Manisha Thakor

Manisha Thakor is vice president of financial well-being at Brighton Jones, an innovative Seattle-based wealth management firm devoted to helping clients coast-to-coast “live a richer life,” literally and figuratively. At Brighton Jones, she spearheads a variety of multimedia initiatives designed to help clients incorporate financial well-being into their overall personal well-being. Thakor’s favorite part of this work is hosting the True WELLth podcast, a 25-minute show airing every other week focused on helping listeners craft lives that integrate social, emotional, physical and financial well-being. Thakor also is founder of MoneyZen LLC, a boutique financial education consultancy providing keynote speaking and financial literacy workshops to organizations focused on financially empowering women and families. Known for making the complex simple, the cornerstone of her financial education work is a concept she calls “Money Zen,” a joy-based approach to personal finance honoring the core values of simplicity, freedom and abundance.

Thakor is co-author—with Sharon Kedar—of two critically-acclaimed personal finance books aimed at women in their 20s and 30s (On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance, and Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey.) Thakor is also on faculty at the Omega Institute’s women’s leadership center, where she teaches a course on financial well-being, and is also a visiting personal finance teacher at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She sits on the advisory board of Savvy Ladies, a nonprofit focused on financially empowering women in need through educational seminars and access to pro-bono Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) practitioners. Her financial wisdom has been featured in a wide range of national media outlets including CNN, PBS, NPR, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Barron’s, Money, Today, Rachel Ray, Real Simple, Women’s Day, Glamour, Essence, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Health to name a few.

Thakor earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School in 1997 and a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College in 1992. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®), and a CFP®. She lives in Portland, Ore., where she revels in the amazing Third Wave Coffee scene and the stunning outdoor beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Thakor joined the NEFE Board of Trustees in 2018.

Manisha’s Core Speaking Topics
MoneyZen: The Art & Craft of Financial Well-Being
For so many of us the mere thought of dealing with our personal finances is enough to make us cringe. Imagine what life would feel like if the opposite were true – if each time you thought of your money you felt deep calm, clarity and confidence! That is the goal of this talk. When women embrace financial well-being as part of their definition of overall well-being, magical things start happening for her, her family, and her community. Audiences will learn why personal finance is a source of stress for so many (even those with “plenty”), a powerful rule of thumb to engage in healthy spending going forward, and a unique tool call “joy-based spending” to help you squeeze more happiness out of each dollar you spend.

The Five Things Every Woman Should Know About Her Investment Portfolio
Investing on the surface can seem remarkably complex. In reality there are 5 things to know about your investment portfolio that will drive the vast majority of your financial success. In this surprisingly fun and easy to understand presentation audiences will learn: the importance of fees, the two main types of investment philosophies, a powerful framework for asset allocation (choosing the mix of investments in your portfolio), the importance of simplicity when it comes to “diversification”, and how to find an investment advisor who you feel you can truly trust.

Can I Afford To Retire?
Studies show the vast majorities of Americans have never tried to calculate how much money they need to save in order to support themselves in retirement. At the same time studies also show that those who have the highest odds of being able to successfully, joyfully retire are those who have either worked through this exercise on their own or with the help of a financial professional. As a result many people just put this dry (and potentially dreary!) topic on the back burner. Audiences in this lecture will do the opposite. They will leave with a clear understanding of the various pieces that go into answering this question and concrete action plan to understand how to get the answer to this question for their specific circumstances.