We did not want the version they'd say out loud at a dinner party, but the version that shows up at 11pm when they're staring at their banking app.

Here are three things we learned.

Who answered our survey?

We heard from 151 community members between March and May 2026. 93% identify as women, and 78% are between 18 and 30. This isn’t a nationally representative sample — it’s a snapshot of who’s already in our orbit, mostly early-career women figuring out money on their own terms.

Young, employed, and mostly writing their own money story

What stands in her way?

We used the COM-B model (Michie, van Stralen & West, 2011) to make sense of the data. It holds that any behavior depends on three things being true at once: Capability i.e. can she do it; Opportunity i.e. does her environment support; Motivation i.e. does she want to, right now, more than the alternative.

Capability: does she have the skills and knowledge?

When asked what gets in the way most, 37% said they don't know where to start, 23% said decisions feel too confusing, and only 17% said they need motivation. Together, "don't know where to start" and "decisions are too confusing" form the largest cluster of responses — a psychological capability gap, not a motivation gap. Sending encouragement to someone who's missing a good starting point misreads her situation.

The good news: 97% checked their account balance at least once last month, and 61% did so weekly or more.

Opportunity: does her environment support her?

On the environment side, 33% said it’s too easy to spend without thinking, and 23% said there’s nothing left after bills. 51% talk to family about saving — but that’s not automatically better support. Family money conversations carry inherited scripts that can reinforce avoidance as often as they ease it. 34% have no one to talk to at all.

Motivation: does she want to act, right now?

41% want to change but haven’t started; 32% have started but aren’t consistent yet — the group closest to a repeatable habit. Median self-reported sense of control over day-to-day finances is a 3 out of 5.

96% are open to a weekly ten-minute money check-in.

When we asked what they want to feel after ten minutes with their money, 62% said "actually moving forward" — the top answer by a wide margin. Among the 56 people who want to change but haven't started, 71% chose that same answer.

What our community wants isn't a bigger bank balance. It's fewer minutes spent worrying about the one they have.

Five design principles to empower our community

Citing this report: Mary & Pip. (2026). Financial Health In Our Community 2026.

License: Shared under Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0. Quote it, cite it, build on it for non-commercial research and education purposes.

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

Fogg, B. J. (2019). Tiny habits. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.

Michie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011). The behaviour change wheel. Implementation Science, 6, 42.

Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.

Verplanken, B., & Sui, J. (2019). Habit and identity. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1504.

Note: This report is for informational and educational purposes only and is not financial advice. We aim to use these learnings to create a behaviorally informed product that meets people where they are, and to reflect these insights back to our community. This is not a recommendation for specific financial actions. Everyone's financial situation is unique, so please consult a qualified financial professional before making financial decisions.

You show up. Consistently. Not always perfectly, or with grand gestures every time. Just regularly, with attention and a little bit of intention.

Your finances should work the same way.

The relationships that fall apart are usually the ones where someone went quiet. Where check-ins stopped, small things went unaddressed, and by the time anyone looked closely, everything felt overwhelming and unfamiliar. Sound familiar? That is what most people do with their money. They avoid it until they can’t anymore. And by then, the conversation is a lot harder than it needed to be and almost never had before its too late.

The Weekly Money Ritual we love at Mary & Pip is the antidote to that. It is a simple, consistent practice designed to keep you in relationship with your finances, so they never feel like an OPP you scared to face. We call it exposure therapy. You only have to look once, because you will be back next Sunday.

Here is how it works, step by step.

Step 1: Open your accounts.

All of them. Checking, savings, credit cards, investment accounts, whatever you have. Do not just glance at one. Look at the full picture. This is the part most people avoid because seeing the number feels like a judgment. It is not. It is just information. The discomfort you feel looking at it is exactly why you need to look at it regularly. The more you look, the less power it has over you.

Step 2: Pay off credit.

Look at what you owe and make a payment, even a small one, toward your credit card balance. Not because you have to clear it all at once, but because doing something intentional with it every single week changes your relationship to debt. It stops feeling like a wall and starts feeling like something you are actively working through. That shift matters more than the dollar amount.

Step 3: Look ahead.

What is coming up this week? Next week? Any irregular expenses on the horizon, a birthday, a trip, a bill that hits quarterly? This step is about removing surprises. Most financial stress does not come from not having enough money. It comes from not knowing what is coming. A two-minute look ahead changes that entirely.

Step 4: Housekeeping.

This is where the real work happens, and it does not have to take long. Pick one thing to do. Open that high-yield savings account you have been putting off. Set up the automatic transfer you keep meaning to start. Unsubscribe from the marketing emails that send you straight to the checkout page. Delete a few shopping apps from your phone. Not because you are punishing yourself. Because you are setting up an environment where the right choice is the easy choice. Behavioral economists call this environmental design, and it is one of the most effective tools for building lasting financial habits. You are not relying on willpower. You are building a system that works even when your willpower feels like it can’t show up that week.

Step 5: End with gratitude.

This is the step that sounds the softest but is actually doing the heaviest lifting. Before you close your laptop or put your phone down, name one thing you are grateful for financially. It does not have to be big. Maybe you have a job that covers your rent. Maybe you paid something down this week. Maybe you just showed up and looked over your accounts, and that is more than you did last week. Gratitude is not about pretending everything is fine. It is about training your brain to notice what is working, so you are not only focused on what is not.

Now here is how you make it stick.

Every sustainable habit in your life is attached to something you already do. Your morning smoothie happens because you wake up and you are hungry. Your workout happens because you blocked it on your calendar or you always go with a friend. Your Netflix binge happens because Thursday night is yours and you protect it. The Weekly Money Ritual works the same way. It needs a home in your routine.

Pick a day, ideally the same one every week. Sunday works well because it sits at the edge of a new week and a new start. Set a reminder. Make it feel like something you do for yourself, not something you do to punish yourself. Pour your coffee… or cocktail... Put on a playlist. Give it 20 to 30 minutes and actually be present for it.

Think of this as the foundation. We're building the tools to make showing up for your money even easier. Join the Mary & Pip waitlist to be among the first to experience what's coming.

The goal is not perfection. It doesn’t have to fully progress every single week. The goal is consistency. Because a relationship you check in with once a week, even imperfectly, is 100% stronger than one you only pay attention to when something goes wrong.

Your finances deserve the same energy you give to everything else you care about in your life.

Show up for them regularly and watch what changes!

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not providing personalized investment advice or recommendations. Everyone’s financial situation is unique. Please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Any strategies or products mentioned reflect my personal experience and are not endorsements.

“I’m too young.” “I don’t have enough money.” “I’m not a numbers girl.” “I don’t understand stocks.” “My husband will handle it one day.”

Nooooooooooo! Let’s stand up!

We need to talk about investing, and we need to do it without the intimidation, the jargon, and the assumption that it is only for a certain kind of person. Because it is not. It is for you right now!

Let’s start here: Finance is all around you, every single day, whether you realize it or not. Your rent, subscriptions, weekly groceries, daily coffee, the birthday gift you just ordered, the trip you’re planning. Every single one of those decisions is you managing your own personal financial operation. You are already running a business called your life. And just like any business, how you manage the money determines how the future looks, and how you show up in the world.

That is not meant to be scary; it’s meant to be empowering. Because if you are already making financial decisions every day, which you are, then learning to make one more- the decision to start investing- is not as crazy as it feels.

Most people who have never invested fall into one or more of these categories:

1. They think you need a lot of money to start.

2. You think you need to understand the market deeply before you can participate in it

3. You think investing is for people who watch Bloomberg and wear a suit

It is for those people as much as it is for you. You can learn enough to get started by spending five minutes a day listening to a podcast, reading the news, or following accounts like Mary & Pip that translate financial topics into actual English. That is genuinely all it takes to begin.

The hardest part of investing is not picking the right stock. It is not timing the market. It is not understanding every term. The hardest part is starting. Literally just opening the account. Clicking the damn button. Doing the thing you have been putting off because it feels too complicated or too adult or too serious for where you are right now. Girllll, let’s lock TF in.

Here is a simple example of what starting actually looks like. Say you decide to invest $100 a month into an S&P 500 index fund starting at age 25. The S&P 500 is a collection of 500 of the largest companies in the United States, and it has returned an average of about 10% per year historically. You are not picking individual stocks. You are not watching the market every day. You are just consistently putting a small amount into a long-term investment and leaving it alone.

At that rate, by the time you are 45, that $100 a month could grow to somewhere around $76,000. By 55, closer to $206,000. By 65, over $500,000. From $100 a month. The same amount as a few skipped dinners out, a couple of impulse purchases, or that thing you added to your cart and forgot about.

That is what compounding looks like in real life. It is slow at first. It is invisible for a while. And then one day it is not.

Now, should you spoil yourself sometimes? Absolutely. Life is meant to be lived, and we talk about that all the time here. The goal is not deprivation. The goal is balance. Treating yourself and protecting your future are not mutually exclusive. But the kindest financial thing you can do for yourself right now is to look out for future you. The version of you in 20 years will either thank you or wish someone had said this louder.

So here is where to start. If you do not have an investing account yet, open one. A Roth IRA is a great first step (if you make under $153K per year), since your money grows tax-free and you will not pay taxes when you withdraw in retirement.

A taxable brokerage account is another option if you want more flexibility. Once it is open, set up a small automatic contribution, even $25 or $50 a month, and put it into a low-cost S&P 500 index fund. Then leave it alone.

Here’s the cool thing about stocks that the finance bros don’t tell you. You do not need to watch it daily. You do not need to understand every movement. And you definitely do not need to have it mansplained to you. You just need to start.

This is part of the weekly money ritual for a reason. Not because you need to obsess over your investments every Sunday, but because keeping your financial life visible, including what you are building for the future, is how you stay in relationship with where you are going. Even a glance is enough to remind you that future you is counting on you right now.

So close this tab, open your bank accounts, and do it.

What is the one thing that has been stopping you from starting?

DO IT <3333

MHN

This content is for educational purposes only and is not investment, tax, or legal advice. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy, sell, or contribute to any specific account or security. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. The example provided is hypothetical and for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual investment results. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Mary & Pip Investments LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

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But one of America’s most underrated freedoms isn’t the freedom to succeed, it’s the freedom to fail.

