Episode One: The Moments That Change Everything

November 11, 2026

Episode Takeaways

You can do everything “right” with money and still feel uncertain about what comes next. This episode explores why and what to do about it.

In this inaugural episode of Money, Meaning and Midlife Plot Twists, host Erin Hadary, CFP®, MBA, CAP®, CEFT®, shares the story behind her work and the philosophy that guides her in working with clients through life’s biggest transitions. What began as a curiosity for math and economics evolved into a career rooted in listening, education, and helping people make thoughtful decisions with their money. Erin reflects on her unconventional path into financial planning, the early influences that shaped her perspective, and why she believes financial literacy is less about expertise and more about meeting people where they are.

Throughout the conversation, Erin introduces the heart of her approach: understanding each client’s money story, especially during moments of change such as career shifts, inheritances, losses, or new opportunities. She shares how her grandmother’s resourcefulness and joy continue to influence her view that money is not just a tool for security, but a way to create meaning, support values, and build a life that feels aligned. This episode sets the stage for future conversations focused on helping listeners navigate their own financial transitions with clarity, confidence, and intention.

Key Talking Points:

Erin’s path into financial planning and her curiosity-driven approach
Why financial literacy starts with meeting people where they are
How life transitions shape financial decisions
The role of money stories and early influences
Using money to support values, choices, and long-term meaning
And more!

Explore the full episode to learn more about navigating your own financial turning points.

Connect with Erin Hadary:

Transcript

[00:00:00] Intro: Welcome to Money Meaning and Midlife Plot Twists with Erin Hadary, a Certified Financial Transitionist, Certified Financial Planning® professional, and owner at Moneta Wealth Management. In this podcast, Erin helps people navigating major life transitions work through financial complexity with clarity. Here, Erin blends her human-centered heart-first approach with financial expertise, providing guidance that’s both technically sound and emotionally insightful.

She draws from her experience as an advisor, engaging other life change experts for real talk conversations and sharing stories from other midlifers who’ve undergone major plot twists of their own. Join us to better understand your financial story and face your next chapter with confidence.

[00:00:51] Patrice Sikora: Welcome to Money Meaning and Midlife Plot Twists with your host Erin Hadary. This is the show’s inaugural episode where we’re gonna [00:01:00] learn about Erin. From Erin. I’m Patrice Sikora, and Erin, it is great to be with you. You know, I love your podcast title. It sounds like a bestselling mystery novel. How do you feel about that?

[00:01:13] Erin Hadary: Well, I love that. I think that that’s the gift that I get to witness with my clients is helping them navigate. The midlife plot twist. It’s such a privilege, the work I get to do, because money allows you to make change, and I love to give people confidence in that change.

[00:01:37] Patrice Sikora: Well, how did you get into financial services in the first place?

[00:01:40] Erin Hadary: That’s a great question, Patrice. I actually am passionate about math and science. I was very good at it in school. I was not planning to be a financial advisor. In fact, I think like many young women still, finance was not encouraged. And I ended up in a liberal arts [00:02:00] college. And I was very curious, and I think the word curious really describes how I ended up in the financial service industries because not only was I a hard worker, I asked a lot of questions and in asking questions, whether it be in my global economics class about consumption in China to understanding, well, how do you make an investment and really how is that a gift to your future self?

I love that piece. I love that piece of wanting to explore: how do you be kind to yourself? How do you take care of yourself later? And I got a call one day when I was working at North Carolina State University with tobacco farmers, and the board chair of my college said, ” Hello, my name’s Joel Adams. I own an investment shop, and I heard you’re a good [00:03:00] business student. I heard you’re a hard worker, and I’d like to know if you’d like to come work for me.

[00:03:05] Patrice Sikora: Wow. Just out of the blue.

[00:03:07] Erin Hadary: Truly outta the blue. In fact, I remember saying to him, I think you have the wrong person. He said, no, I have the right person. And that was an opportunity of a lifetime, and it didn’t take me much to think about it and say yes.

And there were a couple of reasons why. Number one, the money he was willing to pay me was twice what I was making. I was making $28,000 a year at the time, which for anyone who’s had to live, basically getting by week to week. I was getting by week to week. It was not an easy road, and so it was a no-brainer to double my pay.

It was a no-brainer to accept an opportunity and grow. But I had to learn everything. And I believe it’s my superpower now because when I work with clients, if they don’t have a vocabulary for finance, that’s [00:04:00] okay. I love being able to be an educator. I love being okay with where they’re at. I heard recently financial literacy. You have the language of a child, you have the financial literacy of a teenager, and there are a lot of people. They may be 40, 50, 60 years old, and they’re not past that teenager financial language because we don’t do a great job in our country of educating people in financial literacy. I chose to go back to school to get an MBA to become a Certified Financial Planner, to keep pursuing education and stamps because I’m curious, not because I feel that it really puts me above anyone.

I actually think it makes me more humble because I get to listen and say, ” Huh, what don’t I know? And here’s the thing I’ve learned at this point in my life. There are a lot of things I don’t know, and so I get to be a listener.

[00:04:58] Patrice Sikora: And that’s a gift in itself, [00:05:00] being able to listen.

