I’m Mary Deshong-Kinkelaar, and in addition to hosting this site, I’m a Certified Financial Planner™ professional with a fee-only financial life planning practice, Kinkelaar & Associates.
I launched SpeakOfMoney.com to share a different approach to traditional financial advice and specifically to help you get smart, comfortable and focused with money so you can stop worrying and have confidence in knowing you’re on track.
I started my financial practice 12 years ago and one thing I learned early on was that a lot of financial advice is centered on “what you should do” but misses the mark with many people because it doesn’t address “why you aren’t doing it.” I have seen this issue impact people across the board, from those with negative net worths to millionaires.
In many cases, it has nothing to do with understanding the process of what to do. Rather, its our behaviors and attitudes around money that need to be worked through. No matter how great the advice might be, it won’t help you move forward unless you understand how your personal perspective on money influences your actions and how to take constructive action to turn things around.
The reality is, successful financial planning needs to focus on more than facts and figures.
So, I shifted my work towards financial life planning, a combination of traditional financial advice — analyzing, evaluating, and recommending how to manage your finances — and money coaching — guiding, teaching, and clarifying how you think and behave with your finances. Some people look at this as a left brain/right brain, practical/emotional, concrete/abstract approach. I think of it as an integrated way to make sure you take constructive action and get results that are important to you.
I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach me through my contact page or at 800-716-0674.
Kind regards,
Mary Deshong Kinkelaar, CFP®