How to Prepare for Retirement & Break Free from Financial Anxiety with Angela Brooks

Dawn Damon: Hey everyone. Thank you for joining me again on the Bravehearted Woman. I've got a fabulous episode for you today. So you want to get your journal and your pen, or maybe you just want to focus and listen and then come back and listen a second time. But yeah, we're going to go there today.

We are going to talk about money. So my guest today is a certified financial planner professional. She's a business owner and a certified marriage coach. Sometimes marriage and money go together. Well, she serves as a wealth advisor and is a principal of family capital management in a multimillion-dollar advisory firm. As a fiduciary with over 10 years of experience, my guest provides financial advice and she has led countless clients to go from moderate incomes to affluent confident investors. She could do the same for you. She's a wife, a mother of three, and the host of a popular podcast called Her Money Revolution. Here to talk to us today about our money, our cash, and our moolah, please welcome Angela Brooks.

Hi, Angela!

Angela Brooks: Hi, how are you? It's wonderful to be here. Thank you.

Dawn Damon: I'm doing great. Thank you for asking.

We're excited about this conversation because honestly, midlife women have a lot of anxiety around finances if they're not been accustomed to investing or creating their own wealth. Take the shame of us today because we're not the only ones who struggle with anxiety. Even extremely wealthy, experienced people can have anxiety around money. It's not uncommon, right?

Angela Brooks: Absolutely. Money. Anxiety is something that affects All people, men and women, and of all incomes and all ages, it's completely normal. I get the privilege to work with these types of women almost on a monthly basis. So I see it firsthand. And the key Dawn is to recognize it and then to take those proactive steps to managing that anxiety and then to managing your investments and working with someone that can help you.

For many women, the financial stress. It starts from the uncertainty and that feeling that they don't know enough about money that they aren't equipped with the knowledge or that they aren't making the right decisions. Oftentimes that paralyzes us if we don't know for sure we just freeze and that's why Financial education and planning are so, so, so very important. I always say when you have a clear plan, it replaces fear with confidence.

Dawn Damon: I love what you're saying because I say it all the time here on the BraveHearted Woman, we face our fear with a plan and you're so right. Without a plan, we really stall out and we get stuck.

I want to say right up at the top, there are so many incredible savvy, smart women business entrepreneurs like yourself who are very comfortable around money and yet there's a significant population of women and perhaps even midlife and beyond. I'm even 50 and 60 because it wasn't always our generation. We were still on the tail end of women who were stay-at-home moms, God bless us, we didn't have to be in the workforce if we didn't choose to, And we let our husbands take control of the finances. We didn't have a voice and some of us became victims of that framework and that mindset and that paradigm, if you will. So yes, there are women who are very comfortable around this, but how do we face our fear with a plan? What is a plan for a midlife woman? Because sometimes I find in my coaching that many of us think it's too late. Not just about finances, about starting a dream, about setting a goal. Is it too late for us to get in this money game?

Angela Brooks: It's not. It's never too late. I often say yesterday was better, but today is good as well. And so it's never too late.

I want to point out too, that oftentimes women, it's that society. Those societal expectations, cultural narratives, and fear of the unknown, that I have let my husband manage all of everything since birth. You know, we were married and so I have no idea how to do any of this. Then that guilt sets in and then regret sets in of like not being better prepared or stewarding my finances better when I was younger. So then they have this whole mindset that just derails them from wanting to take the next step forward.

When oftentimes when you just shift that narrative, it's okay. You know, I'm a working mom. When one of my kids gets sick, I am the one that they call first because I have more flexibility in my job. So we have as women and moms and wives and all of the different roles that we take, we take on a lot of different responsibilities, but we don't focus as much on our finances. That's always one that's just kind of on the back burner. So I really want to encourage you. It doesn't matter if you're 20, 30, 50, or 60. I met a prospective client, um, a couple of days ago and she's 62. And this is the first time that she's ever talked to an advisor. She's had husbands and ex-husbands and they've passed and she's just embarrassed and she feels guilty. So I really feel passionate about educating women and empowering them to say, once you start looking at it, you're actually normally a better investor than you think.

Dawn Damon: I like that. I have to interrupt. You got to say that again, ladies. That's a lightning bolt moment. You have to listen to this.

Angela Brooks: You're a better investor than you actually think. See, it's so true. So women want to, kind of the same] thing I said, they want to understand something before they make those decisions.