[00:05:02] Erin Hadary: That’s really how I approach financial planning when I work with clients, is I wanna hear how you were raised with money and how it has shaped you.

Because when we’re navigating a big financial decision, a midlife plot twist, whether it be a second act, a second career, a job layoff, an inheritance, a death. There are so many things that happen to us as humans that we have to change. We have to adapt, and you have to start with, well, where are you coming from?

Because those money stories that we pick up as children sometimes don’t serve us later in life, and you have to be able to put them down. And by just asking the questions, sometimes I see that light bulb go on for my clients of, huh, I never thought about that. That’s not really true for me anymore.

[00:05:56] Patrice Sikora: What about your life story when it comes to money?

[00:05:59] Erin Hadary: So I [00:06:00] was very close to my grandmother. Both my parents worked long, hard hours. My mom was an art school teacher. My father did not go to college. He started out as a brick layer. And I spent a lot of time at my grandmom’s house, like many kids who are kind of passed off for free babysitting. And my grandmother was a military wife.

My grandfather was in World War II. And that woman could stretch a dollar. It very much shaped me. I watched and observed her go to the store with coupons. I watched and observed going to discount food stores, buying things that were on their way out, and she really knew how to make beautiful meals filled with love.

She knew how to have everything she wanted. Be joyful and happy. I have memories of going to bingo with her [00:07:00] at McDonald’s and her jumping up and down when she got bingo ’cause she won toilet paper. She won toilet paper. I love that about her. And the more I’ve traveled as an adult, I’ve really seen that you can have money and you can have very little money and you can still find joy and happiness in life.

[00:07:20] Patrice Sikora: Joy is hard to find in a lot of people. I think it’s there. They just may not recognize it.

[00:07:27] Erin Hadary: I think it’s very challenging in our current economy and capitalistic society. I watch commercials and when I was doing my MBA I watched it of how do we brainwash and influence might be the better word of influencing people to say, if you have this car, if you have this thing, you will be happy.

And what I saw with my grandmother that really is part of my own money story, is you get to choose to be happy. [00:08:00] You get to choose how you spend your dollars. You get to make an impact. You get to choose to go outta your way to support a local business. You get to choose if you’re going to vote with, you know, convenience and just have it delivered.

There’s nothing wrong with either of them. But that choice, that conscious, thoughtful decision making, I love that. I love being a wealth advisor for that very reason. I mean, so my money story is really about holding space for people and then being part in partnership of being an investor, being thoughtful, being conscious.

I love being an investor because it also allows you to say, this is a gift to my future self. This is a gift to my loved ones. I don’t know how much my grandmother left when she passed. I’ve never flat out asked my [00:09:00] family, but my guess is it wasn’t much.

[00:09:02] Patrice Sikora: Right. But she left more than just money, obviously, from the way you’re talking.

[00:09:06] Erin Hadary: Yeah.

[00:09:07] Patrice Sikora: Well, what do you, what do you hope people take away from this show?

[00:09:11] Erin Hadary: I hope to have guests on the show. They get to share their stories and that the listeners get to have a piece of that magic and get confidence and empowerment that they can make it through that challenging time or a surprise.

Sometimes it can be an opportunity, just like the job opportunity I got. I have a family right now. They’re about ready to move to Canada. It was not on the radar screen a year ago, and we have helped them make a variety of decisions, but because they have a financial plan, we’ve run multiple scenarios and they have financial confidence, and having that peace of mind allowed them to take a huge leap.

I love that. It’s so exciting. I can’t wait to [00:10:00] help share the privilege that I get by sitting in the chair as a wealth advisor with the public. I hope that people can call in and say, you know, I’m navigating this and I could really use help. I don’t have a foundation. I don’t have peace of mind, and it would really help me if I had a team around me that I knew cared about me, was listening to my story and help me get through and transition through this life change.

That’s what I want this to be about.

[00:10:34] Patrice Sikora: Do you work a lot with families or individuals?

[00:10:38] Erin Hadary: I work with both families and individuals. I’ve had the senior generation reach out to me and say “my adult children who are in their forties and fifties, they need a financial planner.” I’ve had young women, I’ve had young men reach out to me saying, [00:11:00] “I’m the first person in my family to ever have money to save.”

They don’t have that history, that vocabulary, and they want a financial partner to make smart, wise investment decisions. I’ve had women who are inheriting money and, I started to create a niche in this I think just because I’m a woman in finance, not because anything in particular, but there’s just not a lot of women in our industry, and particularly not at my level. being a business owner and really just, again, being curious, but there’s a lot of money in transition right now. And as parents pass away and they leave their daughters millions of dollars, some of them are paralyzed. They want to be respectful of the money. They want to embrace their own life. They want to find meaning.[00:12:00]

That might mean changing their job. That might mean giving money to charity. I love being intentional and building a strategy around that.

[00:12:11] Patrice Sikora: Alright, so women are coming into money. There’s a lot of money changing hands.

[00:12:15] Erin Hadary: Yeah. So there’s a lot of money between the generations starting to shift and that is being left or passed on.