Our laws, our financial system, and, to some extent, our culture all rest on the idea that if something doesn’t work, you should get another shot. And a society that lets people fail is a society that gets more people willing to try.

I didn’t fully appreciate that until I filed the paperwork for Mary & Pip.

It was a Tuesday afternoon, running between a doctor’s appointment and picking up my dry cleaning. Two hundred bucks, some online forms, and by the time I sat down for dinner, I legally owned a company.

At the time, it felt completely normal.

The ability to wake up on a random Tuesday and become a business owner before dinner is one of the most American things there is. We grow up treating entrepreneurship like a personality trait, but it's also infrastructure. It's the product of a legal system, a financial system, and a culture that celebrates entrepreneurship, competition and innovation.

None of this happened by accident.

Property rights got baked into the system early, so if you built something, it was legally yours. Our bankruptcy laws are comparatively forgiving. If your business fails, you can usually get back up and try again instead of carrying that failure forever.

Compare that to much of the world, where starting a company can mean months of bureaucracy, personal liability that follows you for years, or capital requirements that keep out anyone without money already. In many places, failing at a business isn’t just a financial setback, it’s a social one. People talk. It sticks. The incentive is to protect your reputation first and take the swing second, if you take it at all.

Here, it’s the opposite.In fact we prefer the story of the founder who got 100 no’s before that one yes.

I know opportunity isn’t distributed equally (that’s a whole other post coming soon). But the barrier to trying is remarkably low compared to much of the world. And that matters.

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When I was working on Wall Street at an international bank, I used to envy the Europeans on my team. They took the entire month of August off. No Slack messages, no “quick call,” no guilt about it. I wanted that life so badly. It felt civilized.

Now that I’m building something of my own, it’s the opposite.

All I want to do is work toward this thing I’m building. I think about it in the shower, on vacation, half asleep at 2am.

That’s not the life for everyone, and it shouldn’t have to be. But in this country we like competing. We like making things. We like seeing whether we can turn an idea into something real. That appetite, for building, competing, and trying again, is a huge part of why this country continues to produce so much innovation.

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Land of the Hustler

I’m not trying to say Americans are the best. We’re definitely not. I’m not going to pretend this place doesn’t have real problems, because we all know it does.

But I can say one thing about us: we’re ambitious as f*%k.

That’s not an accident by the way. It’s baked into the systems we grew up around, whether we ever noticed it or not. When your country makes it relatively easy to bet on yourself (and relatively forgiving if you lose) you end up with more people willing to take the bet.

So this week, I’m not asking you to start a business.

I’m asking you to use one of the freedoms we don’t celebrate enough: the freedom to try.

Maybe it’s negotiating your salary. Asking for the raise. Raising your prices. Starting the side hustle. Applying for the job you think is out of reach. Posting online.

Wherever that spark shows up for you, don’t wait until you’re certain you won’t fail.

Because certainty was never the deal.

The opportunity to try was.

Happy Fourth, y’all.

Go build something!

XX,

Mary Holland

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Everyone’s financial situation is unique. Please consult a qualified financial professional before making financial or investment decisions.

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We assume that before any of the fun stuff gets planned, Taylor will make sure what she has built stays hers. Her estates. Her catalog. The multi-millions she’s made on tour. Even as the woman who wrote some of the most romantically vulnerable songs of our generation, Taylor is too smart to let love talk her out of one of the most important decisions you can make in your lifetime.

Let’s talk about what a prenup actually is, because the cultural mythology around it has done a lot of damage.

A prenuptial agreement is a legal contract, signed before marriage, that defines how assets, debts, and financial responsibilities will be handled if the marriage ends, whether through divorce or death.

A 2023 Poll found that about 1 in 5 married couples have a prenup, and 50% of Americans say they're open to the idea. That number is growing. And yet the conversation around prenups still carries this lingering suggestion that wanting one means you’re already planning to leave.

Most people are scared that prenups mean, “If we need a prenup, maybe we don’t trust each other.” “Bringing it up will ruin the proposal energy.” “We don’t have that much money anyway, so what’s the point.” And the most common one, the one that sounds like love but is actually avoidance: “I just don’t want to think about something going wrong.”

A prenup is not a prediction. It is a plan. And real people who love each other make plans all the time. You get life insurance not because you expect to die young, but because you love the people you’d leave behind. A prenup works the same way. It is one of the most financially intimate things two people can do together, sitting down before the wedding and deciding together, honestly, what fairness looks like for both of you.

What it actually protects is more than most people realize. Let’s breakdown what it covers exactly.

Assets & Property

• What’s “mine,” “yours,” and “ours” going into the marriage

• Property acquired during the marriage

• Real estate, investments, business ownership (including instagram accounts)

Debt

• Who’s responsible for pre-existing debt

• How marital debt is handled if things end

Income & Finances

• Whether income earned during marriage stays separate or becomes joint

• Bank accounts, spending, financial decision-making

Business Interests

• Protecting a business you own (or co-own) from being split

• Future business income or equity

Spousal Support (Alimony)

• Whether it’s on the table, how much, for how long

• Can waive it entirely or cap it

Inheritance & Estate

• Protecting assets meant for kids from a prior relationship

• How gifts or inheritances are treated

What a prenup can’t do:

• Decide child custody or child support (courts won’t enforce it)

• Include anything illegal

• Waive rights in a way that’s grossly unfair (varies by state)

But wait… who gets the instagram?

Joint accounts. Shared TikToks built over years. A couples travel page with 80,000 followers and a brand deal pending. A Spotify playlist that technically lives under his login.

Digital assets are one of the fastest-growing gray areas in family law. If you built an audience together, that audience has value. If one person managed it and the other funded the lifestyle that made it possible, things get complicated fast. And if someone dies? Without explicit instructions, platforms like Instagram and Facebook default to their own policies, which may mean memorialization, deletion, or a legal battle your grieving family did not sign up for.

A thoughtful prenup (or estate plan, honestly) can name who owns what, who controls what, and what happens to shared digital property when the relationship ends, by divorce or death. That includes monetized content, digital storefronts, newsletter subscriber lists, and yes, the joint Airbnb Superhost account you built from scratch.

It sounds absurd until it isn’t. And by the time it isn’t, it’s too late to make the call calmly.

If he can’t have this conversation, he probably won’t be able to have future hard convos

A prenup is one of the most revealing financial conversations you will ever have with a partner. It requires both of you to be fully honest about what you own, what you owe, and what you expect. If that conversation is uncomfortable, that is information (red flag?). If it flows easily and you both feel clearer and more confident on the other side of it, that is also information. And is probably a prerequisite for future hard conversations you will have in your marriage.

And this matters regardless of who earns more. Whether you make more than your partner, less, or about the same, a prenup creates financial independence for both people. It says: I came into this as a whole person with my own financial life, and that does not disappear because we’re building something together. That is not a lack of commitment. That is self-respect. And self-respect, in a relationship, is one of the healthiest things you can bring to the table.

So let Taylor’s prenup be the permission slip you didn’t know you needed. Not because you’re planning for the marriage to fail. Because you built something, and it matters. Because the most romantic thing you can do, honestly, is walk into a marriage with your eyes open.

Protect yourself. That’s the whole point.

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This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not providing personalized investment advice or recommendations. Everyone’s financial situation is unique. Please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Any strategies or products mentioned reflect my personal experience and are not endorsements.

Luckily, we’re here to break it down. Let's start with the most underrated money move most Americans walk right past: the VAT refund. Then we'll wrap with a few more tips to keep your wallet happy, so you can be your chicest, most carefree self on vacation this summer.

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**VAT Refund Checklist**

Step 1: Bring your passport along when you shop. The store will ask to see your passport to verify you’re a non-EU resident.

Step 2: Ask for the VAT refund form. This is the one step everyone forgets. Before you pay, just ask, “Do you have a tax form?” They’ll fill out a quick form and attach it to your receipt. That’s it. Just don’t skip it, since most stores can’t go back and create it later.

Step 3: Try to hit the minimum at one store. Every country has its own purchase minimum to qualify, and they vary more than you’d think. Spain has no minimum at all, Italy is around 70 euros, and France is closer to 100. The one thing to know: it has to be at a single store, not your total spend across the trip.

Step 4: Hang onto your stuff. Your receipt, the VAT form, and of course the item itself, just in case customs wants a peek. Think of the paperwork like cash you don’t want to lose. And try not to wear or use anything before you fly home, since that can sometimes get a refund denied.

Step 5: Give yourself a little extra time at the airport. Before bag check and security, look for the customs or VAT refund desk and get everything stamped. It only takes a few extra minutes, but it’s easy to miss if you’re rushing. Ask someone if you can’t find it.

Step 6: Grab your refund. This step is after you check your bag and go through security. Find the refund kiosk, show them your stamped forms, and choose between a credit card refund or cash. One small note: the VAT rate is typically 20%+, but after the refund operator's service fee, you'll usually net back closer to 11-16% of what you spent. Still real money, especially on a big purchase.

A quick tip if you’re hopping between countries: get your refund stamped at your very last EU stop before you head home, not when you cross from one EU country into another. So if you shopped in Florence but you’re flying out of Paris, that’s where you’ll want to get everything stamped.

When is it worth it?

A designer item, a real shopping haul, or anything substantial. If you buy a $2,000 bag you could be walking away with €200+ back in your pocket just for filling out some paperwork at the airport. Worth it.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Forgetting to ask for the paperwork before you pay

• Packing your purchases in checked bag before customs can check

• Waiting until the last minute to get to the airport and losing time

• Throwing away receipts

A few more spending habits for your Euro trip….

The goal isn’t to spend more. It’s to spend smarter.

• Tipping culture varies a lot across Europe, and most countries already build a service charge into your bill, so you don't need to tip the way you would back home. Check the tipping culture for the country your going and save the extra cash.

• When you're paying with a card, always choose to pay in the local currency rather than letting the machine convert it to USD for you. That "convert to USD" option might feel more familiar in the moment, but it almost always comes with a worse exchange rate and extra fees tacked on.

• Before you even land, it's worth deciding on a loose "fun money" number, just a rough amount you're comfortable spending on the spontaneous stuff, so you're not doing the math in real time, standing in a gelato shop trying to decide if you can get the bigger cup.

