Tag Archives: financial crisis

Michelle Smith crisis as opportunity

Crisis as Opportunity: Advice from Certified Divorce Financial Analyst Michelle Smith

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A recent wealth management podcast interviewed Source Financial CEO, Michelle Smith. Smith’s unique experience as a long-time financial advisor, premier money manager, divorcee, and co-parent of a child with special needs is insightful and informative. Of the many lessons learned from this interview, perhaps the most pertinent are those that relate to our current Covid-19 reality as well.

Surround Yourself With Positivity

According to Smith, any big crisis brings out the best and worst in us and those around us. When her son was born and she received his Down syndrome diagnosis, she channeled all her energy toward doing what needs to get done. Her husband at the time, however, didn’t make that switch. As she helps many separated couples navigate the corona emergency, she sees those who are rallying and figuring out how to co-parent during a lockdown, and others who are fighting more and harping on old grudges. When she was a new mom, Smith says she used her own positive nature to propel herself forward. She also made sure to leave no room for negativity in her life and surrounded herself with those who shared her optimism. She extends this advice now too: the familial and financial realities of this crisis are not easy, but if you remain positive and focus on action, things don’t have to be catastrophic.

Ask for Help

Divorce is not something anyone should do alone. Individuals going through a divorce must surround themselves with capable legal and economic professionals to ensure their best interests are fairly represented. Encouragement and love from family and friends provide guidance and support. Smith has dedicated her career to helping women build a financially stable and sustainable life after their marriage. The same is true for co-parenting a child with special needs: it takes a village. Now, more than ever, we are seeing the value of community. We all need to get comfortable asking for help and letting our virtual, and literal, villages be there for us when we need them. The key, according to Smith, is to be specific with our requests.

Focus on Shared Goals

Even as a marriage crumbles, it is important to focus on the values and objectives that once brought you together. Remember the respect you have for one another and direct that toward the settlement. Your ex-spouse is not someone you will ever be “rid” of, especially if you share children, so keep things cordial and constructive. Now is an opportunity to rethink the tactics of decoupling: nobody wants to prolong the process of divorce or excessively litigate matters. Mediation, with the right professionals and the proper mindset, can yield fair, equitable, and civil outcomes for all involved. As more families (married, divorced, or otherwise) spend increased amounts of time together during this crisis, concentrating on shared goals – like cohesion, health, monetary sense—can be empowering.

Money Management during dual crisis

How to Manage a Dual Crisis: Coronavirus and Market Meltdown

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The CEO of Source Financial Advisors, Michelle Smith, has issued several suggestions for how the financial community can endure two conflating situations: the economic fallout of the coronavirus and market declines.

Be in Touch

Use technology to maintain contact with clients. Video platforms should be utilized as much as possible to offer a face-to-face personal interaction. While working remotely may mean that things are a bit more casual, it is important to keep things professional.

Be Authentic

The need to maintain decorum and professionalism notwithstanding, it is also important to be genuine with clients. They want to know that their money is in good hands, but they also want to have a sincere conversation about life. Start and end every conversation with a client by discussing their wellbeing. Ask how they are managing and feeling. Give them the assurance they need. Show them that you care about their physical, mental, and financial health.

Michelle Smith advises maintaining professionalism alongside authenticity during these trying times.

Be Pro-Active

When things are uncertain it is tempting to switch to preservation mode. We have a fiduciary responsibility to do our best for those who are already clients; we may not have the bandwidth to grow our business. But as we focus on the clients we have, we should also maintain business contacts and relationships that can help our business in the future. Look for opportunities in various sectors and actively pursue leads.

Be Thoughtful

Clients are worried about a lot of things right now. It is the job of financial planners and economic advisors to ensure that money is not an additional concern. The current health concerns coupled with economic uncertainties present people with two extremely basic fears: being alone and broke. Now is not the time to overwhelm clients with statistics and trends. Listen closely to what the clients are saying and what they feel most comfortable with at this time. This is unchartered territory for everyone. Every individual, business owner, team leader, and industry specialist is figuring out how to navigate these uncertain times. In the money management field, being attentive, genuine, forthcoming, and caring is the best business practice right now.

Senator Warren Wants Big Banks Reigned In

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US Senator Elizabeth Warren
US Senator Elizabeth Warren

In order to get the financial system in the US to work better for average people, US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat from Massachusetts, is calling on Republican law makers to take steps to reign in big banks.

Warren is calling on Republicans to break up big banks, put limits on bank executive bonuses and change tax laws to encourage financial institutions to take fewer risks with their capital. She is using the interest spurred by the current tax season to make her points, and added that her suggestions would not be hard to implement. The overall result of her talking points would be to create a more stable financial environment that would be less prone to the kind of disaster that befell the country between 2007 and 2009.

She would like to see a break-up of the largest banks by elected officials. Placing restrictions on the Federal Reserve on their lending policies to banks during financial crisis should also be implemented so banks understand that they cannot turn to the government for a bailout when things go south for them. Perhaps that realization will help the banks to act more responsibly.

Changing the tax code would also help banks and other financial bodies to refrain from taking too high risks, or indulging in unfair banking practices. Lawsuits filed have shown that many bankers had persuaded homeowners into mortgages that they could not afford and would not qualify for. The bankers said that they could skip paying their mortgage or pay a lower amount until they went through the process. Then the banks turned around and tried to foreclose on the home when the homeowners were disqualified from the program, according to the lawsuits.