For women, a lack of understanding of their finances or a fear of not being able to financially support themselves is a top reason for staying in an abusive or unhappy marriage. Stacy Francis, the founder of financial literacy nonprofit Savvy Ladies, has dedicated her life to changing that.
It’s a deeply personal mission for Francis, whose grandmother died at the hands of her abusive husband. Francis felt she had to do something to prevent the same thing from happening to other women.
“When I asked her why she stayed, she shared that it was because she felt financially trapped,” Francis said. “Because of that, I lost my grandmother at a young age.”
“Savvy Ladies is my way of honoring her, of making sure that no other woman finds herself in a situation where she’s cornered into any situation that doesn’t make her feel safe.”
In nearly all domestic violence situations — over 98% — there is also financial abuse, Francis said.
Francis, who began building a career as a financial adviser, said she realized she could use those skills to ensure other women didn’t experience the same fate as her grandmother. So, at 26 years old, she started Savvy Ladies in 2003 out of her living room, with volunteers — financial analysts, career consultants, attorneys and investment advisers — coming together once a month to answer financial questions women across the country had sent in.
Today, Savvy Ladies has an executive board of attorneys and finance professionals, is projected to bring in $1 million this year (which it will use to develop more free financial literacy programming and resources) and answer questions from at least 5,000 women annually through a chat feature on its website and app, executive director Judy Herbst said.
Women tend to ask a range of questions, like what financial information they should bring to a divorce attorney, or investment advice for getting out of debt. They receive a response from one of over 300 financial professionals, including certified divorce financial analysts, within one to two days, and can hop on a call or video chat to look through financial documents.
At least 20% of women come to Savvy Ladies with questions related to divorce: What they should know before leaving, what they should be considering during a divorce, how to reset their life afterward, Francis said. In addition to guidance from Savvy Ladies directly, women may get referrals to divorce firms and other vetted financial advisors, if they need more comprehensive advising to develop a specific plan.
“Many women, when they get married and they stop working, they stop looking at their money,” Francis said. “They might be looking at their daily budget, but they don’t know their future assets that they have with their spouse. Many women come into divorce a very blind place, and they can’t believe that they gave that knowledge up.”
Francis wants to help them get that knowledge back so they feel confident turning to a divorce attorney. Legal bills are expensive, and if women can cut costs by getting financial questions answered through Savvy Ladies for free — versus at an hourly rate with an attorney — Francis knows that can make a difference in their ability to leave.
“A good number of women who come to us haven’t decided yet if they want to get divorced. A big part of that decision is asking, ‘What is my life and my children’s life going to look like financially after?” Francis said. “They’re looking to understand the guidance about, ‘What are marital assets? What would I be entitled to?’ And, ‘What do I need to be doing to prepare?’”
Advisers can paint a picture of what a fair, equitable settlement and child support might look like in a given situation.
Matrimonial attorney and Savvy Ladies board chair Lisa Zeiderman emphasized that providing an attorney with a full account of what assets and accounts exist can make a huge difference in a person’s life after divorce. An attorney who knows what money exists between a couple will be more successful in obtaining more spousal and child support than one who’s operating without a full financial picture.
Taking the next steps
Women can keep coming back to the financial advisers at Savvy Ladies through the advice hotline throughout their proceedings, asking questions and jumping on calls with professionals as needed, Francis said.
It’s not a substitute for legal advice, she and Zeiderman emphasized, but can help fill gaps in financial knowledge to ensure they’re confident and prepared in an attorney’s office.
“Savvy Ladies is very helpful for women because the [advisers] are able to look at, for example, how you are dividing up accounts … It’s very important that Roth IRAs are divided in one way, and that regular IRAs are divided in another way,” said Zeiderman, a managing partner at Miller Zeiderman LLP.
“Or, somebody might come to Savvy Ladies and ask about whether or not they should be keeping the marital residence,” Zeiderman continued. “What does that look like for them? What are the capital gains that may be attached to keeping the marital home and, therefore, the capital tax?”
The nonprofit also provides free panels, programming, digital resources and training on how to identify marital assets, investments and accounts, gather financial documents and identify financial abuse — including in a four-part series Zeiderman is currently running through the organization.
Zeiderman was motivated to bring her expertise as a divorce attorney and certified divorce financial planner to Savvy Ladies after more and more women from all walks of life were coming into her office without a full understanding of their finances.
“So many women come into my office who really had no real concept of what their finances were, had no concept of where their accounts were and what the tax returns said,” Zeiderman said. “Many had signed tax returns and really had never looked at them, or even to the point where some signature page was put in front of them and they would just sign it, and they would have absolutely no idea what the tax returns included.”
Francis hopes that between the free advice hotline, growing resource library and increased programming, Savvy Ladies is able to cut down the number of women walking into divorce attorney offices blindsided and unprepared.
“Women should take agency of their money. Money is powerful. Money is good,” Francis said. “There’s no shame in asking questions. Wherever you are, however old you are, ask your financial question. We want to move you forward.”
