When Compassion, Curiosity and Yoga Inform Our Financial Lives: With Stephanie McCullough

Today, Ed is joined by Stephanie McCullough, CFP, speaker, and Founder of Sofia Financial, a “holistic, non-judgmental financial planner for women who want a true partner in financial decision-making.”   In this conversation, Stephanie offers a unique perspective on financial planning, relating one of her favorite activities—yoga—to the process of overcoming the mental and emotional stresses of one’s financial life.   Stephanie believes that it’s totally normal to be emotional when it comes to money. With this reality in mind as a starting point, it becomes so much easier to carve out the way forward. She breaks down the negativity bias, explaining why unproductive behavior toward money is not a character flaw, but a simple biological process that we can rewire—but it all starts with self-awareness!   She then shares several psychological concepts and tools that one can use to start gaining that self-awareness, and from there unearth those limiting beliefs that contribute to negative behavior around one’s finances—from coming to terms with the negativity bias, to the practice of mental accounting, to the secret to true money maturity!   Key Topics: The philosophy of yoga and how it translates into our financial lives (04:48) Why Stephanie chose to be a financial planner (14:11) The negativity bias (19:47) Mental accounting (26:06) Keys to successful estate planning (31:43) Achieving money maturity (34:12) Knowing your core desired feelings (43:00)   Resources: Learn more about Sofia Financial at www.sofiafinancial.com Take Back Retirement Episode 43: The Psychology of Money and Marriage with Special Guest Ed Coambs The Seven Stages of Money Maturity (book) The Soul of Money (book) The Art of Money (book)     Connect With Healthy Love and Money:  Schedule your free 30-Minute Discovery Call About Therapy-Informed Financial Planning™.  Learn about your money and attachment style with this short Attachment Style Quiz.  Buy the Double Award Winning Book: The Healthy Love and Money Way.   Hit Follow on Your Favorite Podcast Player To Get the Latest Episodes.