I recently moved to the Baltimore area and was interested in building a financial planning practice targeting women. But to be honest, I had very few ideas how to do this. Unfortunately I was not aware of the resources available at Directions for Women at the time.

I began doing some internet searches and talking to planners that I knew. Almost everyone agreed that there was a definite need for women-focused planning and also agreed that they would not know where to begin. I finally stumbled across the Woman’s Institute for Financial Education and from there visited Money Clubs. Both sites were helpful in reaffirming my belief that women were looking for a way to reach out to one another to discuss their financial concerns. And, the Money Club site also provided some ideas on how to structure the meetings and topics. This provided me a starting point, but I ended up personalizing the meetings and my approach. I was looking for something different from the Money Club structure and an approach that was unique to both the women invited and me.

Our first meeting was held in the office conference room and I served beverages and a selection of cookies. I am not sure who was more nervous, the ladies invited or me. We all took a deep breath and decided we would hope for the best and discuss finances – out loud and with strangers. We started with simple introductions, who we were and what we hoped to get out of the meetings. It was almost immediately a lively conversation with relative strangers opening up like old friends. I remember one participant saying that she hoped I would start another group soon because she had friends that could benefit from these types of conversations. I suggested she bring her friends to the next meeting and she laughed and explained she would never discuss money in front of her friends or neighbors.

Let me take a minute to explain the makeup of our little group. We have a variety of ages from late twenties to retirement. Everyone has worked outside of the home although some have not been the primary wage earner. We have single, married, divorced, widowed, childless, mothers, grandmothers and every stage of life and wealth accumulation you can imagine. And we are a group of about ten. I believe the diversity of the group adds to the richness of the conversations. At that first meeting, I asked for suggestions of topics that the group would like to tackle in our monthly meetings.

So far, we have had a meeting dedicated to retirement planning and a discussion of the variety of retirement planning vehicles that are available. We invited an expert on reverse mortgages to come and talk to the group and answer our questions. A local estate planning attorney came to one meeting to explain the importance of wills, trusts and answer questions about wills and probate. Next month we are having a personal organizer come in to give up some tips on ways to organize our important documents and home offices.

Looking back on the last six months, I can see a lot of ways that I could have improved on our initial meetings. And I echo the suggestion that having the participants take ownership of the topics and meetings would make the experience more fulfilling for all concerns. And, I appreciate the patience and willingness of my first group of guinea pigs to embark on this curious adventure with me.

But I think the most important thing I have learned to date is that each meeting of this group enriches me far more than it possibly benefits them. This monthly meeting has been an important first step to teach me how to change the conversation about money for my women clients.

I sincerely believe the entire experience would have been better for all if I were more prepared and not “winging” it. The importance of knowing how to make it a comfortable experience for all, when to talk and when to respect the silence, how to make a circle. I intend to start another group now that I have returned to Chicago, but before I do, I am going to participate in the Directions webinar series on Circle Training.

For more information about Carol Lee, you can email her: cleeroberts@sbcglobal.net.