sat with him, and he said, “Well, she doesn't have to worry about it.”
“You don't understand, Harry. She needs to know”. And he said, “Well, you know, I've always wanted her to know, but she didn't have any interest”.
“Well, now she does. So, will you help us?” And we, again put it, like, know where you stand, everything. We listed everything. And this guy I'll tell ya. I mean, he had, that was, that was a lesson for me because he had accounts all over the world, not just here, but everywhere.
But it was good. It was good for all of us. And that was what the impetus was for my “What happens when Harry dies?”. I've even used that a lot, here in the desert, in the gay communities because you have, I always say there's a, there's a partnership and there’s a pilot, and a co-pilot. Doesn't matter whether they’re wife or husband or partners or whatever they are, you know?
Or you're alone, you're flying solo. So, there's just things that you absolutely have to have. And you and I both have experienced this last year, going through, after somebody passes away, about having all of that in order so that you can take care of it. And the trauma, you don't want to deal with it, you don't want to deal with it, but you have to deal with it at some point down the road. But if it's all laid out and been prepared, then it's just easier.
Teresa Mitchell: That's interesting. I was doing some research on financial wellbeing. It just seems like having the financial knowledge or financial control -- I don't think that's intuitive. I don't think people realize how much of a stress reliever that is. And knowing doesn't mean that you still can't have an advisor, or the attorney couldn't still help her. The other thing I was going to ask you, you talked about the word empowerment. And I think that is so important, especially today because I don't think women have as much of a voice as they could have in our society.
And I think money and the power is part of the issue. You know, women don't step up. I wonder what your thoughts are on that because you're very modest about the accomplishments that you've made, but you seem to me to be a very strong, confident woman. And I think most of us have that deep down inside, but that relationship with money needs some work in order to get there. So, what are your thoughts on that?
Reesa Manning: When I remarried, I had some very strong thoughts about this, the money that I had made with Penguins. And he had been married a couple of times before. He had always had wives, the ones that stayed home and they were Mrs. Manning’s.
So, it was very interesting to see the two of us come together. I was very independent. And it was interesting how we figured out a way to share our monies, because I did not want to be like taken care of. I didn't want to feel like I owed something. And so, we put together a program which I share with a lot of women when they start a new relationship.
And what we would do is, every month, we put X amount of dollars in the bank. And we had a credit card for that money. And then all our expenses, whatever we did, we just charged on the credit card. And then we paid out of that pool, that bank account every month.
But what it did is -- it gave me the freedom to feel like I was participating. Yet he felt he was paying. I ended up taking care of all the investment part of the money. He actually wrote the checks every month, which was kind of interesting. But it wasn't until he passed away, which has been just a little over three years now. And I sold my house that we lived in, and I bought a new house. And this house is paid for and I'm living on income that I have from our investments. And it's the first time in my life that I feel like I'm on a pension. I know that my Social Security check got deposited today. That in the next two days there will be a couple more checks that are going to be deposited.
And its enough money for me to live on. I don't have to worry. And it's like the best feeling. So, it's the first time in my life I've ever had this sort of. Oh, I'm fine. And I've been there for years, but this is the first time I actually feel it.
Teresa Mitchell: I don't know what the solution is. My situation is very similar. I had a lot of concern that my mother was going to run out of money. And I was trying to figure out, how do I do that because I have a disabled husband also. And so that was really stressful. I absolutely knew there was going to be enough money for them. So, I was really worried that I would be the last one standing and penniless. What happens to me?
Reesa Manning: Right.
Teresa Mitchell: And that's despite being a financial advisor, having done the plan. It seemed like I was okay, but I don't know what the answer is either. There seems to be some work that needs to be done because I know that since they both passed away and I've realized that there will be enough money. My stress level, just the way I feel physically and mentally, is amazingly different, you know, very much improved.
Reesa Manning: Yeah. The other thing I forgot to mention is that in these classes that I would do. The main thing I would teach women is to know that money is options. Money is choices. Money is freedom. I'd say, you have to have some F-you money somewhere. So, if you're in a job or you're in a relationship you can walk out the door. Money is what gives you the choice. Yes, we all love to go buy a beautiful handbag. I get that. But money is about having those choices and being able to say, I can be an independent individual and live my life.
And I think that's the empowerment part. But when you finally get that, understand that part about it. When I sold Penguins, this is mine, you know. I have choices. And you don't have to have a lot of money. You just have to have, you know, a few months here, a rainy-day fund.
Teresa Mitchell: I'm trying to think where it was that I heard this, but they were pointing out that – say you weren't earning as much as you really needed to. But you were living within your means, and you were saving a little bit. That person actually might be happier than the person that's making a lot more money, but they're overspending. Because they figure, oh, well, I can just get another job or, you know, it'll all work out. The only thing is none of us know what's going to happen and savings takes time. So, getting into those habits and then repeating them is what really makes the difference.
