Helping Women Build Confidence Around Money w/Michael Ringel

j_rosemarie___jenn_: My guest today is Michael Ringel, CPA and certified divorce financial analyst whose purpose is to empower families to experience purpose, freedom and abundance. Welcome Michael.

michael_ringel: Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Absolutely. It's a pleasure to have you. So before we start getting into what you do, tell us who is Michael. michael_ringel:

Who am I? I am a father of two beautiful daughters, age 22 and 20. I am the also father of six dogs, all male, j_rosemarie___jenn_: michael_ringel:

all rescue dogs. And my wife and I work with a dog rescue here in Marlborough, New Jersey. So we bring them from kill shelters down south, up north, and we get them fostered and adopted. That's who I am, that's what I do every day. And work with people to help them really achieve their purpose in life and their purpose around money. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Right, okay. All right, thank you for giving us a little peek into your life, I appreciate that. All right, so CPA, I understand, I studied accounting, but what I'm intrigued by the divorce coaching support part of your work, tell us about that and why is that important? michael_ringel: Sure, thanks for asking. So I'm a recovering CPA. I did my time at the big firms and realized very quickly that I wasn't adding any value to anybody's life. We were always looking at the past, always looking at history, and I'm more of a forward thinker, trying to figure out where we wanna go as opposed to where we've been. And in 2004, I joined a firm in the financial planning, financial coaching arena. and realized that there were a lot of women out there going through divorce or single who really are, were never educated when it came to money. Whether it be they were just never taught, like most people really haven't been taught about money and finances, they're not confident about it, they abdicated it to their spouse to handle. A lot of women that I've worked with over the years. you know, had a career, got married, then had the hardest career, which was taking care and raising the family, because I helped participate in that, boy, that's difficult. And then realized that they were getting separated and really took no responsibility for handling money all those years and didn't really know what was going on, let alone know how to invest the money going forward. So... I decided to get a certification called the Certified Divorced Financial Analyst, where I learned how to help women who were going through the divorce process build confidence around money. Stand up for themselves, not being taken advantage of by their future ex-husband, and then really helping them solve one of the biggest challenges that they faced. is the question is, am I going to be okay? I mean, that's all anybody really wants to know. After the divorce process, will there be enough money for them to live the lifestyle that they want to live and eventually retire? What I discovered was I had to have some tough conversations with clients, especially when there wasn't enough money for two households and had to coach them on how to get a job. how to handle money, and it worked out pretty well for them because once they got through the process, they realized that they were gonna be okay. So for the last 13 years, have been working with people going through the divorce process to be their advocate when it came to money, and then help them really understand how to take control of cash flow, but more importantly, how to align their purpose for money. we call it the true purpose for money, with how they invest. And a lot of people I work with think that investing is very difficult. It seems overwhelming. When you take a look at what's going on in the news and the media, there's so much negativity about it that a lot of people get scared and they don't invest. Or their behavior, their behavior dictates to them what they're gonna do and they make really bad choices with their money. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Right. michael_ringel:

So I don't know if you experience anything about that or a lot of the women who are you know listening to this have experienced but you know, I personally did it because as I mentioned before I have two daughters and If for some time they do get in the future they do get married and things don't work out I want to make sure that they have the confidence around money, and can become self-sufficient. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Yes, I appreciate that. I saw that and I thought this is interesting because I had a certain experience and I wish I had someone like you. But and it's a delicate balance I expect because it's not you don't want to talk about divorce if you're not if you're married or happily married but you also want to be wise right in your finance. michael_ringel: Absolutely. So that I was just speaking to, you know, women who were going through divorce. What my passion is, is to work with all women, whether they're married or not married, right, whether they through divorce or michael_ringel: not, to help them build confidence around money. Right? You mentioned before, you know, our purpose in what we do is to empower families michael_ringel: to experience purpose, freedom, and abundance in their lives. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Okay.

