This is the phase where your relationship with money
evolves from protection to potential. It’s where you learn
the power of compound interest, not just in your bank
account, but in the clarity that builds when you invest in
your own learning.
There were missteps, of course. Poor advice. High-fee
products. Emotional decisions. But I began to ask a better
question: Why am I investing this way?
Not for approval. Not for ego. But to fund a life I actually
want to live.
Phase 4: Legacy
Where money becomes a tool for meaning.
• Teach others what you’ve learned
• Align giving with your values
• Plan beyond your lifetime
At this stage, I began to see money not as a fixed asset
but as a flow. An energetic current, responding to how we
give, receive, and release. When we hoard, we interrupt
the current. When we give wisely, we strengthen the
ecosystem.
Legacy, it turns out, isn’t just what we leave behind. It’s
how we live now.
When Life Forces Reinvention
Sometimes transformation isn’t a choice. It’s forced.
After a major life change and the end of a marriage, I
found myself financially unmoored - refinancing my home
to honor a property settlement I hadn’t anticipated and
opening my doors to roommates just to keep the lights on.
My office became someone’s bedroom. My garden room
was rented out. Privacy vanished. My nervous system
buzzed in survival mode once again.
Eventually, I sold the home. Not because I failed, but
because I needed freedom more than square footage.
What that experience taught me is this:
We are far more resourceful than we believe.
Sometimes, starting over is the first honest conversation
we have with our future self.
It’s Never Too Late to Transform
Transformation doesn’t come with an expiration date.
I’ve seen women in their 50s and 60s begin again. They
felt behind, unsure, ashamed. But with small, steady
steps, they shifted.