About

Everybody has the same question when it comes to money

We’ve all been there. You roll over in the middle of the night, and find yourself thinking about money.

Do I have enough? 

Have I saved enough?

Am I investing enough?

Am I earning enough?

Ultimately, it all comes down to the same question: “Am I doing enough?”

This is understandable. The traditional approach to money focuses on what you DO with money – on the how-to’s. 

But money is about so much more than that.

But you wouldn’t know that from the way we’re taught to think about money. Traditional financial education teaches us that the answer to your money worries is found in these tried-and-true principles:

• Pay yourself first
• Spend less than you earn
• Have minimum-to-no debt
• Invest

DOING these things is the answer for every financial problem and the source of your financial success…right? 

Well. Sort of.

They’re principles for a reason, there is some truth in them. But what I’ve come to see through my 37 years experience in the finance industry and 22 years as a financial coach to investment bankers, lawyers, doctors, strategists, and designers is that success with money is about so much more than “just the numbers”.

To have financial success (or more of it), you have to address the behavior, choices, and the motivations, and the emotions that drive them … AND the numbers.

I’m Jacquette M. Timmons, and I’m slightly obsessed with getting you to focus on the human side of money and embrace the idea that financial success isn’t just about the dollars and cents.

I work as a financial behaviorist, helping my clients navigate complex financial decisions.

My unique, human-centered approach to financial coaching and teaching is founded in an unwavering commitment to the idea that money is never just about the numbers. It’s about the emotions. 

I first became aware of this on October 19, 1987 – aka “Black Monday.” I was just a year out of undergrad, still green, and the stock market crashed. That day is as vivid in my memory as if it were yesterday, and here’s why:

I saw people who were so upset because of the money they lost (for themselves and/or their clients) they would have jumped out of the window if they could. Yet, there were others whose reaction was the exact opposite. They didn’t panic. Instead, they were quite calm.

This difference totally fascinated me. It’s what helped me to understand that everyone reacts emotionally to money.

And I’m no exception. 

Because about 15 years after that and about 8 years after starting my own firm, I was sitting in my CPA’s office getting my taxes ready. He looked up at me and stopped me in my tracks as he said, “When are you going to stop mortgaging your life?” 

That was my deer in the headlights moment, because I didn’t have an answer.

It was very frustrating. It was also really odd to me. 

Here I was with an MBA in finance. 

With years of experience managing money for high net worth individuals in the private bank of a large investment firm and then on my own for more than 15 years combined. 

I knew the principles to practice, and I practiced them – that’s what gave me the ability to be able to start my business. 

But then things changed. My reality didn’t match what was expected of me, what I expected of myself, or what I had been trained to do – personally, academically, or professionally. 

I had to work my way back to where I am now to having a healthy and thriving business and then also a better financial situation – personally. 

This is how I know personally, and not just professionally, that…

Money is never just about money.

This is true for you, too. 

You have a money story as well. 

Everyone does –  regardless of where they are on the income and wealth spectrum.  

Likewise, everyone wants to feel in control, confident about their choices, and financially safe and secure.

And I can help you get there.

I provide behavioral-based financial coaching and advice to accomplished professionals ranging across the income and wealth spectrum, and working in industries as diverse as banking, law, and advertising. I also design and deliver workshops and keynotes, and participate in fireside chats and panels for forward-thinking corporations, AM Law 200 firms, nonprofits and conferences that explore a variety of “money and…” intersections.

•  I provide answers to the money questions that have been nagging you for weeks, sometimes years.
• I serve as a sounding board to help you gain insight and clarity you wouldn’t achieve on your own – because you’re not likely to ask yourself the questions I will.
• I have an MBA in finance and an undergrad in marketing from a design school – a combination that helps me bring a designer’s mind-set to you and your situation. By blending creativity, analysis, and empathy, I help you align how you create, manage and finance your goals with the dynamics of the new economy.

Because the truth is, you’re always going to be managing some degree of uncertainty when it comes to the intersection of money, business, and life.

But in heightened moments of it, what enables you to have a sense of financial calm is to have a vision of what you want money to do for you, cultivate (or deepen) good habits, and create (or modify) your systems of engagement. 

These are the ingredients for your personalized financial game-plan.

With such a plan: 

• You’re better able to react on the calm side when the stock market goes awry or when life throws you a financial curve-ball.
• You don’t just focus on the numbers; you also consider the non-financial factors of managing money.
• You define what wealth is to you – in all its dimensions.
• You’re better able to manage the emotions of money because your success with money is not just about the dollars and cents.

How much better does that sound than just “crunching the numbers”?

Especially since you don’t really manage money — you manage your choices around money.

Identifying the underlying beliefs, behaviors and choices that shape your results is key to your financial success — and I’d be delighted to help you achieve that.