Even if you've started into, let's just say a 401k when you were 29 and you got your first real job. And so you've started investing. Well, you didn't make much movement, probably because you weren't sure you hadn't done the research.

Oftentimes if you just leave it alone versus where comparing, looking at a men's return, they think that they can, you know, out Mar outpace the market and they do a lot of buying and selling and my buddy told me about this stock, so I wanna go ahead and buy that. And so there's a lot of movement that goes on, but statistics show that women actually are better at math and when you make those decisions, they're wise investment decisions. So it's just that fear. It's so much of a mindset. We do have to take control of our finances. It is our responsibility as a human being, you know, that at one point you will have to manage statistics shows us that you will have to manage your finances because you live longer than men. And so it is something that I'm very passionate about because I've seen the lack of education and lack of confidence around that.

I really encourage you to take that step. And if it feels big and scary, call a financial advisor that you're comfortable with that will help. You understand the jargon and the terms and not make you feel uncomfortable in a client meeting. I've had clients Tell me that they've left the meeting crying and feeling really stupid and ashamed. You know, I don't want that for you.

Dawn Damon: That's so important because I do think that if we've not been accustomed to this whole domain of our finances and investing, and you talk about the market and Wall Street, we might think, Oh, that's over my head. I don't want to bet. I like what you're saying. Get that mindset shift.

Remember women, be brave, face it with a plan, but understand you can learn this. You can shift this mindset. You can look at it and you don't have to feel dumb. You don't have to feel unaware. You don't know the vocabulary. It's okay to raise your hand and ask those questions.

So, Angela, I hear you saying, first of all, we got to shift the narrative. I hear you saying it's never too late. Yesterday was better, but we have today. Then are you saying educate yourself? Is that what you're saying when you say get a plan or control what you can control and get a professional for the rest or say a little bit more? How do we ship that mindset? What else do we do?

Angela Brooks: Yeah, so it's focusing on what you can control, especially for women over 50 that getting over that guilt or that fear when you shift your mindset, you have to remember that it's never too late. So starting now means that you're taking control of your future, whether you're 50 or you're 60, you still have possibly 15, 20, or 30 years left,

Dawn Damon: Maybe even longer than men, like you just said.

Angela Brooks: Right. Time is on our side. Time is on your side and that gives you plenty of time.

I talk about compound interest often in my podcast, Her Money Revolution, but compound interest is your best friend, even at the age of 50, because you still have a lot of time. So I like to say, start small, but start if you know, you don't have to throw in thousands of dollars right away. When you work with certain advisors, you may have minimums, but when you work with us at family capital management, we don't have. If you have 50 and you just want to start. We're happy to work with you and to get something started for you.

Dawn Damon: That's good. So there's no perfect amount. There's no magic amount. We can start by taking a baby step. Start small.

Angela Brooks: Absolutely. Then when I say a plan, a comprehensive financial plan captures all of the moving parts, your social security income, whether you're taking it or not, when you should, and what that benefit looks like.

If you have a pension or 401k for older individuals, when you're 72, you're required to take out a required minimum distribution. So understanding how to do that in the most tax-advantageous way. So when we work with you, we ask for your tax return and all of your different information to build out a plan. This is often too, where women get a little unsure because they feel embarrassed. They don't know what their mortgage is. If they were paying a mortgage, I could probably ask you if you knew not to call you out. But you may or may not know what your mortgage payment is, you know, so those are the things it's like when you sit down with a financial advisor face to face, the questions that they'll ask or should be asking if you don't know it, that's what makes us want to turn away and just ignore it, but getting it all out there and then having that conversation full comprehensive plan. We plan to age 100.

I have got tools and resources that can project and forecast all kinds of different scenarios so many times. This is why I love my job because I have women who are like, Oh my goodness, I'm okay. I'm not going to outlive my resources. I've got money left over. And it's so empowering. Then even if that's not your story and they have like, the pie chart goes down and, or the graph goes down, like, yeah, you're going to kind of run out] of your investable assets by the time you're 80. It still gives you that information to say, okay, I can make choices today to make sure that that doesn't happen in the future.

Dawn Damon: To change that end picture. I was listening to one of your podcasts and I really liked what you were talking about. You use a lot of visualization to help motivate. So visualize where you want to be in 5 or 10 years. Can you say a little bit about that? You just said, you know, a lot of times we don't face things because we don't want to see a scary picture. Visualizing our future doesn't have to be scary.