A little planning before checkout puts real money back in your pocket. And that’s money you get to spend on the part of the trip that actually matters: another spritz, another beach day, one more place you almost didn’t go.

Your Euro summer should be unforgettable. Not unnecessarily expensive. Comment where you’re going and Bon Voyage!!

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The content provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities or financial products. References to books, podcasts, or other media are for informational purposes and are not endorsements or investment guidance. Past experiences or examples do not predict future results. Mary & Pip Investments LLC is a registered investment adviser, and all readers should consult their own financial, legal, or tax advisors before making investment decisions.

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I’ve been to Rome, and I got a lot out of that city. I genuinely loved it. But when ideas of going back appeared, I did not feel the excitement I expected to feel. I felt something more like: do I actually want this, or do I just not want to miss it? Those are not the same thing, and they do not cost the same thing either.

This feeling sat with me for a while because there’s a version of me that would have said yes immediately. I would have booked the flight before I’d even checked my account, because the alternative was watching everyone’s stories from my bed and feeling like I was falling behind some invisible timeline. That version of me spent money on the experience of not missing out, not on the experience itself.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. FOMO as a concept gets flattened into an overused buzzword or cliché. But the financial reality of it is not cliché at all.

According to a 2025 Ally Bank survey, Gen Z and millennials spend an average of $250 every month on social activities alone, with 59% saying their financial goals are directly impacted by spending on activities with friends. We’re spending money we don’t have on experiences we may not even want that much, and then not even telling anyone about the financial damage it did.

That’s not FOMO. That’s something closer to money grief. And it deserves a more honest conversation than it gets.

When I realized I had to get more honest with myself than I was probably comfortable doing, I learned that there are two different kinds of yes. There’s the yes that comes from genuine desire, from knowing this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, or that this particular trip with these particular people at this particular moment in your lives will matter to you in ten years. That yes is worth protecting, saving, and stretching for if you need to.

And then there’s the yes that comes from fear. The “yes” that’s really just a no to feeling left out. The “yes”, you’ll barely remember six months from now, but you will absolutely feel in your bank account.

The Rome trip, for me personally, is the second kind. I had my Rome chapter. I want my next trip to be somewhere I haven’t been, something I haven’t seen, an experience that’s genuinely new instead of one that’s just going to do numbers on my Insta. That didn’t come naturally; it took some real honesty about what I was actually chasing when I said yes to things.

What I try to do now, and I’m genuinely not perfect at this, is give myself one big trip a year that I protect and save toward intentionally. Everything else gets evaluated against that. Smaller trips? Yes. New places? Yes. Experiences with friends that don’t require a $1000+ transatlantic flight? Absolutely yes. But the random out-of-country trip that would look amazing on my grid and fill a weekend with the right aesthetic? I’ve started asking myself whether it’s filling something real or just filling a feed.

Sometimes the answer still lands on go. Tons of people spend money on events only because they’re afraid they won’t be invited again. And that fear is so real and worth examining. Some experiences genuinely are rare. Some friend groups could actually drift. The goal isn’t to optimize your way out of every spontaneous moment. This is why it’s important to know the difference between a decision and a reaction.

And then there’s the comparison piece. Which I think is the quieter part that many can’t even admit they feel to their own friends. Like, let’s be real, when you’re watching them plan a trip that you’re sitting out, it’s almost impossible not to measure yourself against them. Everyone is at a completely different point in their life. Different financial support systems. Different goals. Different definitions of what a good summer even looks like. Some people have had money handed to them, some are working incredibly hard and building everything from scratch, while others are spending money they genuinely don’t have and just haven’t said so yet.

To me, copying someone else’s financial decisions because their life looks good is like ordering that really aesthetic drink you saw someone get across the bar. Maybe it works out. Maybe you hate it. Either way, it was never really “your” drink.

The only question worth asking is what will actually serve you, at this point in your life, given your real goals and your real circumstances. We should just take into account what looks good or what keeps you in the group chat loop. Your choices, especially financially, should align with what moves your life forward and fills you up at the same time.

That’s the balance. And it looks different for everyone.

You don’t have to say yes to everything this summer to have a good one. You don’t have to skip everything to feel financially responsible. You just have to know yourself well enough to tell the difference. Do that, and I promise you will survive FOMO season.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not providing personalized investment advice or recommendations. Everyone’s financial situation is unique. Please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Any strategies or products mentioned reflect my personal experience and are not endorsements.

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Staggering. But honestly, not surprising. Of course money is keeping people up at night.

That survey was conducted over a year ago. And a lot has changed in a year. A year ago, most of us weren’t using AI daily. The conversation about what it might do to jobs, industries, and the way we earn money was still mostly theoretical. It doesn’t feel theoretical anymore. Nobody knows with certainty what the workforce looks like in ten years, whether the skills that felt safe last year still feel safe next year, whether traditional ways of building wealth even hold.

That’s a lot of ambient uncertainty to carry while also trying to build savings habits and feel okay about your future.

So I started wondering: how are real people thinking about money right now, in this specific moment? Is the anxiety even worse? With the help of our behavioral scientist who specializes in collecting and analyzing behavioral data, we built our own, modern survey. Over 150 members of our community answered.

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We asked what comes up most when they think about their finances. 48% said stress. 42% said curious, almost simultaneously. That tension matters. It means people aren’t checked out. They want to figure this out. They just don’t know where to start, and they don’t have anyone to start with.

34% of respondents said they have no one in their life they can actually talk to about money. Not a friend, not a family member. Just silence. And real people without a trusted money conversation partner score measurably lower on financial confidence than those who do. Isolation isn’t just uncomfortable. It makes it structurally harder to get better.

37% said their biggest barrier is simply not knowing where to begin. Not motivation. Not willpower. Just, where do I even start?

So, why is Mary & Pip spending time on behavioral research before we even have a product out there? It’s because the research that currently shapes how we understand money behavior is, largely, old.

Take money scripts, a framework developed by financial psychologist Brad Klontz in the early 2000s, which sorted people into types: money worshiper, money avoider, money vigilant. Useful at the time. But prescriptive in a way that feels almost quaint now. It was built for a different world, a different workforce, a different level of uncertainty. It wasn’t designed for a generation navigating inflation, AI, and an economy that seems to rewrite its own rules every few months. Which is part of why the old advice doesn’t always land.

We’re building Mary & Pip in the middle of all of this change. We believe the way financial wellness has been delivered to real people is overdue for an update. There's no shortage of financial tools out there. Budgeting apps, investment platforms, calculators for every scenario you can imagine. Cold, precise, technically correct.

What's been missing is something with as much emotional intelligence as it has functionality. Something that understands that the reason most people aren't using those tools isn't a lack of access. It's that the tools were never built for how people actually feel about money.

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Mental Health Awareness Month felt like the right moment to share some of what we’re learning. Because what the data keeps telling us is that the correlation between anxiety and money is clear. It shows up in how people describe their relationship with finances. It shows up in who they talk to about it, or more often, who they don’t.

It shows up on Sunday nights, in that low hum that starts somewhere around 8pm when the week is about to begin and your brain does a quiet audit of everything you haven’t dealt with. A bill you’ve been avoiding. A number you don’t want to look at. A decision you keep putting off because making it feels like confirming something bad about yourself.

That feeling has a name. It just doesn’t have enough people talking about it openly. Financial health deserves the same cultural permission mental health has earned. The same honesty. The same lack of shame. We’re not there yet, but we’re working on it. Together.

If you want to be part of the research, we’d love to hear from you!

Take our behavioral survey. The data keeps getting more interesting, and we're sharing all of it with you.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as personalized financial or investment advice. Mary & Pip Investments LLC is a registered investment advisor. Past results are not indicative of future outcomes.

No one really tells you how many financial decisions suddenly appear the second you become a parent. Not just diapers and daycare and strollers, but the bigger questions too. How do I give my child a head start? What does “setting them up well” actually look like? Where do people even begin?

And honestly, the language around kids accounts can feel overwhelming at first. 529’s. Custodial accounts. Roth IRAs for kids. It sounds way more complicated than it needs to be, so here’s a simple breakdown of a few of the most talked about account options parents are opening right now and what they’re actually meant for.

The 529 Plan

This is usually the first account parents hear about. A 529 is designed for education expenses like K through 12 tuition, college, trade school, and certain student loan repayments. One of the biggest perks is that the money can grow tax free when it’s used for qualified education expenses.

A lot of families also like that grandparents, relatives, and friends can contribute too, which is why some people now ask for 529 contributions instead of more toys during birthdays or holidays.

One question for modern parents is what college education will look like in 18 years in the age of AI. There is a question as to whether or not a college plan will be needed by then. No one really knows, but ideally the rules for “qualified education expenses” will evolve by then.

Roth IRA’s for kids

Yes, these are real. And people love talking about them because starting retirement savings early can make a huge difference over time.

The catch is that your child needs earned income. Babysitting, modeling, acting, lawn mowing, tutoring, things like that all may count. Contributions can grow tax free, and qualified withdrawals in retirement are generally tax free too.

Custodial Accounts (UGMA/UTMA)

These are usually considered the more flexible option. Unlike a 529, the money does not need to be used specifically for education. Some families use these accounts for future college expenses, while others like the flexibility for things like a first car, travel, or even helping fund a future business.

The account is managed by the parent or guardian until the child reaches adulthood, depending on the state. Investment earnings may also be taxed annually, and custodial accounts can impact future financial aid calculations.

The Trump Account

You may have seen people talking about these online recently. These proposed accounts would include a government seeded contribution for eligible children, with parents able to contribute additional money annually into long term investments.

Unlike a Roth IRA for kids, earned income would not be required. Details around rollout and eligibility may still evolve, but it’s definitely one many families are keeping an eye on.

TLDR

The best account is usually the one you actually open. Not the perfect one. Not the one someone on TikTok says you have to use. Just the one that helps you start.

Because financial wellness is rarely built through one giant decision. It’s usually built through small consistent steps over time. And even starting small while your kids are young can create habits and conversations around money that stay with them for years.

Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial product. Mary & Pip Investments LLC is a registered investment adviser. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Readers should consult their own financial, legal, or tax professionals regarding their individual situations before making financial decisions.

I sold posters, music CDs, football jerseys, and premium fountain pens. I had good suppliers and charged high mark-ups, sometimes up to 500%. I had every PlayStation game worth buying, the home and away kits of my favourite football team, and thirty baseball caps — one for each day of the month.

Then one day, a classmate was summoned into the principal’s office. His mother had found out he had stolen money to buy from me.

My hustle was about to get busted.

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I still remember standing outside that office, holding bundles of cash.

Shame is NOT a bug

The memory followed me longer than I expected.

Shame has a funny way of showing up as an adult - it’s quieter, but just as present.

Years later, working at a London-based multinational company, I found myself avoiding submitting petty travel expenses.

Why would a grown professional avoid claiming a few dollars back on a travel expense? The company has millions. It makes zero logical sense to just... not get your money back.

But logic isn’t always what’s driving us.

Submitting those expenses meant drawing attention to money. And somewhere deep down, money + attention = danger. That’s what the principal’s office had taught me.

So avoidance felt safer than the few dollars were worth.

It shows up as avoiding a raise conversation. Not disputing a charge on your bill. Not asking for too much because you don’t want to be easy to work with.

If your early money story taught you that wanting more is greedy, dangerous, or disruptive to belonging, your nervous system will find a way to avoid it. Every time.

A lot of money behavior starts to make more sense when we see it this way.

And once you can see it, you can start to name it.

Name the emotion

There's actually a word for this process.

Affect labelling - putting your feelings into words - is a simple but powerful psychological process that changes the way our brain processes them.

The eleven-year-old version of me may have learned: I am greedy if I make too much money.

The adult has labelled it differently: I was feeling shame about asking for money because safety, belonging, and fitting in mattered.

Shame, in its own way, is protective. It tries to keep us within the boundaries of belonging.

Try labelling your own money story:

• What is one childhood memory about money that still feels alive in you?

  • Think about how money was talked about in your home growing up; "money doesn't grow on trees," "we can't afford that," or maybe just the silence around it.

• How does that emotion show up in how you spend, save, or invest today?

  • Do you avoid speaking up for yourself when money is involved? Does asking for more feel uncomfortable or even wrong?

• What does that emotion tell you about what you value?

  • Safety? Belonging? Independence?

We cannot rewrite the past. But we can soften our relationship with it.

Start small, label one emotion at a time.

One more thing before you go…

We’re conducting research on how the next generation really thinks about money and we need your voice. Our behavioral survey takes just a few minutes, and your responses will directly shape how the financial services industry shows up for people like you. Take the Survey

Your behavioral scientist 🌱
Vishal

P.S. What do you want to explore next about money and emotions? Drop your questions in the comments 👇🏾

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You probably know who your friends voted for. Every cringe-worthy detail of their situationship. But do you know how much credit card debt they're carrying? How much money they made last year?

Probably not.

Because we’ve been taught that financial success (or failure) is a personal, individualistic endeavor. If you’re struggling, it must be your fault. You made bad choices. You’re irresponsible. You’re bad with money.

So we don’t talk about it. We suffer quietly. We buy the course, read the book, download the app, and when it doesn’t work, we assume we’re the problem.

But you’re not the problem.

The system is.

Knowing doesn’t equal doing

We’ve been sold this idea that if we just know what to do, if we just read the right book, take the right course, learn about compound interest, we’ll magically start making better decisions.

Except it doesn’t work. Because the problem was never that you didn’t have the right template.

You already know what to do.

You know you should save more. You know the credit card interest is eating you alive. You know you’re spending too much on delivery. You know, you know, you know.

The problem was never your knowledge. The problem is that you’re trying to win a game that’s rigged against you.

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Your brain isn’t broken. Your environment is.

Our brains are genius, but they weren’t designed to navigate the complexity of modern money. Credit card APRs, retirement accounts with fifty investment options, buy-now-pay-later at checkout, ads that follow you across every device you own.

Some think the solution is willpower. Discipline. “Just say no.” Manifest your way to wealth. Tell yourself you’re “not someone who makes mistakes with money.”

But that just creates a shame spiral. When you inevitably spend money on something you “shouldn’t,” you feel like a failure. You internalize it. I’m bad with money. I have no self-control.

Meanwhile, the system that’s designed to extract money from you gets off scot-free.

Credit card companies target college students. People who are notoriously broke and don’t fully understand compound interest yet.

Shopping sites tell you “5 other people are looking at this right now” to create fake urgency. There’s a countdown timer on a discount that’s “only valid for 47 seconds.”

You get an ad for those shoes you looked at once, on every single website you visit for the next month.

And then we’re told: “Well, if you were just more disciplined...”

I’m sorry but fuck that that.

If you want to change your financial decisions, you don’t need to change yourself. You need to change your environment.

What actually works

The people who succeed with money aren’t the ones with the most willpower. They’re the ones who set up systems that work even when willpower fails.

Some examples.

Create a Financial Health Day

We take sick days when we’re physically unwell. We take mental health days when we’re burnt out. Why don’t we take financial health days? This is where my Weekly Money Ritual comes in.

Pick one day. Once a week. Do all the money stuff you’ve been avoiding. Open that high-yield savings account. Set up the automatic transfer. Unsubscribe from marketing emails. Delete the shopping apps off your phone.

Not because you’re “fixing” yourself. Because you’re setting up an environment where the right choice is the easy choice.

Limit access (literally)

If DoorDash is killing your budget, don’t rely on willpower to stop ordering. Link it to a prepaid debit card that you load with a set amount each month. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

Say no to cookies. Don’t default to “Allow All”. Delete the shopping app you’re always on.

It’s not restriction. It’s a boundary. And boundaries aren’t punishment. They’re protection.

Automate the “future you” lie

We all think our future self is going to be more disciplined, more organized, more responsible. (Spoiler: she’s not.) But you can use that delusion to your advantage.

Studies show that when people are asked to commit money they haven’t received yet (like a tax refund or a raise), they save significantly more than when asked to save money they already have. Because committing your future money feels easier than committing your present money.

So set it up now: “If I get a raise, automatically increase my retirement contribution by 10%.” “Every time I get paid more than $X, save Y%.”

Harness the lie. Let future-you do the heavy lifting.

One goal at a time

This one surprised me, but the research is clear: people who focus on one savings goal at a time save significantly more than people juggling multiple goals.

Not because they’re more disciplined. Because our brains can’t handle decision fatigue.

Pick one thing. Emergency fund. Pay off that credit card. Down payment. Whatever. Make that the thing. Everything else can wait.

The problem is that financial education focuses on knowledge when what we actually need is better infrastructure.

I’m not saying knowledge doesn’t matter. Of course it does. But if you’re sitting there thinking, “If I just understood investing better, if I just had more discipline, if I just tried harder...”

Stop!

You’re not failing because you don’t know enough. You’re navigating a system designed to make you spend, feel bad about it, and then spend more to feel better.

The answer isn’t another course. It’s recognizing that and building an environment that works with your brain, not against it.

So start your ritual. Load the prepaid card. Pick one goal. But take it one step at a time.

Love yourself enough to stop fighting the current and start building a raft.

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Name one part of your financial environment that’s working against you right now. Not a character flaw. Not a discipline problem. An actual, tangible thing. An app, a linked account, a notification, a habit loop.

And then this week, change it.

Because you’re not bad with money. The game is just rigged.

And once you see that, you can stop playing by their rules.

See ya next week!

Xoxo,

MHN

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This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not providing personalized investment advice or recommendations. Everyone’s financial situation is unique - please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Any strategies or products mentioned reflect my personal experience and are not endorsements.

Sunday resets. Morning routines. Evening wind-downs. Gen Z apparently doesn’t even drink anymore. We’re too busy optimizing our sleep scores and microdosing adaptogens. We’ll drop our entire paycheck at Sephora and call it self-care without blinking.

And yet, that low hum of anxiety sits right at the base of our throats. The one that flares up when we think about checking our bank account. That makes us dodge salary conversations even though we’re all competing for the same thing. We’ve wellness-ified every corner of our lives except the one that actually keeps us up at night.

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about quitting your job to go on reality TV and start a company (what?!): the first week without structure is disorienting, sure. No office, no schedule, no boss. But the second week was when I realized there’s no paycheck either.

I started getting random checks. $5K here, $10K there. Completely unprompted throughout the month. And I treated them like Monopoly money. Free money! (There’s actually a term for this, it’s called mental accounting, but we’ll save that for another day.) The point is, I was avoiding my bank account like it was a medical test result I wasn’t ready to see.

Then one Sunday, I’m doing my whole reset routine. Everything shower, red light mask, hour-long bath with a podcast, lounging in my robe like I’m at a spa. And it hit me: Why don’t we apply this to money?

We ritualize literally everything else. Why not the one thing that actually stresses us out?

So I sat there, still in my robe, and thought: what would make me feel less stressed about money this week? Not forever. Not some massive overhaul. Just this week. And my Sunday Money Ritual was born!

Step 1: Open all the accounts.

Exposure therapy ~

As much as I hated the thought, I knew I had to start there. Checking, savings, credit cards. All of them. Just look.

And guess what! My physical body was still okay. The bank account didn’t murder me.

Isn’t it wild that our nervous system can’t tell the difference between opening our Chase app and being chased by a predator? Same cortisol spike. Same fight-or-flight. Over numbers on a screen.

Step 2: Week in review.

Pay off a little credit, spot your biggest budget breaker, and celebrate a small financial win (:

I had just gotten one of those random checks from a job I’d done weeks before. I knew if I let it sit in checking, it would evaporate before I could say “another DoorDash order.” So I decided to pay off some of my credit card. The bill was $5K. Sheesh. It wasn’t due for another two weeks, but who knows where I’ll be in two weeks? Might as well chip away at it now.

While I was there, I glanced (winced*), at my spending from the week before.

DoorDash. DoorDash. DoorDash. $300. In one week. On DoorDash. I acknowledged it. Wrote it down: “Budget breaker: DoorDash.” I’ll do better next week.

Then I forced myself to find one win. There had to be something I did right. Oh! I didn’t Uber once. Subway all day, baby. Wrote that down too, so my brain had something to be proud of.