michael_ringel: The problem is most people don't. They experience fear, doubt, and worry, and that dictates a lot of times the financial decisions that they make. So how do we empower them to look at things through a different lens and to teach and coach them to be able to say, okay, it's not as overwhelming as you think. There are some certain principles that you need to stick by based upon what we believe the academics of investing. versus speculating and gambling, j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Right. michael_ringel: and then coach people on a regular basis to be able to understand what we call the truths of investing versus the myths, and then design a plan around their purpose. So what we've discovered is that if people don't have purpose around their money, then they make really, they could make bad decisions with their income. and with their money. But when you align your purpose with how you invest, well, we find that people typically make better decisions that way. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Yeah, that sounds reasonable. michael_ringel: Yeah. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

And I guess it would encourage women to participate more in the financing aspect, you know, when they're married, but also instead of being scared, if they're not married, instead of being scared, they just, you know, like you said, connect their purpose to that money. michael_ringel: Absolutely. I mean, one j_rosemarie___jenn_: Yeah. michael_ringel:

of the things that we do is we offer a course. It's a free course called the American dream experience. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Okay. michael_ringel:

It's actually a two day course where it's actually delivered, um, twice a year via zoom and twice a year live, um, in Scottsdale, Arizona. And the first day is all about discovering for yourself, your true purpose for money. Like, what does money mean to you? What was your childhood like about money? Did you have, the no talk rule growing up. A lot of us grew up where you don't talk about money, you don't j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm-hmm. michael_ringel:

ask questions about money, money is evil. All these different psychological biases around money michael_ringel: cause us not to make prudent decisions around money. So the first day, we spend a lot of time going through that and because it's in a class environment, as opposed to just a presentation, People get up and share. So imagine a room, well, the Zoom we're gonna do in January is gonna have a thousand people on it. So imagine getting up and sharing your experience with money and then listening to other people's experience with money and it resonates with you. You say, wow, you know what? That was like my childhood. That's how I react around money. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Yeah. michael_ringel:

That's what's holding me back. And then what we do is we take a look at, how people, how the media tries to control our mind around money, right? So there's a war for our mind. When you watch TV, the news, right? If you turn on any of the business stations, there's always doom and gloom and, you know, we're in a recession, we're at a recession, you know, the economy. I mean, it's crazy. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Yeah. michael_ringel: Some great reports came out yesterday and the markets went down. So the economy is getting stronger, but markets are going down. People go, huh, I'm not even going to participate. So if we help people align their truth around money, their purpose with money, with, we call them two different screens, you could either gamble and speculate with your money, or you can invest based upon empirically tested Nobel Prize winning philosophies. you get to choose, right? j_rosemarie___jenn_: Okay. michael_ringel: One's not right, one's not wrong, but if you choose gambling and speculating and it doesn't align with your purpose or money, then you're gonna experience fear, doubt, worry and pain versus if you aligned your money with who you are, then you're gonna experience the freedom, purpose and love that we spoke about before. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Right, okay. All right, I am understanding it now, the way you're explaining it. Yes. All right, so we as women, and as mom especially, we do worry about money, whether we have enough or not. We worry whether we have enough, right? Explain the myths that actually keep us in that fear, that fear mode. and then explain what we need to do, at least the first step to get michael_ringel: Sure. j_rosemarie___jenn_: out of. Yeah.

michael_ringel: Yeah, so I think step number one is to really connect with your purpose, as I mentioned before. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm-hmm.

michael_ringel: Just really understand what it means for you. Like for me, when I did this course and I do it every couple times a year, I discovered that money to me means creating experiences for my family and creating experiences for my clients. One of the ways I do that is I implement a system on how to add structure to my savings so that I'm saving more money than I ever thought I could. Like for example, most people when they make more money, they spend more money. Right? j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm-hmm.

michael_ringel: It's called unconscious consumption. So how do we build structure on cash flow so that if our income increases, that our spending doesn't increase as much and we could take that difference and we could save it. Or we could invest it. Or we could consume it. So I think step number one is really getting in touch with, and I'm not talking about a budget, right? Nobody likes to be on a budget. Looks j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm.

