A financial advisor actively manages investments, often unnecessary for those with high but straightforward income. A certified financial planner, however, helps build a strategic roadmap for major life goals (like buying a house or retiring) for a flat fee, providing more value for most people.
The rules for building wealth have changed significantly. Simply saving or following the financial advice that worked for a previous generation is no longer sufficient and can lead to worse outcomes. To get ahead, women must innovate their financial strategies and abandon the old, ineffective rule book.
Instead of trying to elevate all parts of your business equally, apply the 80/20 principle. Dedicate the vast majority of your resources to your most profitable area. This creates a stable financial anchor, providing the security and capital needed to explore other opportunities later.
A common mistake for women who start earning significant money is hoarding it in low-yield savings accounts. This desire to "see it" and feel secure prevents them from investing, which is the crucial step where money starts working for you and generating real, scalable wealth.
The optimal founder salary is a balancing act. It should be the largest amount the business can sustain without taking a hit, yet the smallest amount you can personally live on comfortably. This strategy frees up the maximum amount of capital for strategic reinvestment into the business's growth.
Vivian Tu's immigrant parents urged her to endure a toxic but prestigious job, reflecting a survival-focused mindset. Her belief that she deserved to thrive, not just survive, empowered her to quit and pursue a riskier but more fulfilling path, highlighting a key generational driver for entrepreneurship.
Vivian Tu attributes her sales success to being faster than her peers. While others analyzed options, she had already tested multiple strategies. This high velocity of action generates more opportunities, failures, and learnings, creating a significant competitive advantage over slower, more cautious thinkers.
To combat consumerism, translate an item's price into the number of post-tax hours you must work to afford it. A $100 item for someone earning $20/hour post-tax costs five hours of their life. This reframing provides a more tangible and personal measure of an item's true cost.
Don't wait until you're rich to address financial insecurities. Working on your money mindset during your growth journey ensures you can manage wealth effectively when it arrives, preventing common pitfalls born from scarcity, like poor spending or investing habits.
Men are praised as "ambitious" for pursuing wealth, while women are often labeled "greedy." This, combined with a scarcity mindset where women view each other as competition for limited top roles ("tokenism"), creates a culture of silence around earnings, unlike men who see ample room at the top for everyone.
Instead of pre-emptively hiring a full team, Vivian Tu waited until the workload in a specific area became unmanageable. She hired an attorney only when contracts were too complex and a manager when her inbox overflowed. This ensures you hire for a real, present need, not a perceived future one.
Vivian Tu's viral creator career was unintentionally born from a toxic Wall Street job. A terrible boss forced her to leave, leading to a new role where friends' questions sparked her multi-million dollar brand. Major setbacks can be the unintentional catalysts for your most defining success.