Let's Talk About It: Joyce Palmer

“Let’s Talk About It” is a series presented by Kinetic Kares to enhance our collective knowledge base about our finances. We think talking about salaries, personal lessons we’ve learned, and experiences in our financial journeys could be advantageous to women anywhere – especially when these topics are still not regular conversation items. We’re picking the minds of brilliant women and asking them advice on some questions that have real life implications for our day to day.

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August 2024

We had the pleasure of interviewing Joyce Palmer – CEO and Managing Partner of JP Financial Group. JP Financial Group is a Financial Planning firm in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are a boutique firm for financial management with a focus towards women and their financial empowerment.

Their firm takes a holistic approach to financial planning that encompasses not just the financial aspect but also the social; they like to have fun with fitness classes, Sip and Paints, and other truly “well-being” focused events for their clients.

They provide educational events for ladies nearing retirement (ladies in the “red zone”: 10 years or fewer from retirement age) but also hold educational events for daughters and granddaughters of their clients.

Check out Joyce Palmer on a recent episode of Spot on the Money:

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Kares: Joyce, tell us about how you got involved in Finance Management?

Joyce: My personal story is that I was married, and my money narrative then was, ‘I’m going to marry somebody who’s rich; that means he’s going to be good at math and have money.’ My husband handled all the finances, and I really didn’t pay attention. Then he got diagnosed with a life threatening rare cancer. While this was happening, I had to manage the finances and deal with insurance companies. As a result of that, we lost a lot. I felt so vulnerable not understanding how money works and helpless not being able to make sure my three year old would be okay. I started studying money and reading all the financial books- I just got engrossed in it. I decided not only did I want to turn my own picture around, but I wanted to be a voice to help other women that felt powerless when it came to their finances. That’s where the mission started. It was empowering women to take control of their finances and understand how money works. That led me to getting licensed and starting JP Financial Group where that is our mission: help women be financially powerful and savvy. Ladies, we really are better in finance than we recognize. We do a really darn good job at it; we just sometimes don’t feel confident. I read an article some years ago that said women’s portfolios on average outperforms their male counterparts.’ We’re even better at investing!

Kares: You don’t just help women through JP Financial Group, you’re also a board member of F.A.C.E.T. Can you tell us about that?

Joyce: Faith in Action Community Education for women in Transition: It’s my favorite extracurricular activity. We support women transitioning out from being unhoused. We offer support through a monetary financial gift but also have “Self-care” events, an annual Vision Board Party, and annual “Shower” (where they’re being showered with gifts and love). My good friend started this organization after watching a program on Oprah about the increase in the unhoused population when she wondered how she can help. A lot of these women have children. We live in a country where there shouldn’t be unhoused children. I think the most amazing part I’ve learned from working with this group is that any one of us can be one major situation away from being unhoused; it’s the average working person that had a mishap or an unsafe relationship. Their strength, their stories and their tenacities lift US up.

Kares: With JP Financial and your dedication to F.A.C.E.T., how do you manage it all?

Joyce: I have an INCREDIBLE team. We have two guys in our office, one of whom is my fiancé Jerome – he’s my support and keeps me grounded. And the rest of the boss ladies on my team. I have to give a shoutout to my team: Jerome, Chaz, Michaela and Nettie. I’m blessed to have such a wonderful supporting cast.

Kares: We want some advice, Joyce. Here’s our first question: What’s the number one thing you would suggest for young women preparing for financial security in the future?

Joyce: The number one thing by far is, START EARLY. Start saving and investing for your retirement early. If I were to be 20 years old again, and know what I know now, I would’ve started then. Even if it’s only $25 a month, whatever, PUT SOME MONEY AWAY. Start saving early and be diligent and consistent with it. Don’t worry about how much, just start saving. Participate in your 401k at work. I remember talking to ladies sometimes and they’ll say, ‘Well, I have this thing at work where they want to take money out of my check, I don’t want them to take my money.’ – It’s your money that you’re putting towards your retirement, Yes, you need to participate in your 401k, take advantage of the company match. One day you are going to be older and you’re not going to want to be working when you’re much older.

Kares: What about a young woman in high school, should she start saving then?

