The Money Whisperer

 In these stories I want to share my passion for music with you. Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. Classical music was the first, induced by my parents. We didn’t have TV until I was out of High School.   Instead they had invested in a state-of-the-1965-art sound system and turntable. And…. they bought LP’s as well. Sheer luxury!!   Piano and opera were main course. As a child of my time, I owned a transistor radio, with antenna, small enough to fit under the covers, but powerful enough to receive Radio Veronica, an offshore, pirate, commercial, radio station for pop music. Soooo cool. I will take you to Peru.   Friends of ours would organize evenings filled with sing-and-dance-alongs. Criollo music, accompanied by guitars and cajon (box-shaped percussion instrument) and every voice in the room, in rhythm and harmony. This music belonged to their grand- and great-grand parents. It takes you into their culture.   In other Sou...

  As soon as somebody says “ Journaling”   many people just walk away. You can see it on their face: “Not for me. Sissy stuff. I’d rather hang out on FB or Insta. That’s where I feel more at home. That is fun.” I don’t agree, but I can see their point.   Journaling sure feels more like work than scrolling, so why would you make an effort? What is in it for you? What do you get in the end? If you have to do all this work it better be good, right? I agree.   We all know people who seem to move through life with confidence and ease. They seem to know what works for them.   He or she is called a natural. Why is that? The short answer: they have combined their outside world with their Inner Self, their quantum.  (an informal metaphor - often used to describe a person's unique energy, inner potential, or a transformative mindset shift.) That Inner Self already knows us. It can tell what makes us feel good, what comes natural to us, what make...

Are you inching up to midlife or retirement? Do you feel barraged by all the questions and impending changes related to these stages in life? Fantastic!!! Having questions is a sign of intelligence, foresight, of a desire to be safe, of an urge to come out ahead.     The trick now is to find answers, options, choices.    And you want choices. Choices are good. You wouldn’t buy a couch without shopping around, would you? Or buy a bottle of wine, or shoes?   Why would you leave the rest of your life to random decisions or circumstances?   Plant that tree so it can give you shade when you need it.   My book: Showing Up for The Golden Years is all about foresight, control, options, resilience and pages and pages of resources that can make the difference for you. https://www.themoneywhisperer.com/marielles-book

  Legacies When we hear the word – legacy - we immediately think Money, Wealth, Windfall. Many people have a last will and testament. They have bequeathed their earthly goods in writing, after long deliberations with partners and lawyers.   Today I want to talk about a spiritual legacy, the “other” legacy. From: Showing Up For The Golden Years In past generations, whole civilizations not only allowed, but expected the older members to exchange manual labor for mentoring and being the wise ones. Their task was to pass on history, knowledge, and wisdom  of the tribe  to the younger members. No survival was imaginable for the clan without  that mentorship and the perfection of hindsight. It would have left them vulnerable and likely to make the same mistakes over and over again.   The old tribes had it easy. Somehow, their children and grandchildren were taught to revere their elders and listen to their advice. Today, people of all ages are kept...

  My very first gold nugget   It was summer. I was outside, in front of our house, with the early morning sun in my face. I wore a summer dress and my hair had a pin in it to keep it orderly. I was on the sidewalk entertaining myself by keeping my feet within the contours of the 1’ x 1’ concrete tiles. I promised myself then and there that I would always do that, no matter how old I would become. I wondered if I, as a grown-up, would be able to see the outlines of the tiles from so high up. I was three and a bit.  I still want to fit my shoes within the lines of floor tiles.  I am in my seventies.  Adrian Monk makes it look stranger than I feel.      Locked up within this memory is another feeling. I’m not even sure if it happened the same morning, but my memories glued them together.   Between keeping track of feet and tiles I realized I was content. It was good to be me and on the sidewalk, in the sun. It was a simple feeling, witho...