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What if becoming better with money isn’t about how much someone makes, but about understanding what their money is actually doing?
In this episode of The Realtor Who Wines, Rashelle Newmyer sits down with Kristen Winter, a Financial Services Professional with WealthWave, for an approachable conversation about financial literacy, building wealth, changing money habits, and creating a financial future with more choices.
Kristen is a financial educator and personal financial strategist who helps people better understand how money works and create step-by-step strategies based on their individual financial goals. Her passion for financial education grew from her own experience: despite growing up with a financially savvy father and earning a high income at a young age, she learned firsthand that earning money and managing it are two very different things.
And one of the most important messages in this episode?
There is no age when it's too late to start learning about money.
💰 Financial Literacy Isn’t Just for People Struggling With Money: Financial education isn’t only for someone buried in credit card debt or living paycheck to paycheck. Kristen explains why people who are already saving, investing, or contributing to retirement accounts can also benefit from increasing their financial knowledge.
Are there opportunities being missed? Is your money working as effectively as it could? Does your current strategy support the life you want to create? Sometimes financial literacy isn't about starting from zero. It's about taking the next step.
⏰ Think It’s Too Late? Start Anyway. One of the most powerful moments in the conversation comes when Rashelle and Kristen address a common fear: “I should have started sooner.”
Kristen’s response is simple: “You’ll never have more time than you have today.”
Starting at 22 might look different from starting at 42, 55, or 72, but looking backward doesn’t change the future. Taking action today can. Rashelle and Kristen discuss why shame, embarrassment, or feeling “behind” shouldn’t prevent someone from asking questions and becoming more financially confident.
👨👩👧 Raising Financially Literate Kids: How should parents talk to their children about money? Kristen explains how everyday language can shape a child's relationship with finances. Rather than constantly saying, “We can't afford that,” she encourages families to create conversations around choices, priorities, trade-offs, and goals.
Rashelle and Kristen also discuss teaching young people about bills, credit, saving, first jobs, 401(k)s, buying a first car or home, and other financial realities they may encounter as they enter adulthood. Financial literacy doesn't have to be a lecture; it can become part of everyday family conversations.
☕ That $5 Coffee Is More Than $5! Yes, they talk about Starbucks. Rashelle shares a memorable moment when an annual Starbucks spending report changed how she thought about those seemingly insignificant purchases. Kristen takes the conversation one step further by explaining the opportunity cost of spending: that $5 isn't only $5; it also represents what that money potentially could have become over time. But this isn't a conversation about never buying coffee or eliminating everything enjoyable from life.
Instead, it's about mindful choices. What matters more: the purchase today or the goal for tomorrow? Rashelle shares how redirecting money they would have spent on drinks while dining out once helped fund annual vacations, turning “budgeting” from restriction into a choice between two things they valued differently.
📊 What If “Budget” Didn’t Feel Like a Bad Word? For many people, the word budget feels a lot like the word diet: restrictive, uncomfortable, and focused on what someone can't have. Kristen suggests approaching money differently. Instead of starting with restriction, start with the goal. What does the desired future look like? What experiences matter? What kind of financial security would create more freedom?
Once the destination becomes meaningful, budgeting can feel less like deprivation and more like a financial strategy for the life someone actually wants.
🌴 Forget Retirement. Think “Work-Optional Lifestyle.” Kristen introduces a phrase that completely reframes traditional retirement planning: Work-optional lifestyle.
Someone may love their career and plan to work forever, but life, health, industries, priorities, and families can change. The goal isn't necessarily to stop working. It's to reach a point where working becomes a choice rather than a financial requirement.
Rashelle and Kristen discuss planning for a future that might include travel, family, grandchildren, entrepreneurship, continued work, or opportunities you can't predict today.
💵 “I Don’t Have Enough Money to Talk to a Financial Professional.” Kristen also addresses the misconception that someone needs significant wealth before talking with a financial professional. She compares it to someone saying they need to lose weight before joining a gym. Financial education can begin wherever someone is today.
Kristen discusses a framework that considers more than investing, including cash flow, debt management, emergency savings, building wealth, and protecting wealth. The appropriate starting point depends on the individual, not the size of the investment account.
💼 Entrepreneurs: Don’t Forget Your Personal Finances: For entrepreneurs and small-business owners, this conversation takes another important turn. It's easy to pour everything into building a business while putting personal financial planning on the back burner. Kristen explains why entrepreneurs should plan their personal finances as they grow their businesses, not someday after they reach a particular income level.
Rashelle and Kristen also talk about treating a business like a business, separating personal and business thinking, seeking outside guidance, and creating systems that support long-term success.
🤝 Finding the Right Financial Professional: Money is personal. Kristen believes the relationship with a financial professional should be built on trust, comfort, communication, and alignment, not judgment.
The first conversation doesn't have to begin by laying every bank statement on the table. It can start with something much simpler: What matters? What are the goals? And what does the future need to look like? Kristen explains why she approaches financial planning as an ongoing relationship that can evolve as a client's life, family, career, and goals change.
🎧 In This Episode: Rashelle and Kristen explore financial literacy, money mindset, budgeting, saving, compound growth, investing, retirement planning, financial independence, raising financially literate children, entrepreneurship, personal finance for business owners, working with a financial professional, and creating a work-optional future.
Whether someone is just beginning their financial journey, trying to recover from past mistakes, building a business, raising children, approaching retirement, or already investing and wondering what the next step should be, this episode offers an encouraging reminder: No one can change yesterday, but everyone can make a different decision about tomorrow.
Grab a glass and join Rashelle and Kristen for an honest, judgment-free conversation about money, choices, financial confidence, and building a future with more options.
Cheers! 🥂
Thank you for listening! Connect and collaborate with Realtor Rashelle on any of her social media platform pages > https://linktr.ee/RealtorRashelle