Angela Brooks: It doesn't. That's what I absolutely love. Big vision for your future. So I push my clients a little bit. I'm like, do you feel comfortable right now? Like, what are your big goals? What are some dreams that you have? Do you want to retire if they're younger? Like, what 62? what if you retired at 50? What if you allowed yourself to be financially independent at 50? And that makes them like squirm in their chair a little bit. I'm like, well, so I like to push them a little bit to make them feel somewhat uncomfortable to allow you. And so I often say, yeah, in 10 years, if money wasn't an object, what would you want it to look like?

I let my clients talk through this or my listeners. I really encourage them, to write some of these things down. Then when I hear that I'm a wealth advisor. I'm like, well, let me put some numbers to that vision. Let me show you what it would look like. I build these scenarios out like you want to build, buy a second home, or want to build buy a big boat, or whatever that might be. I build it out and then we can show that in the comprehensive plan from a dollar standpoint, and then give you a target. Okay. If that's something that you think that you want, that's the vision for your future, here's what you can start doing today. The tools and the resources that can help get you to that vision.

I often, I know you do a lot of this as well. I actually listened to your podcast and I've taken a lot from you. So this is my disclaimer, if I say something you've said, you have to think about. what you bring about, right? You have to visualize, and let your subconscious mind start working for you as well when it comes to money.

I have a client that, you know, wants a bigger paycheck. I was like, okay, well, how much? She said, you know, she wants a 15,000 raise. I'm like, ask for a 25,000 raise. Visualize that picture, look yourself in the mirror, and say those things. it actually really does work. And what's so fun is that I get the privilege to be able to work with women and see what the hard work looks like.

I've only been in this for 11 years. So it's not like I've got lots and lots of experience of, or seeing the longer-term outcome, but just the confidence from how they walk into my office and their shoulders back and they're proud and they got their stuff together because they've been working on it is just. For me, it brings me to tears sometimes because it's just so, it changes their lives.

Dawn Damon: It's so rewarding, isn't it?

I did actually hear one of the testimonies that you shared about giving this woman courage and bravery, becoming a bravehearted woman when she was willing to accept pennies on the dollar, but because of your strategies and your motivation as a coach, a financial coach, you helped her dream big. And she actually, was it like a 40,000 raise that she got, or maybe even more.

Angela Brooks: It’s a $48,000 raise.

Dawn Damon: Yeah.

Her counterpart was making that a male counterpart. Yeah. So they honored it. It was like life-changing for her, for her family, and for anybody who listens to that to say, yeah, why am I accepting, you know, meager scraps from the table? When I can change my mindset around this. I don't want this scarcity mindset. I want to believe in the plenty and the abundance that God has for us. So let's shift gears just for a moment. Okay, what strategies then? So I'm a 50-year-old woman and I don't have as much time. Retirement's coming. What is the best strategy for a woman my age?

Angela Brooks: Yeah. So every situation is different, right? So as far as an investment strategy, you really want to work with an advisor to talk about your specific situations. But simple things that you can do, like maximizing your catch-up contributions, if you are still employed and you have a 401k. Your employer matches that, make sure that you're maximizing whatever your employer is putting into the plan. Don't leave money on the table. Then every year, the IRS allows a certain amount of catch-up contributions. I have on my website, actually, a resource that tells you all of those limits, so I'd encourage your listeners to download that that'll give you that. But maximize those catch-up contributions. You want to diversify whatever type of investor you are. Diversify, diversify, and diversify. You don't want to be all stock. You don't want to be all bonds. This is typical, right?

Oftentimes I have clients like, what's your favorite stock? And it's like, well, what's your situation? Do you need income? Because it's different. It's a dividend-paying investment, not a growth investment. That's not paying income. So it really depends on what's specific to you, but diversify your portfolio.

So if you are managing your own or you're working with an advisor, ask them about, you know, when do you do your rebalancing? Are they paying attention to the mix of the, what we call drift? If your portfolio is growing and you're a modest investor, but it's grown and that drift now has you really aggressive and there's no rebalance that's taken place. Then when the market drops, your portfolio will drop a lot more than what you're comfortable with because that drift has, has shifted your strategy. So be mindful of how you're diversified, and how your portfolio is invested.

