Steph Wagner

I quit literally like the next day.

And that wasn't really...

where I lost my financial independence.

Yes, I lost my earning power in that moment, but I always thought I could get that back really quickly.

I think what happened to me, which happens to so many people, is as couples, we're dividing and concreting, you know, as we're navigating all the busyness.

And I began to lean out of every aspect of my financial life.

I'd met my ex-husband in college.

We were both finance majors.

He had a thriving career in finance.

I'm like, you do it.

I'm sick of this.

And all that kind of worked until he did it.

And that didn't moment was when 14 years later, I learned that he'd been really living a double life, in love with another woman, having an affair and wanted a divorce.

And it was the beginning of, oh my God, what had I done?

Like, I don't even know where I stand financially.

I don't even know how I'm gonna support these children, support myself.

And I've put myself at tremendous risk, not just for today, but really for my future.

And that was my wake-up call.

You know, if I love this stuff, if I had an aptitude for it and I lost my financial autonomy, what is the average person, woman doing that didn't learn this stuff, that never been exposed to it and are suddenly navigating life and going, oh my gosh.

And it doesn't have to be divorce.