Joyce: Absolutely, even as early as junior high school. As soon as you start working (part time job or a summer job), get in the habit of starting to put money away. Open a checking or savings account and put the money in there. Once you start getting those statements and start seeing it’s growing and earning interest, it’s a motivator to keep you going. There’s this movement called FIRE. Financial Independence Retire Early. The people in this movement want to retire when they’re forty years old. The first person that told me she’s part of the movement explained it and, I’m like , ‘Okay, I get it’. She wants to retire at forty; she’s maxing out her 401k, investing in the stock market, keeping her debt down and living lean and mean. At forty, she’s going to be sitting on a beach somewhere enjoying retirement. It doesn’t have to be at age sixty or seventy now to retire, it’s when you become financially independent.

Kares: “Lean and Mean,” we’re going to be using that as our mantra if you don’t mind…For our next question: Have you had a job where you had to ask for a raise? How did you do it?

Joyce: I absolutely did. What was tough for me working in corporate America is that I grew up in an era as a minority – as a woman and as an African American. The whole message I received was, ‘You have to work harder, you have to show up earlier and work later, you don’t have a level playing field, so you have to be better and do better.’ With that narrative, I took that approach to prove myself so when it came to raise time, that lack of confidence (from that internalized message) had me shy away from it because I wasn’t understanding my worth.

The first thing I had to do was have a confidence check. I had to have that conversation with myself that I am worthy and do deserve to get paid for what I do, and I deserve to get a raise to be on equal level with everyone else in the workforce. The next thing I did was, I practiced what I was going to say before I got in front of my manager. I got in front of the mirror, in front of my friends, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m going to practice my script.’

In my script, I listed my accomplishments and the areas in which I excelled. I knew that if I didn’t practice, I’d have all of this in my head, but I would get in the meeting and get scared and blunder through my words. I practiced; it was my performance. I did my research, and I wrote it out. Research what other’s in your same job description are getting paid. Research what your male counterparts are getting paid, we still make less than men. If I were negotiating today, I would remind my employer that there is still a wage difference and as an employer, showing and recognizing that women should get paid the same as men is in their best interest. I went in with a level of confidence and understood what my worth was. Most importantly, I put in my mind that I deserved to get that raise. After getting passed around for a couple raises, I figured that one out.

I hope people talk more about what they’re getting paid. For the ladies we work with now (in financial planning), we talk about how they’re going to make more money and we encourage them to find someone in their company to mentor them or someone they can ask, ‘what’d you make in my role, or what should I be looking for.’ You have to make more in order to save more, so a lot hinges on your ability to effectively negotiate your salary.

Kares: Speaking of making more money, what advice would you give when we have a regular source of income (career/job), but we are still struggling to make ends meet?

Joyce: First thing is, that crazy, dirty word: Budget. At the office, we don’t use that word anymore. Something about that word sounds restraining and restrictive. If you tell me I can’t do something, what am I going to do? I’m going to do it.

We changed the word budget to “Spending Plan.” Start there. Monitor your cash flow: what goes in, what comes out. Spending plan sounds more liberating; spend whatever you want – after you pay your electric, mortgage, car, and whatever’s left you can spend! After the Spending Plan, start building your emergency fund so when things come up, you’re not struggling in a panic to figure out where to find the money.

Emergencies are always going to happen. Another thing that’s really popular now is to get a good side hustle. It’s difficult sometimes to make it all happen on one salary. I encourage ladies to find something you enjoy doing that you can also turn into compensation. It may be selling Mary Kay, babysitting, or finding a job you can work from home. I have clients that pet watch and they make great money on the side. Find something that will give you some extra income. You can get extra things you want or use that to invest and save. It helps pull it all together. It’s very hard to make sure you have enough to take care of everything you need. Hopefully, this way you can (take care of everything you need) and even have a little left over to have fun.

Basically, have a spending plan so you can be conscious of what you’re spending, build your emergency fund so that when emergencies come up, you don’t have to panic and if you can, develop and find yourself a side hustle.

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Thank you, Joyce, for sharing your story and your truly applicable and insightful advice. If you want to find out more about JP Financial Group, you can visit their website: https://jpfinancialgroupllc.com/. If you would like more information about F.A.C.E.T, visit their website: https://facetinc.org/.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Disclosure: This advice is not intended as specific financial advice for your specific situation. Please work with a financial advisor for personal advice.