michael_ringel: like nobody likes to be on a diet, right j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Right. michael_ringel: They don't work. But how do you create the structure around cashflow such that it doesn't impede lifestyle and you save more money? Once you have this free cashflow, And then what we do is talk about what you could do with it. As I mentioned, you could consume it, you could save it, you could spend it, or you can even give it away. You know, a lot of people like to give money to charity. And from the investment side, right, there are certain myths around investing. You know, the first myth is that there are people out there who can consistently pick the right stock. And while they could do it once in a while, they may not be able to do it on a consistent basis. And we have all the math and data and science to prove that it doesn't work. And the problem is most people do that. They're gambling with their money. They go to j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm-hmm.

michael_ringel: a party and somebody says to them, you know what? I know this great company. You should move your money here. Or my advisor got me 20%. What did your advisor get? What? Only 10? Well, you should move your money. but they don't understand is the amount of risk it takes to get that return, and we need to analyze that. j_rosemarie___jenn_:Right.

j_rosemarie___jenn_: Okay. All right. Thank you. michael_ringel:

You're welcome. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Thank you, Michael. So what is Michael grateful for today? michael_ringel:

besides being on the program and sharing some wisdom with all the women that are listening, j_rosemarie___jenn_: Thank you. michael_ringel:

I am actually thankful for my great-grandparents. And I'll tell j_rosemarie___jenn_: Hmm. michael_ringel: you why. We were at Thanksgiving, and we went around the room and started asking questions. Or, what are we thankful for? And I said, you know, our great-grandparents came over from another country with nothing. and they thought that they would have a better life in America for their kids and their kids' kids and so on. And they sacrificed and worked really hard to produce a great life for my grandparents, who then produced an even better life for my parents, who then produced an even better life for myself and which I'm passing on to my kids. So it's from generation to generation to generation being thankful for the sacrifices that they went through. sacrifices my grandparents, my parents, what I'm going through, I know my kids appreciate it, and then paying it forward. That's what I'm grateful for. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Awesome. I appreciate you sharing that. Oh, michael_ringel: Thank you.

j_rosemarie___jenn_: that's pretty good. All right. Okay. So we have a show notes, as you know, with podcasting. michael_ringel: Yeah. j_rosemarie___jenn_: And I want you to give me some information. One, how people could get in touch with you. Two, how they could utilize your service and tell us about your upcoming seminar. Yeah. michael_ringel:

Yeah, you bet, thanks. So my phone number is 917-734-4748. It's my direct line, comes directly to me. Be more than happy to have a conversation with anybody who just wants to talk and be able to share some, I'll listen and share some advice. If it makes sense to, you know, I can help and great. If not, that's fine too. My email address is M. r-i-n-g-e-l at strategies for wealth.com and If people send me an email we can send them an upcoming list of coaching events that we're hosting we host them every single month on all different topics when it comes to money and investing and They're free We're hosting that American dream experience. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Mm-hmm. michael_ringel: I met in January It's virtual and it's free as well and be more than happy to invite anybody who would like to participate to join us. j_rosemarie___jenn_: and your website.

michael_ringel: It's www.mikeringle.com. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Okay. And they'll be able to find information on the seminar on there, on the workshop. michael_ringel: They're not there, so if they send me an email, I'll send j_rosemarie___jenn_: Okay. michael_ringel: it to them.

j_rosemarie___jenn_: All right. Cool. We'll add those to the show notes. So people. All michael_ringel: All right. j_rosemarie___jenn_: right. Okay. Thank you for coming, Michael Ringo, and sharing your expertise with us today. Now, michael_ringel: Awesome. j_rosemarie___jenn_: before you go, give us one piece of advice for a solo mom, a working solo mom, and just on investing or managing our money. michael_ringel: door. I think the best investment you can make is investing in yourself. j_rosemarie___jenn_:

Hmm. michael_ringel: I can teach anybody the truth of investing. I can teach them the academics. Coming from a family of a college, my dad was a college professor for 50 years, he instilled a discipline of lifelong learning and what I've discovered is that every time I make a monetary investment in myself learning something, more education, another certification, more letters next to my name, I always make more money. So the best investment that you could make is in yourself. And I also believe education in your kids. But you first. j_rosemarie___jenn_: Yeah. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Anything else? michael_ringel: No, that's it. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. j_rosemarie___jenn_: You're right, absolutely.