Dawn Damon: Okay, I'm going to pause you just for a moment because somebody might be saying, see, I already don't know, but these are things that you work with an advisor on. I want to talk to you before our time is up, but I want you to keep going. But to get a consultation with someone like yourself, consultations should be a no charge or small charge, right? I want my listeners to know that you don't have to say, oh, I can't, that's beyond me. You need to get at least a consultation, sit down, and let someone look and hear these strategies that you're putting out. That should be accessible to anyone without significant costs. Is that correct?

Angela Brooks: Yeah, when working with us at Family Capital Management, there is no cost. The only cost to you is your time. Then sometimes maybe like the research of figuring out your balances, right? So the initial consultation is you just contact me. You can find me. We'll put my information in the show notes, but call my office, and schedule an appointment.

Then what that looks like is we'll send you a questionnaire. It will ask for all of your information, your goals, your expectations with working with an advisor, your experience with investing, your statements, your tax returns, anything that you have, bank accounts, savings accounts, and real estate. And then before you even come into the first meeting, there are different ways that we can do it, but this is what I love because it brings the most value to the first meeting. I go ahead and build out a plan for the first time that you come in. So then when you come in we get to know each other we talk I'm like, okay Well, let me show you what I've put together so far 99 of the time going through that plan, that peace of mind that I see, the body language, everything just shifts like, okay. And right then and there you walk out feeling, I've had women say like, I've learned more in two hours than I have my entire life or last 20 years working with this other advisor. So we didn't use it, the industry wasn't like that. They would charge when I bought this practice, my business partner, and when we bought in, the industry has shifted, but they used to charge between five grand and 45,000 for something for a plan, which is very intimidating, right? I couldn't have afforded that when I was younger. Even really now I'd be like, I'm not sure it's, there's no cost. So we give all of that to you upfront. And then from there, now I know your financial situation. I make recommendations. I think you need to, you know, invest in a Roth IRA or whatever that may be. Then that's when if we start managing money, that's when we start getting paid, but I just love what I do.

So I value educating you and that is for a long-term relationship. I'm not trying to charge you and then like here's the plan. Good luck. Hope it works out. I want to work with you for life and that's the value that I bring. I've got clients that they're going through a divorce and I'm the first one that they call. Like, Hey, I'm going to file tomorrow and I just need you to help me with my financial situation. It's like a lot of psychology and coaching

Dawn Damon: And almost counseling, if you will. You know, and that's very obvious. You know, when you listen to your podcast, you're sharing a value, value, and value. You're giving it away for free. It's like, this is so incredibly important and valuable as I'm saying.

So let's get back to some of those strategies. So you talked about maximizing catch-up. You talked about diversifying our portfolios. You talked a little bit about considering dividend-paying stocks.

Angela Brooks: Yeah. You know, I don't want to get too much in the investment advice, but if you're looking for income, you know, if you're taking required minimum distributions, you are, would be looking for dividend-paying investments. Things like delaying your social security.

Sometimes people think I'm going to retire at 62 and take my social security at 62, which is early retirement. Those two don't have to connect, right? So you can be done working and still not start social security. That's a mind like what for a lot of people.

Dawn Damon: It's interesting. You can delay that, good to know.

Angela Brooks: Right, and so the further you delay it, or at least until full retirement age, then you get the max of what you would be able to get for the length of your life. So that goes again, like, what's your health? What's your story? What's the history of your family? You know, your parents passed away young, then maybe you do want to start it early. If you don't think you're going to live that long. But, so understanding Social Security Benefits is another strategy to really, like, be mindful of.

Then, all of this, like you said, was really working with an advisor. Find someone that you feel comfortable asking those questions and that can help guide you and walk you through this. It's not going to charge you for every phone call or every email correspondence. I'd say, know that you understand it better than you think. You know, just because you're kind of like, look away, like, I don't know, I don't want to deal with it. But when you bring it close and you're taking a look at it, it's not as scary. It really is not normally as bad as, especially with the investing.

My industry does a really, really good job and I always want to be careful. My business partner's a guy, I'm married to a man, I'm raising two men. I love men, my men, but so I don't want to bash them. But our industry makes investing look so like the NFL, you know, football game with complicated and hard and it's not that complex It really just isn't so anyway, I just encourage you just to start.

Dawn Damon: And that's what I'm hearing today. I think if that's the one takehome that my listeners will have today is that it's time to educate yourself, ladies, it's time to empower yourself.

