Our Goal
To help 1 Million people feel happier about their Money
Untangle Money began as a way to help everyday women feel more comfortable and be more proactive in their Money planning.
The women who used our process to build their Money Action plan shared that their loved ones could also benefit from our approach - a non-judgemental, proactive way of thinking about Money.
Their loved ones included people who were early in their Money-making or Money-planning journeys. They did not feel welcome in financial planning conversations and thought that the financial system did not include them - that their needs were too small to be treated seriously.
Untangle Money wants to change that and help 1 million poeple feel happier about their Money by engaging them in financial planning conversations that work for them.
Our Story
Creating a Way to Include more People in the Financial System
We want 1 million everyday Canadians to have an effective Money Plan by 2028.
Our approach to Money Planning gives everyday people a greater sense of control over their ‘now money’ and helps them see how their ‘future money’ can work harder.
This is particularly important for women because there is a wage gap between men and women. This wage gap impacts earnings expectations and is further compounded by the reality that women live longer than men. Women need more money for retirement, but women make less money than men. This is often not considered in traditional financial planning models. It has created a huge wealth gap between retired men and women, where about 40% of women live at or below the poverty line in retirement.
In 2020, for every 1 dollar men have in
Net Wealth women have only 32 cents.
This was the subject of the 2010 book Shortchanged, by Harvard Professor Mariko Lin Chang. You can also read more about this at: https://womenswealthgap.org/
Women hit peak earning well before men do, and at a much lower level.
Source: Ellevest
Kristine Beese
Founder & CEO
Kristine started her career in engineering in the oil and gas sector. As she started to make more money, she thought it would be smart to get professional help to manage her money. As many did in the early 2000s, she spoke to a financial advisor at her local bank. Her experience was not positive. She was frustrated and left without a useful money plan. She felt belittled for her Money-spending choices and talked down to when she asked investing questions. This experience prompted her to learn how to manage her own investments in a way that made sense for her needs.
Eventually, Kristine completed her MBA and then spent 10 years in the finance industry working with institutional and accredited investors (professional investors or investors with a net worth of at least $1 million). Kristine noticed that the financial system didn’t meet the needs of women - not even the needs of women with a lot of money. If the financial system didn’t work for affluent women, it definitely would not include the needs of everyday women with less wealth. Her personal experiences plus learning about how women, particularly everyday women, are underserved and largely ignored in the financial system prompted her to start Untangle Money in 2020.
Kristine is a P.Eng and has a MBA in Finance from Ivey Business School. She is pursuing her Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation. Kristine and her husband have a busy family with three fun and adorable children. Kristine does her best to make time to do the activities that bring her joy - reading, climbing, cycling and spending time with friends.