Step 3: Look ahead.

Pay your future self, send out invoices.

This is the scary part. The part where you have to consider a future self that doesn’t exist yet. Your brain actually categorizes your future self as a completely separate person. That too is for another article.

So first: pay future me. When I first started this ritual, it was December, and I only had a few weeks left to max out my retirement contributions. I wanted those tax savings, hello! So I went ahead and invested in my usual ETF within my retirement account.

Next up, who owes me money? I needed to send a couple invoices so I’d actually get paid this week (Freelancers, you know).

It took five minutes. And suddenly I felt... capable?

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Step 4: Housekeeping.

This part changes every week. Sometimes it’s canceling a subscription I forgot about. Sometimes it’s organizing receipts or making a reservation I’ve been putting off or reviewing my goals for the month. Whatever small thing will make future-me grateful that past-me handled it.

Step 5: Gratitude.

I’d just listened to a podcast about how gratitude is scientifically proven to improve productivity and overall life satisfaction. (Also, I’m pretty sure the universe doesn’t give you more if you can’t appreciate what you already have).

So I made myself list it out:

I’m grateful I had the nerve to quit my job.
I’m grateful I’m doing this ritual at home with energy, not feeling depleted from an office.
I’m grateful I have the information now, instead of letting it fester.

And that was it. My money ritual.

Here’s what I’ve learned: Action creates evidence. Evidence quiets doubt.

The ritual doesn’t take away financial stress entirely. But it puts you back in the driver’s seat. It turns money from this vague, looming thing into a series of small, manageable actions you can actually control.

Fifteen minutes. Once a week. At a coffee shop, at your kitchen table, with a friend, alone. Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you show up.

We’ve normalized weekly therapy, daily meditation, monthly facials. Why not weekly money check-ins? Why not treat your financial wellness with the same care you give your skin?

You don’t need a budget. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to look. To acknowledge. To take one small action that makes next week a little easier.

So here’s my question for you: What’s one thing you could do this week (not this month, not when you’re “ready,” but actually this week) that would make you feel a little more in control of your money?

Let me know in the comments and see you next week!

xoxo,

MHN

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. I am not providing personalized investment advice or recommendations. Everyone's financial situation is unique—please consult with a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Any strategies or products mentioned reflect my personal experience and are not endorsements.

The rest? Not so much. I didn’t run a half marathon (lol). I didn’t read twelve books. I definitely didn’t work out 4x a week. I kept doomscrolling before bed, and my diet was… aspirational.

And yet, here I am again, feeling that familiar pressure to come up with a fresh list of goals. A clean slate. A “this is the year” moment.

Why do we do this to ourselves every January?

Why New Year’s resolutions fail

Part of it is cultural. American capitalism loves a reset. New year, new you, new planner, new gym membership, new water bottle. Every season becomes a marketing opportunity, and January is the Super Bowl of self-improvement.

But the bigger reason is human nature.

Most resolutions rely on motivation instead of structure. Motivation is great on January 1st. By January 17th, it’s gone. We make goals assuming our future selves will be calmer, more disciplined, and somehow immune to stress. They won’t be.

Our goals are also usually too big and too vague. “Save more.” “Work out.” “Be better with money.” These sound nice, but your brain has no idea what to do with them on a random Tuesday night when you’re tired and hungry.

Then there’s psychology. Humans prefer comfort now over rewards later. We treat our future selves like strangers. Netflix and delivery feel more real than retirement or a marathon six months from now.

We also start with restriction. No spending. No carbs. No fun. Your brain hears punishment and immediately starts plotting a rebellion.

And finally, we lean way too hard on willpower. Willpower is finite. Life is not. Something always gives.

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What actually works

Smaller goals win. Almost annoyingly small ones. Five dollars a day beats “save ten thousand this year.” A ten-minute weekly check-in beats “get my finances together.” Small actions don’t feel impressive, but they’re repeatable. Repeatable is what compounds.

Habits stick better when they’re attached to things you already do. Sunday coffee becomes a weekly money ritual. Payday triggers an automatic transfer. A walk turns into podcast time. You’re not adding more to your life, you’re layering onto it.

Design habits for your worst days, not your best ones. If a habit only works when you’re rested, motivated, and thriving, it’s not a real system.

Automation helps too. Auto-saving, auto-investing, default choices. The less thinking required, the better. If you have to decide every time, decision fatigue will eventually win.

And don’t wait until December to celebrate. Your brain needs wins now. The first hundred dollars saved matters. The first week you showed up counts.

Community matters more than we admit

This part sounds cliché, but it’s true. You’re more likely to go to the gym if you have a buddy. Accountability changes behavior.

Money is no different.

Have a friend, partner, sibling, or roommate join you for your weekly money ritual. You don’t even have to talk the whole time. Sit together. Open your accounts. Do it in silence if you want.

But something shifts when you’re not doing it alone.

It forces you to show up. It makes money feel less intimidating. And over time, it opens the door to conversations we usually avoid. Questions, comparisons, shared wins, shared confusion. That’s how money stops feeling scary and starts feeling manageable.

My New Year’s resolutions (steal these if you want)

1. Build a real emergency fund
Save $20,000 this year.

That number isn’t magic. It’s roughly 3-6 months of my living expenses. To find your own number, take your monthly expenses and multiply by 3 at minimum. That’s your baseline safety net. This fund is about stability, not perfection.

2. Max out my retirement account

This year, the maximum amount you can contribute to a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA is $7,500, depending on income and eligibility rules set by the IRS.

Retirement accounts are popular because they come with tax advantages, which means more of your money can stay invested over time instead of going straight to taxes. For many people, funding these accounts earlier rather than later can be a helpful part of a long-term financial plan.

To make this goal feel more approachable, here’s how the annual limit breaks down:

• $7,500 per year

• $625 per month

• Or about $145 per week

You don’t have to hit this perfectly or all at once. What matters most is building a system that moves money consistently, at a pace that works for your life. Any progress toward this goal is still progress.

3. Pay quarterly taxes
This one is boring. But it can make a big difference.

If you earn income outside of a traditional paycheck, paying taxes quarterly makes next April way less scary. Instead of one giant, stressful bill, you’re spreading it out across the year.

The best part? If you’re already doing a weekly money ritual, this barely adds work. You only need to dedicate four of those weekly check-ins to actually paying your quarterly taxes.

I’ll do a separate post on how to calculate and pay them, but for now, just know this: doing taxes in small, regular moments makes them far less intimidating than avoiding them all year.

4. Do a weekly money ritual
Once a week. Ten minutes.

Open my accounts. Check what came in, what went out, and what’s coming up. No judgment, no spreadsheets, no overthinking. Just staying aware so money doesn’t quietly run the show. If possible, do this with a buddy. Sit together. Open your accounts. You don’t even have to talk the whole time. Showing up together makes money feel less intimidating and makes you far more likely to actually do it.

5. Twelve intentional splurges. No fast fashion.
One meaningful purchase per month. Instead of impulse shopping, I’m choosing one big thing I genuinely love and will use or keep for years.

I’ll keep a wishlist on my phone. When I want to buy something impulsively, it goes on the list. Most things won’t survive the wait. The ones that do are worth it.

This rewires my dopamine system by giving me something to look forward to, instead of chasing quick hits that disappear as fast as they arrive.

6. Practice weekly gratitude
Once a week, I’ll intentionally acknowledge what’s working.
Money saved. Progress made. Stress avoided. Even small wins count.

Gratitude keeps the process grounded. It reminds me that building stability isn’t about deprivation. It’s about noticing growth while it’s happening.

The reframe

Stop making resolutions and start building systems.

Resolutions ask, What do I want to achieve this year?
Systems ask, What can I realistically repeat every week without hating my life?

Alright, wishing ya’ll a great 2026. Stay tuned for more weekly wisdom!

xoxo,

MHN

Disclaimer
This content is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as personalized investment, tax, or legal advice. The examples and goals discussed are general in nature and may not be appropriate for every individual. Retirement contribution limits, tax rules, and eligibility requirements are subject to change and depend on individual circumstances. Before making any financial decisions, consider your own situation and consult with a qualified financial, tax, or legal professional. Past performance and personal outcomes are not indicative of future results.

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This week we are focusing on Money Maintenance. These are the habits that help you stay organized, consistent, and in control. When your systems are maintained you move through work and life with a clearer sense of direction. You make better choices because you know exactly where you stand.

Money Maintenance Is About Consistency

It is easy for the basics to fall through the cracks when you are juggling projects and growing your business. Maintenance keeps your foundation strong. It supports your momentum. It prevents unnecessary stress. And it gives you a clearer relationship with your money.

This week’s move: Spend fifteen minutes this week updating one area of your financial routine. Small steps add structure that supports you long term.

5 Rules of Money Maintenance

If you want your financial life to feel calmer, here are five rules that make everything easier (even when life is chaotic).

1. Exposure therapy
Most money anxiety comes from not checking your accounts. Visibility beats avoidance. When you know the real number, you make clearer decisions and stop catastrophizing.

2. Treat your money routine like dental care
You don’t brush once a month and hope for the best. Same logic here. Small, regular maintenance keeps problems tiny instead of expensive.

3. One system beats ten intentions
People don’t struggle with money from lack of motivation. They struggle from lack of systems. Pick one simple process (like a weekly check-in).

4. Don’t let small leaks turn into big repairs
Most money stress comes from tiny things we procrastinate. The subscription you forgot, the invoice you never followed up on, the fee you didn’t notice. Fixing a few small leaks each week is the cheapest form of self care.

5. Choose calm before action
Every rushed decision feels smart in the moment and messy later. Take thirty seconds, breathe, then decide. Calm decisions save you more money than “speed” ever will.

🛡️Mini Money Maintenance Reset

Here’s a simple practice to add to your weekly ritual:

• Check one account

• Fix one small issue

• Move one small amount to savings

• Delete one digital distraction

• Celebrate one win, however tiny

Five steps. Five minutes. Zero drama.

This helps students, freelancers, and anyone juggling inconsistent income shift from reactive to steady without needing a personality overhaul.

