Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Cary Carbonaro.

A certified financial planner and author of Women and Wealth.

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1. Guest Introduction: Cary Carbonaro

• Certified Financial Planner with 25+ years of experience.
• Leads a multimillion-dollar financial planning practice.
• Focuses on empowering women and increasing financial literacy.
• Promoting her second book: Women and Wealth.

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2. Why Cary Wrote the Book

• To share her 25 years of experience working with women.
• To address the lack of female-friendly practices in the financial industry.
• Key stat:

“By 2030, women will control two-thirds of the nation’s wealth—$30 trillion.”

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4. Challenges in the Financial Industry

• Industry built by men, for men.
• Not ready for the shift in wealth ownership to women.
• Harvard Business Review (2009):

“Financial services is the least sympathetic to women and has the most to gain if they get it right.”

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5. Financial Planning Philosophy

• Everyone deserves a financial plan.
• Quote:

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

• Financial planning includes:
  • Risk management
  • Cash flow
  • Tax strategy
  • Investments
  • Retirement
  • Estate planning

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6. Making the Industry Female-Friendly

• Women often leave their financial advisors after a spouse dies (80% of the time).
• Reasons: lack of connection, poor communication, feeling ignored.
• Not a DEI issue, but a dollars and cents issue:

“What other industry would ignore a $30 trillion opportunity?”

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7. Stereotypes and Societal Expectations

• Women face pressure to look attractive in professional settings.
• Stereotypes persist in media and even in AI-generated images.
• Example: AI generated a man when asked for an image of a financial planner with long hair.

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8. Cary’s Personal Journey

• Inspired by her father, a JPMorgan Chase executive.
• Grew up learning about money and finance.
• Built her business by focusing on women, not traditional male-dominated marketing.
• Quote:

“Money equals power, and women need more of both.”

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9. The Wealth Gap

• Beyond the wage gap, the wealth gap is driven by caregiving responsibilities.
• Te