GOINGS ON AT ALL SOULS
WOMEN’S ALLIANCE
For the Women’s Alliance’s annual Angie Utt Event on Saturday, Feb 4, this time during a “High Tea” at 3:30 in the afternoon, the speaker was Nicole Childress, the Upper-East-Side and Upper-West-Side manager of the investment firm Charles Schwab. Her topic was money management for women.
Ms. Childress stressed the need to keep control of one’s money and to make financial plans at various stages in a woman’s life, re-thinking plans especially shortly before retirement. Knowing when to sell stocks or bonds is as important as knowing when and what to buy and for this a reliable money manager can be helpful. She explained the difference between a broker and a credentialed fee-based manager who profits as the client’s portfolio grows rather than from trading and of the importance of buying no-load mutual funds if those are the chosen vehicles for investment. She stressed the importance of understanding that while a portfolio needs to be diversified, one must do so in a controlled way. “Clutter is not diversification,” she said.
Finally, she warned that women need to keep their financial data and documents in good order so that heirs and executors of the wills can find the papers that are needed. “Leave a legacy, not a mess,” she warned.
Ms. Childress spoke to an intergenerational group of about 40 interested women. The financial theme will be continued at the Alliance Luncheon scheduled for May—when Investment Advisor Karen Altfest will speak.
LIFESCAPES
The Rev. Dr. Marilyn Sewell of the First Unitarian Church of Portland, Oregon, spoke at a well attended evening event on Thursday, January 13 on the topic of her recent book: Breaking Free: Women of Spirit at Midlife and Beyond. The event was sponsored by Lifescapes.
Dr. Sewell read from several selections in her collection of writings by women in the second half of their lives in which they examined their life experiences and how time had changed their reactions and attitudes. She pointed out that as they age, many women find release from certain cultural restraints and barriers, freeing them to be more their own persons than they had dared to be earlier in their lives—a definite benefit of getting older.
A lively question and answer period followed. Dr. Sewell clearly deserves the popularity she has earned among the members of her own congregation. Many members of the audience lined up afterwards to buy her book. | ![[books icon]](./books.gif){kind=small}
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