How do the beliefs we inherit about money shape our approach to wealth—and what happens when we finally decide to examine and rewrite those patterns? The Angel Next Door Podcast’s latest solo episode invites listeners to reflect on the roots of their financial behaviors and unpack how history, culture, and family influence their relationship with money. Host Marcia Dawood draws on her new book, "Unapologetic Wealth: Rewrite Your Money Story from Any Beginning." She shares personal insights, scientific studies, and actionable tools that help listeners understand why so many women feel hesitant or guilty around money, and how these feelings are often passed down across generations without question. In exploring the importance of financial awareness and intentional decision-making, Marcia demonstrates how changing our money story not only builds confidence and clarity for today, but also models healthier financial patterns for the next generation. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to shift their financial perspective, break free from inherited limitations, and start conversations that can spark lasting change.
How do the beliefs we inherit about money shape our approach to wealth—and what happens when we finally decide to examine and rewrite those patterns? The Angel Next Door Podcast’s latest solo episode invites listeners to reflect on the roots of their financial behaviors and unpack how history, culture, and family influence their relationship with money.
Host Marcia Dawood draws on her new book, "Unapologetic Wealth: Rewrite Your Money Story from Any Beginning." She shares personal insights, scientific studies, and actionable tools that help listeners understand why so many women feel hesitant or guilty around money, and how these feelings are often passed down across generations without question.
In exploring the importance of financial awareness and intentional decision-making, Marcia demonstrates how changing our money story not only builds confidence and clarity for today, but also models healthier financial patterns for the next generation. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking to shift their financial perspective, break free from inherited limitations, and start conversations that can spark lasting change.
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Welcome back to this short episode about Unapologetic Wealth: Rewrite Your Money Story from Any Beginning. 1974. This was the year women in the United States could finally open a credit card in their own name without needing a husband or father to co-sign. Just pause for a moment and think about that. Many women listening today were already alive when that law passed. Before the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, a bank could legally require a male cosigner, even if a woman had her own income. So when women say they sometimes feel uncomfortable around money or investing, that feeling didn't appear out of nowhere. The financial system has only recently begun to expect women to fully participate.
And today I want to talk about why so many women still feel a little strange around money. And why that actually makes sense when you look at the bigger picture. Over the years, through my work as an investor and through conversations with women around the country, I've noticed something interesting. These feelings around money rarely come from a lack of intelligence or ability. They come from history. Many women today are navigating financial opportunities that previous generations simply didn't have. For example, the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963. That law made it illegal to pay women less than men for the same job.
That we all know that even starting to close that gap has taken decades. Even retirement planning for women wasn't widely discussed until much later. So when we talk about women and wealth today, we're talking about a shift that is still relatively new. In many families, women today are the first generation to fully control wealth. The first generation earning it, the first generation investing it, and the first generation deciding how it gets used or passed on. And when you're the first generation doing something, there isn't always a clear roadmap. While the financial rules changed, the beliefs many women inherited did not change. Many women grew up hearing messages like, money's complicated.
Money is risky. Money is something someone else handles. Wanting too much money might make you look greedy. Most of these messages weren't delivered harshly. Often they came from parents who were simply repeating what they themselves had learned. But those messages still shape how women think about money today. I see this often in conversations with incredibly accomplished women. Women running companies, women leading organizations, women building successful careers.
Yet when the topic turns to investing or building wealth, something shifts. They'll say things like, I'm probably not very good with money. I'm not really an investor. I'd rather just keep things safe. But underneath those comments, there's often a quiet pressure to play smaller than their potential. Another layer that shows up frequently is guilt. Women are often taught to be caretakers. They prioritize everyone else's needs first.
They make sure everyone else around them is comfortable. So when money enters the conversation, many women subconsciously feel that resources should go outward before they go inward. Supporting others feels natural. Investing in their own future can feel uncomfortable, but when you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, something important becomes clear. Women influence about 70 to 80% of household financial decisions. Women are also expected to control about $30 trillion in wealth in the United States by 2030 as part of what economists call the great wealth transfer. Yet women still represent a small percentage of angel investors, and companies founded solely by women receive less than 2% of the big venture capital funding. Those numbers tell us something important.
The opportunity for women to influence the future of business innovation and communities is enormous, but participation still lags behind the opportunity. Another reality that often surprises people is that roughly 80% of women will manage their finances independently at some point in their lives. That can happen through career changes, divorce, or simply living longer than a partner. Women also live longer on average, which means many women will ultimately become the primary financial decision maker. Those trends point in the same direction. Women and money are becoming more connected than ever before. Yet many women still feel hesitant stepping fully into financial conversations. And that's the gap I started noticing after my first book, Do Good While Doing Well, came out.
That book focuses on investing in early-stage companies as a way to create both potential financial returns and positive impact. But after it was published, I began hearing from women who loved the idea of investing yet felt stuck. Before they could even get started. They would say things like, I don't think I'm good enough with money to be an investor. I never really thought about money that way. I don't even know where to begin. And that's when I realized something important. Before we talk about investing, we have to talk about our money story.
Every person has one. Your money story is shaped by the environment you grew up in. The conversations you've heard, the experiences you've had, and the beliefs you've absorbed along the way. Some people grew up hearing that money was scarce. Some heard that money was stressful. Some were taught that money conversations should stay private. Those stories become the invisible script running quietly in the background of our financial lives. They influence how comfortable we feel earning money, how confident we feel investing, how boldly we pursue opportunities.
For many women, those stories quietly encourage caution and modesty rather than confidence and ownership. That doesn't mean those beliefs are permanent, but it does mean we have to recognize them before we can move beyond them. And that awareness is the starting point. Because once you understand the origin of your money story, you gain the ability to start rewriting it. In next week's episode, I'm going to talk about how women can begin moving forward, how to examine the beliefs we've inherited, align money decisions with your values, and step into financial confidence in a way that feels authentic. Those ideas are also the foundation of my new book, Unapologetic Wealth: Rewrite Your Money Story from Any Beginning, which releases on March 31st. And if you're listening to this episode on its release day, that's just next week. And if this conversation resonates with you, I think you'll find the next episode especially helpful as we explore what rewriting your money story can actually look like in practice.
Because understanding the past is powerful, but deciding what comes next is even more important. You can find Unapologetic Wealth: Rewrite Your Money Story from Any Beginning anywhere that you find books. And you can also get all of the buy links on my website at marciadalwood.com. Thanks for listening.