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🧘‍♀️ Mindset Reset

Ask yourself: What simple financial task would give me a clearer picture of where I am right now

It might be reviewing a statement, organizing a file, or checking an upcoming payment. Choose one small task and finish it today. Steady progress comes from consistent upkeep, not perfection.

💥 Money in Motion

Quick hits from this week in money + culture:

• 🛒 Holiday retail sales are expected to pass one trillion dollars this season according to the National Retail Federation

• 💳 US credit card balances reached one point two three trillion dollars in the latest quarter

• 🎁 Shoppers are projected to spend an average of $1,595 during November and December based on Deloitte research

🚦 Word on the Street

Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the process of matching what your bank says happened with what actually happened in your transactions.

Why it matters: It’s the adult version of “checking your bank account.” If you freelance or have multiple income streams, reconciliations catch double charges, missed payments, and invoice errors before they snowball.

🎙️ Weekly Media Recs

This weeks media recommendation: Dont Let Anyone Control You With Money (with Reese Witherspoon Aspire with Emma Grede). A useful resource for those working on setting boundaries and building confidence in their financial story.

💡 Pop Quiz

Which habit has the biggest impact on long-term Money Maintenance?

A. Doing a full financial overhaul once a year
B. Checking your accounts only when you’re stressed
C. Spending fifteen minutes each week on small upkeep tasks

Correct answer: C. Consistency wins every time.

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📅 Weekly Close

Mary and Pip is here to remind you that small actions shape your week. When your routine feels grounded your choices follow. Steady is enough.

See ya next week!
MHN

Disclaimer: Mary & Pip Investments LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor. The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as personalized investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security.

Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Any references to specific investments or market data are illustrative and may not be appropriate for your individual situation.

Before acting on any information provided here, consider your financial circumstances and consult with a qualified professional if needed.

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Now back to the fun stuff. The holiday season is just beginning and we have started dropping our Cyber Playbook tips on Instagram. Early-season sales are starting to pop up, and every scroll brings a new “limited time” offer. It is easy to get pulled into the hype, but this week we are focusing on taking control of your digital space.

Each week we will share small, actionable moves to help you stay smart online. This week’s theme is Digital Defense. These are the habits that keep your money, information, and time safe as the holiday season ramps up.

Digital Defense Is About Control

It is not just about avoiding scams. It is about keeping your accounts organized, your notifications in check, and your digital life running smoothly. When things get messy online it is easy to miss red flags or get overwhelmed by unexpected charges.

That’s why we created a Digital Defense Checklist just for you. These are simple steps that give you control without taking up your whole day.

This week’s move: Take fifteen minutes this week to tidy up your online life. Review old accounts, update passwords, turn on two step verification, check notifications, and back up the important stuff. Think of it as clearing the decks before the holiday rush takes over.

🛡️ Digital Defense Checklist

Take fifteen minutes this week and cross off two of these:

• Check which passwords are flagged as compromised in your browser settings.
• Move your passwords into a manager like 1Password.
• Turn on two step verification for every account that touches your money, or identity
• Start saying no to cookie tracking instead of hitting allow all.
• Update your phone and laptop.
• Search your email on Have I Been Pwned to see if it has appeared in a breach.
• Delete old apps and remove old logins that still have access to your data.
• Back up your photos and files so a hack or stolen phone is not a disaster.

For more resources on Digital Defense, check out our Cyber website. Use code 1041 to get access to a suite of cyber security resources.

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🧘‍♀️ Mindset Reset

Ask yourself: Where am I letting my digital life run on autopilot?

It could be an old account you never use, a password you have repeated too many times, or alerts you ignore without thinking. Pick one area this week and take one small, concrete action to bring it under control.

Even a single step, like updating a password, turning on two step verification, or backing up a file, makes a difference. Small moves add up and give you a clearer, calmer digital space.

💥 Money in Motion

Quick hits from this week in money + culture:

• 🧑‍💻 Online job scams are getting harder to spot. In the first half of 2025, these scams rose 19% from last year and cost Americans nearly $300 million, with the typical victim losing around $2,000

• 🎁 Amazon kicked off early holiday deals earlier than last year. Amazon also partnered with Ford to let shoppers browse and buy certified pre owned Ford vehicles directly through Amazon’s platform

• 💳 Debit card fraud is rising, especially from small test charges you are likely to miss. Keep an eye on your statements

  

🚦Word on the Street:

Utilization Rate
How much of your available credit you are using. If you have a 5K limit and carry a 2K balance, your utilization is 40 percent (2/5).

High utilization tanks your credit score faster than almost anything else.

🎙️ Weekly Recs

This week’s pick: Become Addicted to Discipline With These 6 Strategies (Episode 327). A good one if you’re focused on building stronger habits and keeping your momentum steady.

💡 Pop Quiz

Test your knowledge from this week’s newsletter:

If your browser flags a password as compromised, what should you do first?
A. Ignore it
B. Change it right away
C. Wait until after the holidays

Pick B. Always B.

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📅 Weekly Close

Mary & Pip is here to remind you that you don’t have to match the season’s pace.

Slow down where you can. Clear what clutters. The calm you keep now is the calm you’ll need later.

See ya next week!
MHN

Mary & Pip Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Before making any financial decisions, talk to a professional who knows your situation.

This content is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment. Information provided here is honest and balanced but may change over time. Always do your due diligence.

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Between now and January 15, you can sign up for health insurance through the Marketplace (HealthCare.gov) or a private plan.

If you enroll by December 15, your coverage starts January 1. Miss that, and you’re riding uninsured till next year.

The mission today: cross this terrain without getting hustled by confusing options or panic-buying the first plan you see.

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Step 1: Marketplace or Private Plans

Think of healthcare like a spectrum. The Marketplace gives you affordable, no-frills coverage that adjusts to your income. Private insurance costs more but gives you more control over your doctors and coverage details.

The most common starting point is the public marketplace at Healthcare.gov. That is where most self-employed people end up because pricing adjusts to your income and the plans are standardized. You will see Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans there. Silver is usually the smart default for freelancers because it balances cost and coverage without feeling bare-bones or luxe.

You can also buy private insurance directly from companies like Oscar, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Kaiser, and Aetna. These are not offered through the marketplace and usually cost more, but they are helpful if you want a specific doctor or a concierge-style experience. Platforms like Stride Health help you compare plans.

There are also alternative private options like Solo Health Collective, which is built specifically for solo business owners. It is not an ACA (public) marketplace plan, so you will not get subsidies (government discounts), but it can be worthwhile if you have consistent income, prefer a more modern experience, and do not need marketplace tax credits.

💰 What It’ll Cost You

• Marketplace (ACA, public plan): $350–$750/month

• Private Plans: $400–$800/month

• COBRA: $700–$1,200+/month (short-term bridge only)

Step 2: Plan Types

Regardless of what you choose between public and private, you’ll need to select a plan type. Confusing I know. Here’s a quick breakdown. Most freelancers opt for the PPO or EPO.

PPO (Preferred Provider Organization)
~$500–$750/month

• See specialists without referrals, out-of-network coverage

• Great for freelancers who travel or want maximum freedom.

EPO (Exclusive Provider Organization)
~$350–$550/month

• No out-of-network coverage (except emergencies). Usually no referrals required

• Solid choice if you stay local and want good value.

HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)
~$250–$450/month

• Must stay in network. Referrals required for specialists

• Typically lowest-cost. Works if you’re healthy, rarely see specialists, and don’t mind one network.

POS (Point of Service)
~$400–$600/month

• Hybrid between HMO and PPO. Requires referrals

• Fine in theory, rarely worth it in practice for freelancers.

💳 Step 3: HSA — The Freelancer’s Secret Weapon

If you qualify for a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), you can open a Health Savings Account (HSA): basically a tax-free emergency fund for medical costs.

Here’s why HSAs are gold for freelancers:

• Triple tax advantage: Contributions are tax-deductible, your money grows tax-free, and withdrawals for medical expenses aren’t taxed.

• Rolls over forever: Unused HSA money stays with you even if you don’t use it.

• It can double as a retirement tool: After age 65, you can use HSA funds for anything (not just healthcare). You’ll just pay income tax, similar to a 401(k).

When you shop on HealthCare.gov, HSA-eligible plans are clearly labeled. Look for “HSA Eligible” in the plan name or description. For extra clarity, you can also use this quick tool from Fidelity to confirm your eligibility: 👉 Check if you qualify for an HSA.

Pro tip: Treat your HSA card like a long-term health fund, not a swipe-for-every-co-pay card. The less you touch it now, the more it compounds later.

📊 How to Budget for Healthcare

If you’re earning $100K/year, set aside 5–10% of your income for premiums + medical costs:

• That’s roughly $400–$800/month

• Add another $1K–$2K/year for out-of-pocket expenses

💡 Pro tip: Automate this into a “Health” sub-account in your high-yield savings. When your income fluctuates, your coverage won’t.

🔗 Freelancer-Friendly Tools

• HealthCare.gov — official marketplace

• Stride Health — comparison tool for freelancers

• SoloHealthCollective - private plans for for freelancers (must have an EIN)

• Oscar - private plans for freelancers

• Policygenius — compare private plans

• KFF Subsidy Calculator — estimate your monthly cost for public (marketplace) plans

💬 The Takeaway

Healthcare doesn’t have to be chaotic. It just requires one month of adulting each year.
Set aside your budget, compare plans, and make your future self proud.

Freelancers deserve coverage that works as hard as they do.

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Hope it helps! Don’t forget to comment any other freelance finance struggles so we can cover them in a future post.

xo,

MHN

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Disclaimer:
The information provided in this post is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical, tax, or financial advice. Health insurance and tax situations vary, so please do your own research and consult a qualified professional before making decisions about your healthcare coverage or HSA eligibility. Mary & Pip does not provide medical services or act as a licensed insurance broker.

Stores are full of deals, inboxes full of urgency, and everywhere you look there’s a reason to spend (even that 50% off jacket you definitely weren’t planning to buy).

Black Friday and Cyber Monday can feel like opportunities, but without awareness, they quickly become traps. Being mindful doesn’t mean missing out. It means knowing where your money’s going, what matters most to you, and setting limits before the marketing noise takes over.

And remember: scammers love the holidays. When everyone’s ready to spend, they’re ready to strike. Staying mindful with spending also means staying vigilant.

