When Financial Planning Is More Than Financial Planning with Megan Kopka

Today, Ed is joined by Megan Kopka. She’s a Certified Financial Planner® and a woman on a mission to help others move through their grief and financial planning.

Megan got her start in the industry in 2007 as a financial advisor, beginning at the grandeur of the large wire houses until her personal life led her to a small, local planning firm and from there, to an elite solo advisor working with high-net-worth clientele.

Eventually, she opened her own firm, Kopka Financial LLC, embracing the truly independent model for today’s fiduciary advisor.

Listen in as Megan unpacks the way forward for those who are dealing with the grief of losing a partner. She explains the role of couples counseling in the world of financial planning.

Through her own powerful experience of losing a husband, Megan demonstrates the importance of comprehensive, balanced, and holistic planning—based on empathy, compassion, and with a view toward nurturing a pleasurable relationship with money.

Key Topics:

• How a tragic experience led Megan down the path of becoming a financial planner (02:06)
• Leading with empathy and compassion (08:24)
• Lessons learned from navigating the grief of losing a loved one (12:15)
• Grief as an extension of love (16:33)
• Speaking to people who are grieving before they even know they are grieving (21:59)
• Young widowhood statistics (24:20)
• Making informed shared decisions about finances as a married couple (26:44)
• How to have a pleasurable relationship with money (32:18)
• Gottman Method Couples Therapy and Brené Brown (35:56)
• Megan’s plan for the future (39:26)
• Feel your feelings (43:43)

Resources:

• Kopka Financial
• Megan Kopka LinkedIn
• HBR: Connect with Empathy But Lead with Compassion

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