Tracy Theemes - The Financially Empowered Woman: Everything You Really Want to Know about Your Money

MY GRATITUDE goes out to the legions of women who have come through snow and rain and heat and gloom of night both literally and figuratively to learn about their finances. You are a brave, hardy and inspiring lot, and I have been changed by your stories and acts of courage.

I am truly grateful to our clients. These men and women have decided to move through the fire of their own uncertainties and the cacophony of voices around them to bring clarity and purpose to their financial lives, and I am honoured to share the journey with them.

Heartfelt thanks to my brave, powerful and brilliant business partner, Kamal (Ive- got- your- back) Basra. What a woman!

There would be no book without Sylvia Taylor, my ever-optimistic editor and advisor, who never lost her patience or sense of humour. Thank you. My other muse, Marial Shea, kept me going when the going got rough. And Maggie Langrick, you are a knight in shining armour, riding up just in time to save the damsel in distress. I treasure your wisdom, encouragement and advice. They are gifts for which I will be forever grateful.

Bless the hearts of the legions of readers at Raymond James in the compliance, financial planning and marketing departments, whose job it was to make sure I wouldnt cause irreparable damage to their reputation or get thrown in jail. I believe that task was accomplished.

I am also thankful to the teachers, friends and supportersand even the detractorsalong the way who have passed on their wisdom and sometimes even their foolishness for the purpose of helping me to become the best financial advisor I could be. Special mention goes to Kirk Otto, Jeanne Denning and the incredible Gloria tits up Strait, who kept me away from the minefields in my first years on the job. Special thanks to Karin Mizgala and Sheila Walkington, my professional homies.

Where would I be without my sisterfriends (yes, it is one word): Mary Lynn Anderson (the other Queen Street Girl done good); Marlene Delanghe and Jo-Anne Lauzer, my double home team advantage; and Angiola-Patrizia (where-have-you-been-all-my-life) DeStefanis. And I am so grateful for Sony Baron, Bev Pugh, Carrie Gallant (my mental health squad); the colourful Christine Scaman; and my dear woman Donna Soules, whose role in my life defies earthly description. My deepest appreciation to (and of) Super Power Kirsten Severson, the most popular, courageous and beloved hermit you could ever meet, and the Fabs (past and present).

My heartfelt thanks to Michelle Pockey, who reminds me constantly that anything is possible when conviction is paired with action. What a mentor you have been and continue to be!

And in the spirit of last but most definitely not least, I want to acknowledge the support and encouragement of my small but mighty family: Todd (best brother in the world, even though he still doesnt think Im funny); Rob and Elizabeth; Charlie and Aunt Roberta. You may not be the wind beneath my wings (I dont like heights anyway), but you are most assuredly the earth under my boots. Or in Vancouver lingo, the umbrella in any rain-storm. Love you dearly!

TRACY THEEMES , Financial Advisor, MA, CFP, FCSI, FDS .

Sophia Financial Group, Raymond James

Prior to co-founding Sophia Financial Group in 2009, Tracy worked as a financial consultant with Smith Barney, a U.S. brokerage firm. Tracy has a masters degree in counselling psychology. She is a Certified Financial Planner, insurance licensed and a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute. She is also a Financial Divorce Specialist. Before becoming a financial advisor, Tracy spent ten years in management with an international play equipment company. She founded and then sold a specialty childrens furnishing company based in the U.S. Tracy was recently nominated for the YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Education and the Association for Women in Finance Award for Excellence in Business.

S OPHIA FINANCIAL GROUP is a full-service financial advisory firm affiliated with Raymond James and located in Vancouver, B.C. We provide financial planning, investment strategy and portfolio management services. We typically work with people with over half a million dollars in investable assets.

We are financial planners, and that means we hold the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) designation. We are also stockbrokers, which means we are licensed by the governments securities commission ( IIROC ) to sell equity, stocks and bondsall of the financial instruments in the debt and equity markets approved by our broker dealer. We are insurance licensed and financial divorce specialists and are also both Fellows of the Canadian Securities Institute.

At Sophia, we believe in education and more education. We want people to understand their financial world and to feel confident and empowered. One of our central undertakings is a day-long workshop for women called Sophia Wealth Academy: Everything a Woman Wants to Know About Her Finances in One Day (www.sophiawealthacademy.com).

At Wealth Academy, we bring in the best and brightest experts in Vancouver to talk about debt, gender, career strategy, banking, negotiation, investing, the psychology of wealth and financial planning processes. We have run it seven times now, and each year it gets bigger and more exhilarating. All proceeds raised have gone to Dress for Success, an organization devoted to women becoming and staying self-sufficient.

The room is filled with women from all walks of life and financial circumstances. A woman who has just been off the streets for three weeks trying to find new work may be sitting beside a multi-millionaire. A new university graduate may be in a group with an 80-year-old widow. Magic happens. Our investment classes and education programs are at the heart of our work and express our passion for sharing knowledge that empowers.

We pair education with collaboration. Not only do we want people to have appropriate strategies, but we want to work with our clients as partners with full transparency. We believe that our five-step financial planning process is unique, efficient and comprehensive. We call it the Sophia Way.

A first meeting at Sophia is about an hour long. We find out what brought you here, what your life is like and what keeps you up at night. We discuss your values and goals, who you care about and your background. We ask and answer lots of questions to gather the preliminary information we need to create a complete financial picture.

In our second meeting, we use that background information and the financial data to crunch the numbers. Our analysis can take anywhere from four to ten hours, with the explanation and discussion taking about 90 minutes. We may be looking at the numbers to answer more complex, quite specific questions like Can I retire in three years and still take $2,000 a month from my retirement investments? or Can I travel the world for the next three years, or will that affect my ability to sell my business for the amount I want to?