We talk a lot about being brave, being bold, and having visions for yourself. If this is just one frontier that you haven't won the battle in managing your own money, being aware of it, and having your head in the game, this is your year. This is your time. This is your season, and you can only solve what you're willing to face so we can look at it with someone like Angela or other advisors who are willing. There's no shame. There's no judgment. This is a zone of no embarrassment. Just cheering you on. Have you ever seen someone in the gym before? And they clearly haven't been in the gym for a while. You don't roll your eyes at them and say, Oh, you go, good job. Good for you. It's time to take control. Right? Angela, any part of the time.

Angela Brooks: Yeah. No matter where you're starting, you know, remember it's never too late. There's always a point to try and there's always a reason just to start your future. I like to say this, your future self is going to thank you for the decision that you make today.

Dawn Damon: It's so true. I say in five years, you're going to arrive. Yes. Where are you going to arrive is up to you.

Angela Brooks: I like that. Yeah.

Dawn Damon: No, you can arrive at the worst version of yourself where you can arrive at an empowered, bravehearted woman with money to boot.

Angela Brooks: Yes, I claim it.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. Right. And to think about that too, money is a tool, right?

Angela Brooks: So I hear, so I don't really like money or, well, money doesn't really like you either, right? It doesn't. It's just a tool.

So when we understand that, like your relationship with money, which goes back to probably a lot of the work that you do, Dawn, with that Bravehearted Women, like oftentimes it's so much deeper than just understanding numbers. It's understanding like what's anchoring you to that money mindset of scarcity, or maybe you spend too much afraid of money, but money doesn't have feelings. It is just a tool. And when you figure that out and let it work for you and not control you, that is really oftentimes like the first step.

Dawn Damon: Yes, that's really good. You're reminding me of something, and I don't know how everybody feels about weapons or guns. That's not my point, but I have said before that, you know, a weapon in an evil person will become evil, and a weapon in a good hand will become life-saving, potentially. Money is a moral, right? It's not good or bad. Money is in the hands of a selfish, greedy, evil person. Okay, it will become that, but in the hands of the righteous and a good-willed person, a woman who's generous and ready to make a difference with her money, money becomes a powerful tool.

Angela Brooks: Yes, exactly.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. So I love it. Hey, I think when I listened to your podcast, you have a free download. Can we offer that to our listeners today?

Angela Brooks: You can. Yes. So I have a couple of free downloads. One of them is called the Value Spending Plan. So the Value Spending Plan is like a budget or it is a budget. But when you say budget, it makes us. think restrictive or like, Ooh, I'm on a budget. I like to change that narrative again. It's a Value Spending Plan. I decide where I'm spending my money because it's aligned with my values. So I have a whole worksheet to help you understand that concept and then to track that. So that's called the Value Spending Plan.

Then I also have a very basic cash flow. A lot of my clients getting started, like, I don't know what I spend all the time. It's just kind of whether they're millionaires or have very little, but they've used this Excel. It's a very basic Excel, but it really helps you track your monthly income and expenses and what's left over. So that's another really good resource.

r one that I mentioned is the: 2025

Dawn Damon: Wonderful. Thank you for sharing those with us. We will have all of those links available for you in our show notes.

And again, ladies, we are getting the conversation going. Now I know that some of you might be way down the road and this is not your issue, but statistics show us that the majority of women do struggle or tend to shy away, take fewer risks, or be less aggressive and basically. Don't really want to be the one in charge of this. And so today is your day to start facing your fears with a plan.

I also have a gift for you. Like always, my new number-one bestselling book is available to you now for $3. If you go to Amazon, it's going to be $17.99, but I have it available for you for $3. What? That's crazy. I know, but I want you to get the principles, so I'm giving it to you. So that is also available for you.

Angela, I like how you changed the word budget to value spending plan. That is so brilliant. That's similar to instead of setting my alarm clock, which is like, I set my rise to your design clock.

Angela Brooks: Oh, I like that. So I have to adapt to that.

Dawn Damon: We're on the same track here. All right, everybody. Angela, any closing thoughts for our listeners today?

Angela Brooks: You know every step that you take gets you closer to your financial independence. It's a journey It's not you get rich quickly or figure everything out tomorrow. But every small step baby step It's gonna get you closer to having that confidence and feeling really secure in your retirement or financial future

Dawn Damon: Wonderful.

Thank you for joining us on the Bravehearted Woman. We'll have you back again. And always, ladies, love you. God bless you. This is Dawn Damon, the Braveheart Mentor. I'm leaving you like I always do. It's time for you to find your brave and live your dreams!