My guest for this episode is Prudence Zhu. She grew up in China, went to West Africa after graduation and worked in private equity, then moved to the US and got her MBA. She worked in corporate finance, got another master’s degree, and moved into fee-only financial planning. Like so many of us in this field, though, she came to financial therapy via her own personal journey.
The key event for Prudence was achieving what she calls her “freedom number.” Reaching the goal of financial independence, which she had been working toward for decades, was not a solution. It didn’t magically make her problems go away. This is what led her to therapy for herself, and eventually into training in financial therapy and offering financial therapy to clients.
She emphasizes that, in financial therapy, it is important to understand the past and know where you’re coming from, and also to acknowledge that it is a lot of hard work to turn that around. She describes her work as helping clients build internal guardrails, structures, and good habits so change can be achievable, doable, and sustainable.
Prudence is the author of a book, A Couples Guide to Money. It is one of the relatively few books I’ve seen that deals with both the emotions and the logistics of financial planning. She points out that addressing both is important not only for an individual client, but also for a financial life planning business. As she puts it, “The technical side is our bread and butter, but we cannot achieve the result of the technical knowledge without knowing the human side.”
Her story is one more example of two things I see as foundational for financial life planning and financial therapy. One, money touches every aspect of our lives, so learning to manage it matters, and financial wellbeing needs both financial literacy and emotional healing. Second, it is essential for professionals to do their own internal work in order to help themselves and their clients live authentic lives.
Check out The Financial Therapy Podcast by Rick Kahler concerning this topic.