Reesa Manning: I think if there's a lesson... I have a couple of daughters and grandkids and, trying to make them understand how important it is to save money. I cannot get through to them how important it is to have that money in the bank. Just for what happened this last year, where all of a sudden people lost their jobs, not having any place to go and not having any choices.
Teresa Mitchell: There's an exercise called Future Self and they were doing some work at UC, Berkeley with young people. The computer would transform you into a senior citizen. And it really motivated them that they needed to take care of themselves physically, you know, save for the future. Because I think when you're young, you're in that bubble of immortality and you don't think of yourself as getting older in the future.
Reesa Manning: Sure.
Teresa Mitchell: If you had to give some advice. If you could only tell women one or two things to do that many of them aren't what would that be?
Reesa Manning: Oh, I would say the number one thing would be, if they're alone, then they absolutely have to understand where the money is and what they're doing with it. If they're in a relationship, or they’re married then it's the same thing, I mean, they have to be part of that.
When I had my practice, and a new person would come in, and we'd set up an appointment, I’d say, now you can bring your wife and he'd go, well, she doesn't care. And I go, no, no, no, you don't understand. I won't do this unless I deal with the both of you. And so it was sort of that empowerment that we have as financial advisors, I think to be able to include women and make them feel comfortable.
And I think probably one of the most important things you can do is to have that money... is to have a little cash. Just always feel like you can make a decision. You can make a choice. There's a nest egg of some sorts. It doesn't have to be huge, but I mean, they should have that money. Yes, I can make this decision. And the consequences are going to be – I can drive away from here. I can go live someplace else. I can do something else. I think that's just so critical.
And learn, you know, go take a class from you or wherever they can and just learn.
Teresa Mitchell: I think that's true. I think of a story, um, a woman that I've known. I was trying to get her to come to one of the women's circles that I host. And she said the same thing you were talking about. Her husband would always go to the advisor meetings without her. We talked a couple of times, and she said the same thing. “You know, well, I'm not really interested. He does it really well.” At one point I was very quiet, and she said, "And I really find it confusing" and she was obviously embarrassed.
You know, I could, I could see that, and I thought, oh my goodness. How many women are we not reaching because of those feelings.
Reesa Manning: Yeah. For me, money is like cooking.
Teresa Mitchell: I like that.
Reesa Manning: I’m a cook. You need a recipe. Its understanding when you add those ingredients into that pot, you know that if I'm going to add this, it's going to make my soup hotter. Or it's going to make it taste blander. You know what I'm saying? And I think money is kind of the same way. I cannot tell you how many people don't know how to cook. And they have no interest in ever learning how to cook. So, they'll roast a potato or something. That's the way money is. And you have to learn about it, and you learn what the words mean and how they relate to you and how you use them.
Teresa Mitchell: I think both of us experienced the same thing when we worked with women. It's really the only path to reaching your full potential. I think relationships are really important and community, the sense of purpose, those are just part of the female makeup, but without that financial control your life is so much more stressful.
And you talked about the freedom of choice, you know, that I think, I mean, we only get one life. And so, I think we really all want to be able to choose and live that life that we really envisioned.
Thank you so much. This has been a great conversation.
Reesa Manning: It's fun. I haven't talked about this kind of stuff for a long time. I'm actually going out for dinner tonight with a couple who are clients. And I only see them once a year. But they called and said, “Hey, Reesa. Can we go out for dinner?” And I said, “Sure!” It's just so good to run into people after all these years.
Teresa Mitchell: The thing that is amazing is that they really care. They clearly want to see you because they believe that you made such a difference in their life. And that sense of trust, it's rare these days.
Reesa Manning: That's true. It was a gift. I always say that my 20 years in the industry was a gift and I'm very grateful for it, you know?
Teresa Mitchell: Well Risa, it sounds like it was a gift both ways.
Teresa Mitchell: I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did! I think there were a number of takeaways.
First, what inspiring accomplishments. Starting a small mom & pop business would have been impressive but a 140-store franchise with no MBA or corporate background?!
Surviving what should have been terminal cancer, teaching herself about finances and investing from scratch and then going on to be a successful financial advisor.
It almost sounds like a movie script! But the thing is – it’s not. It is an inspiration to all of us that when we learn how money works, we can use that knowledge to do something incredible.
The biggest insight on personal finances was the importance of knowing what you have and having some sort of system for laying it all out so you can see your big financial picture. Reesa used a workbook in the courses she taught, and I do that as part of the Lady Money program too. Learning about money is like learning about anything else in life, step-by-step!
So, thank you for listening. If you would like more information on the Lady Money coaching program, check out the show notes. Until next time -- this has been Lady Money -- where money and values do mix.