Financial Planning as a Path to Healing
“If done well, financial planning and investment management can be a healing modality.” Geri Eisenman Pell, MBA, CFP®, CDFA®, has built her nearly 40-year career around this powerful insight. Co-founder of Rise Private Wealth Management, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Geri has earned recognition from Barron’s and Forbes for her client-centered approach to financial wellness. She discovered early on that peace of mind doesn’t come from wealth alone—it comes from clarity, purpose, and confidence in one’s financial choices.
Starting her career in corporate finance, Geri quickly realized something was missing. “What I realized was that I wasn’t helping people… I needed to do something that would help me help people.” Her defining moment came during an interview when she heard the words: “This would be a great career if you had the mind of a capitalist and the heart of a social worker.” It was exactly the balance she was looking for.
Understanding Our Financial Personalities
Geri emphasizes that our relationship with money is deeply rooted in our upbringing, often leading to conflicting and complicated attitudes. “Everyone grows up with a money personality, which usually comes from our parents… and they often have different money personalities.” These ingrained patterns can manifest in various ways—from overspending to excessive frugality—and few are immune. “I’ve met maybe five people in my career that have not been dysfunctional financially.”
She illustrates this with a poignant story of her mother, shaped by the Depression era, who could hardly bring herself to spend money—even when it impacted her health. Geri explained that after her mother passed, her sisters were shocked to learn she had more financial resources than they realized—and expressed deep regret that she hadn’t used that money to ensure her own comfort and care. Geri uses this story with clients, reminding them, “Don’t do that to your kids. They won’t want the money. They’ll want to know you took care of yourself.”
Guiding Women Through Financial Change
Significant life transitions—such as divorce, widowhood, or sudden financial responsibility—often come with uncertainty and emotional upheaval. Geri refers to these pivotal moments as “lifecycle events,” emphasizing the importance of approaching them with clarity and mindful planning.
“When you go through a divorce, the biggest questions are, ‘Am I gonna be okay? Will I have enough money?’” Lawyers focus on winning, but Geri emphasizes something more vital: emotional and financial clarity. “It’s an analytical process that then gives you the emotional guidance of how to behave and what to let go of and what to hold onto.”
The goal is really to get peace of mind, financial health, and wholeness so that you can live out the rest of your life going forward, and not looking backward.
—Geri Eisenman Pell
Geri likens her role to that of a therapist: “People call really good financial advisors financial therapists. Because that’s what we are.”
Aligning Financial Decisions with Core Values
Geri emphasizes the importance of aligning financial choices with personal values. She shares how her father’s generosity informed her perspective, inspiring clients to give with confidence. “If I step back with the client, and look at their situation holistically to analyze if giving during their lifetime impacts their financial independence, this can be very empowering. If one of your values is helping others, this can lead to a powerful manifestation.”
Balancing generosity with security is a delicate art. “What’s the balance between ‘If I give all this money to charity now, what if I run out?’… That’s the juice of it—figuring that out, feeling comfortable about it, and feeling released into it.”
She believes in giving proactively and thoughtfully, whether it’s family, friends, or charities: “I’m a big believer in that you should give money to your family, friends, and philanthropies when they need it. Not when you die.”
Facing Our Biggest Financial Fears
The single greatest fear Geri hears repeatedly is stark and universal: “Will I run out of money before I run out of life?” It’s a question she takes seriously, guiding her clients toward proactive planning and financial structure.
“People worry about the transition from making money to having to start to spend down your money. People worry about creating a retirement paycheck… What you want in retirement is money deposited into your bank account every month, just like when you were working.”
At its heart, Geri’s work transforms uncertainty into empowerment. By asking questions like “What’s really important? What do I need to let go of? What do I need to hold onto?”, individuals can begin to shift from financial anxiety to clarity and confidence.
By asking essential questions and encouraging thoughtful reflection, individuals can begin to take actionable steps toward achieving genuine financial freedom.
In Bold Gratitude,
Lainie