Be strategic with your attention this month

1. Audit Your Alerts
Take a look at all your notifications, emails, and push alerts. Decide what actually deserves your attention and turn off the rest. Clearing the noise makes it easier to focus on what matters (yes, even that “limited time” sale can wait).

2. Curate What You See
Unsubscribe from newsletters, unfollow accounts, and mute channels that don’t serve you. The goal isn’t restriction, it’s making sure the content you engage with actually adds value.

3. Check Your Subscriptions
List all your recurring charges. Apps, streaming, memberships. Keep what you love, cancel what you don’t, and consider consolidating plans. A little cleanup frees time and money.

4. Schedule a Weekly Review
Pick one day each week to scan your inbox, check subscriptions, and notice where your attention went. A few focused minutes can prevent distractions from piling up and keep your habits aligned with your goals.

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Cyber Sense: Stay Sharp While You Shop

Holiday sales can be fun to scroll, but they’re also prime time for scams. Fake online stores, social media ads, and “too good to be true” deals pop up everywhere this time of year. Before you click, pause and double-check.

Look for red flags like vague company info, odd payment requests, pixelated images, or generic reviews. Stick to trusted retailers, use secure payment tools, and type URLs directly instead of clicking links. And always call your vendors before paying any invoice. Do not submit any wires unless you speak to someone on the phone first. Some common scams to look out for:

• 🛍️ Half off or big sales from nice brands: scammers will just change the URL slightly and collect all of your cc info the second you buy.

• 💳 Credit Card calling you for fraud: scammers can add “Goldman Sachs” or whatever your bank is to the subtext of the number so it appears like your bank is really calling you. They will ask for a one time code. If your bank seemingly calls you, hang up and call them back, at the number from your website or app.

• 📩 Phishing Emails: Go to your email settings and make sure auto-forwarding is turned off - scammers can hack into your inbox and intercept real emails, replying within the same thread to trick you. Always double-check the sender’s email domain (even one wrong letter is a red flag), and call to confirm wire instructions by phone before sending money to anyone.

For more information on common scams, visit our Cyber Website and use our pin 1014 to access other educational materials.

Being strategic with your clicks is just as important as being smart with your spending. Slow down, check twice, and shop with confidence this season.

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💥 Money in Motion

Quick hits from this week in money + culture:

• 🩺 Healthcare enrollment for 2025 officially began on November 1, offering freelancers and self-employed workers a brief window to compare plans and secure coverage for next year.

  • SoloHealthCollective is a new Healthcare provider for freelancers. They are having a workshop on November 12th to walk through options and answer any questions.

• 🎃 Americans spent a record $13.1 billion on Halloween this year, surging past previous years.

• 💸 The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate, which means the money you earn from high-yield savings accounts may go down a little. But these accounts still pay you more than leaving your money in regular savings

• 🛍️ Macy’s is closing 66 underperforming stores this year and hinted that up to 150 could be gone by the end of 2026.

🔒 Mindset Reset: Protect Your Peace (and Your Passwords)

Ask yourself: Where am I too quick to trust?

Maybe it’s a “too good to be true” deal, a text asking for your info, or even the little voice that says I’ll double-check that later. Write down one area where you can slow down and verify before you act.

Security isn’t just about firewalls—it’s about boundaries. Protect your money, your data, and your energy the same way: pause, confirm, and proceed with confidence.

🎧 Your Money Making Listen of the Week

This episode breaks down how to budget as a team (without the arguments) and what to watch for as scam calls surge again. Learn how to protect your accounts, spot shutdown-era scams, and keep your household money plan running smoothly no matter what season you’re in.

🎶 Focused Finances: The Playlist

Your soundtrack for focus, strategy, and calm. This month’s playlist is perfect for reviewing subscriptions, picking your attentional swap, or managing money without distractions.

🚦 Word on the street: Compound Interest

Compound interest is when your money earns more money, and then that growth keeps earning too.

Example:
If you save $1,000 in a high-yield account earning 5% annual interest, after one year you’ll have $1,050. Next year, you’re not just earning 5% on your original $1,000, you’re earning it on $1,050, bringing your total to $1,102.50. Leave it alone for 10 years, and that same $1,000 grows to about $1,629 without you adding another dollar.

The earlier you start, the longer your money has to compound—and the more time does the heavy lifting for you.

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💰 Money Mantra: Invent. Invest. Inspire.

Creativity and money go hand in hand. When you think differently, you open doors that routine can’t. Invent new ways to save, invest in ideas that energize you, and let your progress inspire what’s next. Each small choice adds up and shapes what comes next.

Start Small, Stay Present

The holidays can feel like a blur of ads, emails, and urgency.
Give yourself permission to slow down, start early, and track what matters: subscriptions, spending, or simply your attention.

You don’t have to get it all right at once. You don’t have to do it alone.
Awareness, intention, and a little structure go a long way.

See ya next week!
MHN

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Before making any financial decisions, talk to a professional who knows your situation.

This content is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment. Information provided here is honest and balanced but may change over time. Always do your due diligence.

Each week on our socials, we’ve been dropping Money Nightmares - the kind that make your bank account shiver - and this week’s had a common theme of self-doubt. It’s one of the most expensive habits out there, because it costs you momentum.

Keep reading for how to combat that, a feature on credit cards, and a few money mantras to keep you grounded all week.

Doubt Is Expensive.

It delays action, blurs judgment, and makes even simple choices feel heavy.
When it comes to money, uncertainty often hides behind research, comparison, and the endless search for reassurance.

The truth is, no one can guarantee every outcome. The real growth happens when you learn to trust your own reasoning.

We call this week’s theme The Confidence Gap - the space between what you know and what you believe you know. It shows up when you delay sending an invoice, avoid asking for a rate increase, or hesitate to invest in yourself because you’re afraid of being wrong.

When self-doubt drives your choices, progress slows. You miss opportunities not because you lack skill, but because you lack certainty.

This week’s move: Before you doubt your next decision, pause and ask yourself - Have I done something like this before? Let memory replace worry. You’ve already built the skills to move forward.

Confidence isn’t about being sure of everything; it’s about trusting you can handle what comes next.

🧘‍♀️ Mindset Reset

Ask yourself: Where am I holding back because I’m doubting myself?

It could be a project, a financial decision, or a small choice you keep putting off.
Write down one area where hesitation shows up, and one small step you can take this week.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. Maybe it’s sending that email, confirming a rate, or signing off on a plan you’ve been debating. Every small act of trust builds confidence and momentum.

💥 Money in Motion

Quick hits from this week in money + culture:

• 👟 Nike teased motorized sneakers and a neuroscience-inspired shoe that massages your feet while you walk.

• 🎬 Netflix is going IRL with Netflix House, immersive theme parks opening in Philly and Dallas this November.

• 🍺 Budweiser x Netflix are teaming up on limited-edition collabs tied to upcoming shows.

• 📱 Apple & Google got hit with new U.K. rules that could shake up how mobile apps and wallets work.

• 💎 Claire’s (yes, your teen piercing era) filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - seems like retail nostalgia isn’t paying the bills.

🚦Word on the Street: Crypto

Crypto continues to capture attention, from news headlines to conversations in the office. Prices fluctuate quickly, and the space moves fast, but understanding the basics can help you navigate it with clarity rather than panic.

Crypto (short for cryptocurrency): Digital money that lives on the internet—no banks, no middlemen.

• Transactions are recorded on something called a blockchain (think: a public Google Sheet that everyone can see but no one can edit).

• The first and most well-known cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, created in 2009 as “digital gold,” designed to let people send money anywhere in the world without needing a bank or government in the middle.

This week, we shared a post on Instagram breaking down some simple ways to think about crypto and digital assets.

🎙️ Weekly Recs

This week’s pick: Smart Money podcast which talks about Investing vs Paying down debt. Remember, you can always find our top podcast recs on our Spotify playlist.

💡 Pop Quiz

Test your knowledge from this week’s newsletter:

What’s a blockchain?
a) A chain of physical blocks
b) A digital ledger that records every transaction
c) A security password

Check your answer at the bottom of the newsletter.

💳 Making Smart Credit Decisions with Jordan Ricciardi

Making the Most of Credit Cards

Credit cards can be your ticket to financial freedom…or a one-way ride on the debt express. The trick is knowing which stop to get off. Here’s how to keep your money game strong (and your credit score healthy).

My top tip I tell clients is pay your balance in full! Interest is like that friend who always says they’ll pay you back but never does - avoid it if you can. Paying your balance in full saves you the headache (and the wallet-ache). It’s important to keeping track of your spending with budgeting tools to understand where you may be able to cut costs. Some cards offer points for groceries, travel, or just breathing. Know what your card rewards you for, so you don’t end up with a suitcase full of airline miles and nowhere to go.

Keep Credit Utilization Low - Using less than 30 % of your available credit is ideal to keep your credit score high. Treat your credit limit like a pack of cookies - don’t eat them all at once.

Buy Now, Pay Later: How to Use It

A lot of my clients have been asking about using Buy Now Pay Later. It has become extremely popular amongst younger generations with a whopping 60 % of Coachella tickets this year bought using BNPL plans. That statistic to me is a bit concerning because while these plans market themselves as zero interest, that is not the full truth. If you miss a payment on a BNPL plan your interest rate can get up to 36 % (to put it in perspective most credit cards are around 20 %). BNPL is not a new concept but what is new is being offered it at a clothing store checkout.

My biggest tip with these plans is make the payments on time, that way you can benefit from the 0 % interest. It’s when you miss the payment that you get hit with high interest and the BNPL companies start making money off you. AKA read the repayment schedule carefully, especially the part in font size “microscopic.” Another important note is BNPL is different than a credit card in that it doesn’t help you build credit…And why do you need credit? To buy a house or a car or take out a loan.

So from credit cards to BNPL, smart spending is all about staying sharp and having a little fun while you do it. Set a budget, read the fine print, and remember: your future self will thank you later.

Please see the end of this newsletter for important disclaimers on this section.

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📅 Weekly Close

Mary & Pip is here to remind you that calm confidence grows over time.

