Increase Your Financial IQ

by Terri Pilcher

“There was a janitorial custodial individual in the Detroit county schools about 10 or 15 years ago, and he made news upon his death because he gave a million dollars to the United Negro College Fund tells. He never made more than 30,000 dollars a year. His attitude toward money was different than other people who have that same amount of income and spend their entire life saying, ‘I never have enough money. I never make enough money.’ It’s not how much you make, it’s how you leverage what you have,” explains Catherine Eagan, a multimillionaire entrepreneur, former Vice President and Private Banking Officer, ordained minister, and financial coach.

More of us could do this if we had a little financial intelligence. If our parents didn’t teach us how money works (and chances are that they don’t know either), we probably will never learn how to manage our money. We’ll be strapped for cash our entire lives.

“The school systems do us a disservice,” says Catherine, “You can matriculate through 12 grades and never learn the practical task of managing money, and yet it’s something you do your entire life.”

After twenty years enjoying her work in the commercial lending department of a bank, Catherine realized that God wanted her to combine her love of finance with her love of teaching. “I believe I am called to help raise up the financial intelligence quotient so that people can really manage resources appropriately and as a result achieve success. It’s not how much you make, it’s how effectively you manage,” she says.

Many women rely on men to take care of the finances for them, but because 50% of women get divorced and almost all of the rest outlive their husbands, every woman must deal with money at some point in her life. Catherine says, “No woman should look to a man to solve her financial intelligent quotient.”

It’s a shame when we let men take care of our money, because research shows that women make more money at investing than men do. “When women actually begin to take on the mantle to invest, research shows that women are more profitable in investing than men, because they are less emotionally driven than men,” Catherine explains, “Men tend to take a higher level of risk and get in and out of different things, where women are more methodical.”

Through her free Wealthy Women seminars, Catherine teaches women about all aspects the financial world. She covers real estate investing, paying off debt, stocks, bonds, index funds, and more. She says, “I teach very practical information you can use almost immediately. How to buy a car, how to buy a home, how to look at rates, how to negotiate a deal. All of the basic, practical personal finance information that an individual should know, period.”

In addition, she covers information essential to today’s entrepreneurs. In the future, Catherine plans to talk about, “global economics and what that means for the United States of America. I think we are now truly in a global economy. People need to have a good working knowledge of what that means and be globally equipped financially. Otherwise, they may end up running into financial problems because they aren’t prepared for what it means to be a 21st century mom, employee or entrepreneur.”

Sign up for the free Monday night Wealthy Woman Teleseminar at: http://www.catherineeagan.com/TheWealthyWomen.htm.

Don’t forget to increase your financial intelligence quotient in other ways. Read books (I recommend starting with Dave Ramsey and Dr. C. Thomas Anderson, two Christian millionaires), open a small savings account that you’ll use for investing, and go to local SBA (Small Business Association) classes. We’ll keep struggling with our poverty mindset unless we learn a new way of thinking.