Some individuals, be it man or woman, are depending on that money. Others are surprised by it. And so one of the things that I’ve been working on with a lot of my clients is where is their money education. What do they want to do? What does this money do for them to change their life? For some people, they can stop working.

I think there’s a lot of excitement of, oh, if I, if I got all this money, I could, you know, quit my job. Um, okay, now what are you gonna do?

[00:12:56] Patrice Sikora: Exactly. Yes.

[00:12:58] Erin Hadary: And sometimes it’s [00:13:00] taking a sabbatical, having a breather, but more importantly, what do you get to do with it, what gives you meaning, and I love having philanthropic conversations, being an impact investor, choosing how you make investment choices.

I just had a great conversation this weekend with a family. They don’t wanna be in oil and gas because they have all the oil and gas money. They feel a little dirty with the fact that their family wealth has come from oil and gas. And so because they have that, they are choosing to not have it in their investment portfolio.

And that’s a very interesting value-based decision. And we just wanna, again, hold space for. What do we expect the returns to be? What do we expect the risk to be? How does that fit into the legacy you’re gonna leave? Do you want to pass on money? Do you wanna spend it to zero?

[00:13:59] Patrice Sikora: Hmm. [00:14:00]

[00:14:00] Erin Hadary: There’s not an immediate answer to some of these questions.

In fact, I often ask clients, please don’t answer me. I’m gonna ask you a few questions because I wanna reflect on them with you, but I can’t tell you how to make your money decisions. I get to be a partner. In partnership with you to make intentional strategic decisions that hopefully give you a sense of pride and wisdom in the money choices you’re making.

[00:14:29] Patrice Sikora: And that is something we are going to explore in upcoming episodes of this podcast series.

[00:14:34] Erin Hadary: I can’t wait.

[00:14:35] Patrice Sikora: All right, well, let’s talk a little bit more about Erin. Erin, what does Erin do when she’s not working? What does she do for fun?

[00:14:43] Erin Hadary: Patrice, I like to be away from my computer screen. Currently, I think where I’m at right now in year 2026 is I am glued to a screen constantly.

I have to read the news every single day. I need to know what is impacting the market, [00:15:00] so when I’m not at work and I’m not with a client, or I’m not on a video call, or I’m not doing a video podcast. I love to be outside gardening. I love to be outside walking. I love to be in nature. I live in Colorado now.

I was actually born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. So to all my friends and family in the Northeast I very much respect the fact it’s gray and dark and yes, it’s beautiful and sunny and 70 in Colorado. I also spent some time in the southeast. As well as time in California. And so I’ve had the privilege of really living in variety of places in our country.

[00:15:42] Patrice Sikora: Awesome. So gardening is the biggie and being out in nature.

[00:15:45] Erin Hadary: Yes.

[00:15:46] Patrice Sikora: Alright, very good. And then please tell us one thing about you that most people don’t know.

[00:15:56] Erin Hadary: I love this question. I have had many jobs [00:16:00] and I love that. I think the older I get, I’m so grateful that I started working at 14. I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to be the janitor at a science building and mop the floors.

I am grateful that I got to work on a college farm and be the business manager and call cattle and move them and work on a hog farm. It has led to different opportunities, but also I have an incredible respect for the hardworking farmers out there. The people who work the land, and they get up at dawn and they go to bed when it’s dark and when I sit in my computer.

Late in office, there are times that I’m jealous that they’re outside.

[00:16:51] Patrice Sikora: Sure, sure.

[00:16:52] Erin Hadary: And there are times where that work ethic is what has allowed me to keep succeeding in my own career.

[00:16:59] Patrice Sikora: Oh, that’s [00:17:00] awesome. That’s awesome. So I can see how nature and being outside all kind of come together there.

[00:17:05] Erin Hadary: I’ve heard a lot of people talk about, as you get older, that’s kind of where you find your meditation and your peace.

And so when I am maybe working through a difficulty or something that’s complex, whether that be for myself or a client, that meditative state, that being in nature, that finding that calm, grounding and not reacting, but being in a place of this is where I’m meant to be. That’s so cool.

[00:17:35] Patrice Sikora: Yeah. No argument here.

No argument whatsoever. Alright, Erin, we are going to continue this in part two of this, uh, introductory series. I look forward to introducing you to even more people who might just hear this first episode and they wanna learn more about you in the second episode, and that’s what we’re gonna do. But at this point right now, how can people reach you if they have questions they wanna get to know you a little bit more?

[00:17:59] Erin Hadary: Patrice, I’d [00:18:00] love for people who want to have a conversation with me to reach out via my website and they can do that at monetagroup.com/hadary, and that’s H-A-D-A-R-Y and we have a contact us page and my team and I will be happy to follow up.

[00:18:19] Patrice Sikora: All right. Fantastic. Folks, please follow like and share Erin’s podcast.

As I say, share it with others who you think will benefit from it as well. And of course, join us for the next and after that, all the upcoming episodes. Thanks for being with us.

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Visit our website at. Monetagroup.com/hadary or reach out directly if you would like support in your own financial transition. Investment advisory services offered by Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC, an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

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