Beyond Dependence: Finding My Own Financial Leverage!!

For many of us, the beginning of our relationship with money often feels disjointed. While I was fortunate to have an early habit of saving, I realized the deeper strategies of investing were something I came to much later.

Growing up, there's often a reliance on family to guide us. You might have a parent who, like mine, built their life from the ground up—a remarkable achievement. Yet, sometimes, these generational perspectives don't quite align with our modern reality. There can be an underlying suggestion that financial complexity is something we're meant to defer, perhaps to a future partner. I remember asking about things like Mutual Funds after starting my first job and feeling subtly steered away, almost as if my independence was seen as temporary. In response, I did what felt safest and most immediate: I saved and accumulated assets like jewelry, a way to help my family financially while still making my own spending decisions.

💡 The Unsettling Discovery

The true moment of reckoning often comes unexpectedly, such as when forging a life with a partner. You might find, as I did, that the person you expected to learn from or align with holds a vastly different philosophy on money. The dream of shared learning can quickly dissolve.

This experience led me to question a widespread and potentially damaging assumption: that an otherwise capable, working person should have to outsource their financial decision-making. While partnership naturally involves interdependence, I began to see how this dynamic, particularly for women, could create a vulnerable position. Relying completely on someone else for financial needs can subtly hand them a form of control—a leverage that can feel profoundly unsettling. It’s an easy mistake to make when society often frames this knowledge as optional for one partner.

✨ Claiming My Own Leverage

My response was to quietly seek a different path. Slowly, step by step, I began my own education—absorbing lessons from books, leaning on the support of family who had mastered these skills, and utilizing the power of technology. I am now consciously on my own journey to dismantle that old practice and establish my own financial foundation.

My deepest hope is that this realization becomes less of a shock for others. Having control over your finances isn't about building riches; it's about maintaining choices and dignity. It is, in my experience, the essential foundation for a life that feels truly fulfilled and fully owned.