Helping Women Grow Their Financial Literacy

BY LAUREN FILIPPINI (ALPHA CHI, BUTLER UNIVERSITY), MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

When she was almost 20 years old, Nycole Freer (Epsilon Kappa, California State University, Fullerton) walked into a branch of a major bank and told an advisor she had $500 to invest. The advisor told her to come back when she had more money.

“I never went back,” Nycole says. “Instead, I became the advisor I was looking for.”

After graduating with a business degree, earning her Certified Financial Planner and Behaviorial Financial Advisor certifications, and working 10 years in financial planning and investment management, Nycole founded Eden Financial this year in pursuit of that goal and her personal commitment to help others – especially young entrepreneurs, families, women and children – create a life of financial security and understand their finances.

“Financial literacy is important because it allows someone, especially a woman, to make decisions that are in her best interest and not just in her livelihood’s best interest,” she explains. With Eden Financial, Nycole is helping her clients make strategic investment decisions, set financial goals and plan for life events – all without a required minimum investment amount that many other firms have.

“Financial independence can allow someone to walk away from a job they can’t stand, retire with dignity, help kick-start a dream project, buy a house, buy a car, stay out of revolving credit card debt and beyond,” she explains.

“Financial literacy is important so you are empowered and are not left in the dark.”

This empowerment is something that Nycole believes should start at a young age; as a result, she and her mother co-authored a book that came out this April, Haisley’s Birthday Money. The story teaches children that money can be saved, shared and used to help others, in addition to being spent on themselves.

Nycole's children's book about financial literacy

“It is important for children to start learning early about financial literacy because it helps set the stage for a strong financial foundation they can use as they learn and grow,” Nycole says. “Starting the learning curve early allows for mistakes to be made in younger years, when recovering from them is much more attainable.”

But if you didn’t get that education early in life, it’s not too late. Nycole shares that college-bound women should be strategic about taking on student loan debt, and women at any age can build a community of people they aspire to be and can continue to learn from.

That kind of community can be found in Alpha Chi Omega, as Nycole discovered herself. She says, “If you want to get from point A to point B, just put it out there to your sisters, and someone might know someone who can help you.”

DID YOU KNOW NYCOLE SHARED FINANCE TIPS AS PART OF OUR WOMEN & WISDOM SERIES? JOIN ALPHA CHI OMEGA’S NETWORK FOR REAL, STRONG WOMEN AT WOMENANDWISDOM.ORG AND VIEW THE RECORDING!