This week, pay attention to the moments when you choose focus over doubt. Notice the small wins. A mindful decision, a thoughtful pause, or a quiet action can add up to real growth. Trusting yourself is part of building strength, balance, and confidence in everything that matters most.

See ya next week!

MHN

Answer (Quiz Corner): What’s a blockchain?
b) A digital ledger that records every transaction

Mary & Pip Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Before making any financial decisions, talk to a professional who knows your situation.

This content is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment. Information provided here is honest and balanced but may change over time. Always do your due diligence.

Financial Profesh Disclaimer: Please do not transmit orders or instructions regarding a UBS account by email. For your protection, UBS does not accept and act on such instructions. Similarly, UBS does not accept trading instructions via voice mail, text messages, instant messaging, or facsimile. Do not include information containing account numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, passwords, or other personal information. Please speak directly with your Financial Advisor if you need to give instructions related to your account. Please be advised that where data regarding your account(s) is provided in this email, it should not be considered official UBS books and records (Official UBS Records). Official UBS Records are documents such as Confirmations, Statements and Portfolio Management Reports which UBS provides to you periodically. In some cases, the data shown is taken from internal UBS systems and fluctuates with market and transaction activity. Assets in your account(s) that are not valued daily (for example, alternative investments and annuities) are accurately reflected only in Official UBS Records. You should review your Official UBS Records for disclosures about those values and all of the information needed to understand the data provided with this email. FOR NON-CLIENTS, if you do not want to receive these types of commercial email messages, please complete the Unsubscribe form at https://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth-management/contact-us/unsubscribe.html to indicate that you do not want to be contacted by email. For more information about how UBS processes your data including how we protect your rights and respect your data please refer to our privacy notice at https://www.ubs.com/global/en/legal/privacy/usa.html. If you are based in California, please refer to the California privacy notice at https://www.ubs.com/global/en/legal/privacy/ccpa.html. UBS Financial Services Inc. and UBS Bank USA are subsidiaries of UBS Group AG. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a member of SIPC. Member FINRA. UBS Bank USA, Member FDIC, NMLS no. 947868

Saying no is not about lack of ambition. It is about sustainability. It is the quiet act of trusting that rest, space, and discernment will take you further than hustle alone.

This week, think of no as a reset, not a rejection. The space you protect allows you to show up more focused, creative, and clear on what is actually worth your time.

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Smart Money Moves

This week’s theme: The Cost of Overcommitment

The biggest hidden cost in your week: Spreading yourself too thin.

What it is: Overcommitment drains your energy and clouds your decision-making. When you are stretched in too many directions, it becomes easy to take on work that doesn’t align or spend out of stress instead of confidence.

Why it matters: Burnout impacts more than your motivation. It can shape how you handle your finances, your work, and your future plans. Protecting your time and energy supports better choices in every part of your life.

What to do this week:
Before agreeing to something new, take a moment to check in with yourself. Does it add real value, or does it just fill space? The goal is not to do less, but to move through your commitments with intention.

Mindset Reset Exercise

Ask yourself: Where am I taking on too much out of pressure or habit?

It doesn’t mean you need to turn down every opportunity. Maybe it’s postponing a project, setting clearer working hours, or creating one boundary that gives you more breathing room. Write down one place where you can scale back and one way to protect your energy this week.

Even small shifts can bring you back to balance and help you approach work, money, and life from a place of calm strength.

Money Mantra

A simple phrase to carry with you this week:

Money Made Simple: The Power Pause

A five-minute ritual to reset your relationship with hustle culture and your wallet:

Check where you said “yes” this week
Look at your calendar or your spending. Did you take on extra work, say yes to a project you didn’t want, or spend to “treat yourself” after burnout? Awareness is the first step in setting boundaries.

Notice what’s driving those yeses
Are they rooted in fear (“what if I lose this client?”), scarcity (“I’ll rest when I make more”), or comparison (“everyone else is doing more”)? Identifying your money script helps you respond, not react.

Set one boundary for the week ahead
Maybe it’s saying no to one unpaid ask, closing your laptop by a certain time, or skipping a purchase that doesn’t align with your goals. Protecting your energy protects your earnings.

Reframe rest as productive
Time off isn’t lost income; it’s an investment in clarity and focus. When you’re rested, you make sharper decisions and avoid burnout spending.

End with a quick gratitude check
List one thing you already have that used to feel out of reach. It’s a reminder that enough can be enough.

This pause isn’t about doing less, it’s about doing what matters most with less noise.

Word on the Street: Risk Tolerance

Your risk tolerance is how comfortable you are with uncertainty, financially and emotionally.

It’s not just about investing. Saying no when an opportunity doesn’t feel right, or pausing before extra work, is also risk management. You’re choosing long-term stability over short-term gain. Understanding your risk tolerance helps you make decisions that align with your goals and peace of mind.

Weekly Recs

This week’s pick: The Gold Digger Podcast, episode 920 — “Hidden Warning Signs of Burnout (And How to Reverse Them).” Play it during your next walk or quiet morning and let it remind you that slowing down can be the most productive thing you do.

Money in Motion:

News that matters. for your wallet and well-being:

🔥 Burnout risk rising: 82% of the global workforce is at risk due to heavy workloads and toxic productivity culture. Harvard Business Review

💸 Money stress hits hard: 60% of full-time U.S. employees say personal finances are their top source of stress. pwc

📊 Managers feeling it too: 53% of managers report burnout at work, slightly higher than the general employee population. Harvard Business Review

QUIZ CORNER

Test your knowledge from past week’s newsletter:

Question: What does “liquidity” mean in personal finance?
a. How much cash you have on hand
b. How quickly and easily you can access money or convert an asset to cash
c. The interest rate on a savings account
d. Your monthly budget for discretionary spending

Check the bottom of the newsletter for the answer.

Weekly Close

Mary & Pip is here to remind you that rest and progress can exist together! You can honor your limits while still moving forward with purpose.

Take a moment to pause and check in with yourself before the next step. The work will still be there when you’re ready. Saying no to what doesn’t serve you clears space for what truly matters and strengthens your confidence in your decisions.

This week, notice the small wins as they happen. A single intentional action, a quiet pause, or a mindful choice can add up to real progress. Resting is not wasted time, it’s part of building strength in life, in money, and in everything that matters most.

Sundays are a chance to slow down, reflect, and set the tone for the week ahead. A mindful pause now makes way for a steadier, more focused, and more balanced week!

Answer (Quiz Corner):

b. How quickly and easily you can access money or convert an asset to cash. Keeping some liquid assets, like cash in your checking or savings account, helps you feel secure and able to handle unexpected expenses.

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Before making any financial decisions, talk to a professional who knows your situation.

This content is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment. Information provided here is honest and balanced but may change over time. Always do your due diligence.

See ya next week!
MHN

This week, think of rest as part of the process, not something you have to earn. The quiet moments help you come back to work and life more focused, grounded, and intentional.

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Smart Money Moves

This week’s theme: The ROI of Rest

The biggest hidden cost in your week isn’t a missed deadline or a late payment. It’s running on empty.

• What it is: Rest restores energy and protects decision-making. Fatigue

  can lead to impulsive spending, reactive choices, and short-term fixes.

• Why it matters: Clearer habits and smarter decisions come from a rested mind. When you are always pushing, it’s harder to make thoughtful financial moves.

• What to do this week: Schedule rest intentionally. Take a midday walk, spend ten minutes away from screens, or enjoy a quiet Sunday morning. The goal is not doing less, but doing with intention.

Mindset Reset Exercise

Ask yourself: What does rest look like for me right now?

It doesn’t have to be a vacation or an empty schedule. Maybe it’s setting boundaries with work, pausing purchases that aren’t essential, or limiting activities that drain your focus. Write down one area where you’ve been pushing too hard and one action to create space. Even small pauses protect your energy for what matters most.

Money Mantra

A simple phrase to carry with you this week:

Money Made Simple: The Sunday Reset Rule

A five-minute ritual to bring calm into your week:

1. Review your spending from the past week – Look at your transactions and categorize them quickly. Identify one place where you overspent or could redirect money. Awareness matters more than judgment.

2. Transfer a small amount to savings or investments – Even $20 or $50 counts. Doing this before discretionary spending keeps progress automatic.

3. Note upcoming obligations for the week – Check for bills, subscriptions, or recurring payments. Flag deadlines so nothing surprises you.

4. Take one action to simplify your finances – Set up autopay for a bill, consolidate accounts, or organize receipts. Small steps reduce mental load.

5. Pause to recognize progress from last week – Celebrate one win, big or small. Noticing that you saved, avoided an impulse buy, or tackled a task early reinforces intentional money management.

This reset helps you act deliberately and maintain momentum without stress.

Word on the Street: Liquidity

Liquidity is how quickly and easily you can access your money or convert an asset into cash. Keep your emergency fund in cash or a checking/savings account. Assets like real estate, collectibles, or certain investments are less liquid. Having liquid assets lets you rest easier, knowing you can handle unexpected expenses.

Weekly Recs

This week’s pick: Slow and peaceful playlists. Hit play, take a deep breath, and let a few quiet minutes reset your mind, your energy, and your decisions.

Money in Motion: News That Matters - Gen Z Edition

• Gen Z cut overall spending 13% in early 2025, while redefining the idea of “value.” PwC

• Gen Z’s shopping influence is rising - by 2030 they will control ~17% of U.S. retail spending. Thomson Reuters

• Gen Zers are redefining wellness - they make up 36% of the U.S. adult population but drive 41% of wellness spending. McKinsey

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Weekly Close

Mary & Pip is here to remind you that productivity and rest can coexist. You do not have to sacrifice one for the other.

Take a breath before the next step. The work will still be there when you are ready. When you give yourself permission to pause, you come back grounded, focused, and more aligned with what actually matters.

This week, notice the small wins as they happen. Five minutes of reflection, a single intentional action, or a quiet moment can compound into real momentum. Resting is not wasted time, it’s part of building strength in life, in money, and in everything that matters most.

Each Sunday we get to slow down, reflect, and set the tone for what’s next. A small pause now makes space for a steadier week ahead.

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Before making any financial decisions, talk to a professional who knows your situation.

This content is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any investment. Information provided here is honest and balanced but may change over time. Always do your due diligence.

See ya next week!
MHN