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Why it’s Best to Have More than a Friend Help You Through Your New Year’s Financial Resolutions

It’s best to have a friend to help you weather anything — and that includes New Year’s resolutions. But beyond “I’m ready to lose XX pounds — will you work out with me?” (dang it, Quarantine 15!) you may need more than a friend to help you through your finances.

Let Purse Strings help you tackle those financial goals. Join Purse Strings’ Facebook Live events, which offer relevant topics to our community of women. Here’s why you should join a community that cares about you. (Let’s face it! It’s time to stop handing over important money decisions to others who may not have your best financial interests at heart.)

Purse Strings is your go-to resource as you navigate life events that impact your financial decisions over your lifetime. 

Here’s why you should join our Facebook Live events at 12 p.m. CT.

Why it’s Better to Have a Mentor or Expert at Your Side

It’s always easier when you have a friend to help you achieve your goals. However, if you want to achieve your goals, it’s an even better idea to take them a step further. Go beyond the BFF and get a coach, a sounding board — someone who will lend an actual hand.

Reason 1: You’re more likely to meet your goal. 

Check out the results of this experiment in the Journal of Applied Psychology: 171 undergrad college students had to move a slider across a computer screen as many times as they could over a specific period of time. Next, they set a goal for the number of times they would complete the task on the next round. Researchers sent a “lab assistant” to review their work — either a doctoral-level student or a student employee at a community college.

  • When the study participants shared their target goal with the individual they believed was a doctoral-level student, they were more likely to reach their goal.
  • Those who shared their goals with the individual who they believed was a community college student did not perform better. 
  • The group who didn’t tell their goal to anyone also didn’t see any improvement.

The bottom line: The study found that sharing your goal with a higher-up, like a mentor or a manager, makes you more motivated. Telling someone that outranks you is more powerful for goal setting than telling a peer or friend.

Reason 2: It’s easy to join. 

Women who use online social tools are slightly more likely than men to say that staying in touch with current friends is a major reason for using those online social tools (70% vs. 63%), according to Pew Research Center.

Social media, Zoom, Facebook Live, and other electronic connections can help you if you’re looking for a way to connect, create relationships, and look for referrals. If you’re looking for help and solutions to common problems, it’s easier than ever to connect online — and Purse Strings has the solutions you’re looking for. 

It’s easy to join on Facebook Live — just hop on and start joining the conversation!

Reason 3: You can use your desire for connection to your advantage. 

Ladies, you know how often you meet friends or colleagues for coffee — just to chat. Men usually meet to fulfill an objective: to watch a game, play a round of golf. However, they rarely meet to chat and check in. Women have the ability to connect in ways that are different from men, so why not use that desire for connection and camaraderie with Purse Strings?

Reason 4: Women are more successful investors than men. It’s a matter of learning how to harness your investing prowess!

Women investing offer a powerful stronghold. A Fidelity survey showed that on average, women’s investments amounted to a 0.40% higher return compared to men. The U.K.-based Warwick Business School, through Smarter Investor, found that women’s returns were approximately 1.8 percentage points higher than men’s.

Why not harness that success and get going with your Purse Strings mentor?

What Purse Strings Will Do to Help You Get Where You Want to Go

If you struggle with money questions and constantly look for answers, Purse Strings is for you. It’s a safe place where you won’t get pushed toward a product. Instead, you’ll get information and tools from vetted financial professionals you can work with to help create your own financial future.

Here’s how Purse Strings’ Facebook Lives will help you in your financial life.

Benefit 1: Purse Strings will provide a safe and engaging community where women can come to ask questions about “all things money.”

Whether you’re struggling to set a weekly budget or mystified about buying your first house, we have experts to help you through the process. Some examples of common issues you might have on your plate: 

  • Got a lot of student loan debt? We have experts to help with that.
  • Going through a divorce and don’t know what to do about the finances? We have experts to help with that.
  • Buying your first house? We have experts to help with that.
  • Making decisions about caring for your elderly parents? We have experts for that.

See the trend?

2. Purse Strings’ Live Facebook events offer up-to-date        resources.

You’ll come away with quick wins and actionable advice to your most pertinent questions. For example, maybe you’re struggling to answer the question, “Should I set more money aside for retirement?” 

Purse Strings experts will give you 2021 advice and can show you how to tap into an IRA, your company’s 401(k), a 403(b). Experts will offer tips and tricks to save more in the future based on current knowledge.

(Pssst… by the way, if you haven’t started putting any money away, now’s the time to start, especially if you have a company 401(k) at your disposal. We’ll show you why the magic word is “automate” and help you pinpoint an amount to sock away, starting now. We’ll make it as effortless as possible.)

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3. Purse Strings offers experts specifically trained and vetted to work with women.

Lots of financial resolutions take a hit because you might have a goal but no plan to achieve it. Purse Strings will nip that in the bud. You want to make those goals as specific as possible. Experts can help you create tangible goals, such as helping you spend less on a category you need to reduce — entertainment, car payment, house, etc.

So, start thinking about your goals — whether you want to get a college savings quick win, save for a down payment for a house (or vacation home), and more. You may want to buy stocks to fund your goal or invest in mutual funds. Whatever you choose, Purse Strings will help you nail down your goals and pave the way for you to get there successfully.

4. Help You Stay Accountable.

The hardest part about goals is staying accountable to them. After a month of trying to work on your goals, do they peter out? That’s why telling someone (not your best friend) about them, such as a mentor or money coach, can help you get there. 

Purse Strings will help you make a plan but can also help you navigate roadblocks you might hit as you navigate your financial journey. Let Purse Strings partner with you and help you every step of the way. 

Join Purse Strings Live

Women build relationship webs, not hierarchies — and they also reach up and down, out and across to help others. The power of a female relationship as a best friend, a trusted source, a sounding board, is what women have turned to and continue to turn to for help, answers and conversations.

Ditch the New Year’s resolutions (yes, that’s exactly what we mean!) and join a trusted community that has your back and which supports you every week. Dr. Barbara Provost, consultant and educator and founder of Purse Strings, and her partner, Maggie Nielsen, MBA will host Purse Strings’ Facebook Live events. We’ll incorporate a new financial topic each week for our community of women. 

  • Facebook Live events are Thursdays at noon Central time.
  • Join our FB group. Can’t wait to see you there!

We will provide you useful and timely information you can use to be #financiallyfearless