What We Think

Jane DeLashmutt O’Mara, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager & Shareholder

I began my career in the investment business in 2000 as an assistant to a stockbroker in Baltimore. On lunch breaks, I walked down the hallway where I climbed a miniature staircase that led to a “switchboard.” A lot of our younger readers probably won’t know what that is, but for me it was a means to an end. I thought of that staircase as a door leading to a world I wanted so much to be a part of but knew nothing about – the world of finance and investments. Two things my mom and I never discussed.

As a younger man, my dad was a real estate developer and small business owner. Growing up, we also didn’t talk about business or money. In elementary school, I had to write a school paper about my parents’ careers. My dad told me he worked on a chain gang before I finally pinned him down and he told me he had a business degree from The University of Virginia, and that he and his cousins ran an engineering firm.

Through this research project, I also learned that my mom graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Mary Washington, which was, at the time, a sister school of the University of Virginia where she successfully competed on the men’s swim team. After graduating, she let go of her dream of swimming in the Olympics and instead went on to earn a master’s degree in nursing from Columbia University,

My mom has a passion for learning, giving, and caring for others. Before she was married and had her own family, she helped mothers and families bring babies into the world as a Certified Nurse Midwife. After she was married, mom mostly stayed home to manage the family and house–helping to deliver her six children to school, sports practices, and after-school activities.

While raising her family, mom worked late nights after bedtime in order to eventually earn another master’s degree in theology from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary and a PhD in nursing from George Mason University. As we grew older, she worked in the labor and delivery unit at our local hospital in Leesburg, VA; she taught birthing classes; and later in her career she taught in the nursing programs at Shepherd University and Salisbury University before starting a doula practice.

Still, this highly educated, highly accomplished, and capable woman would tell me that she didn’t know how to multiply, add, or subtract. Numbers just weren’t her “thing.” At the grocery store as a young girl, I used to like to guess the grocery bill – sometimes guessing within dollars or cents of the actual total. As a little girl, I was fortunate to never have to worry whether we’d be able to purchase groceries for the week, but as I added up the totals of the various items in the grocery cart, there was always a focus on whether we stayed within budget or whether mom had enough cash in the bank to cover the bill.

In our family, my dad managed the finances. I’m not sure that my mom ever knew how much money we had or didn’t have, which was just as well, since she didn’t know how to multiply! Yet, my mom was able to instill in me, from a very young age, the importance of budgeting, not going overboard with purchases that weren’t on the grocery list, and balancing a checkbook.

Even though she didn’t control the checkbook then, her engagement with me in the smallest ways gave me the confidence to learn about money and finance and numbers in a way that many women of her generation were just not expected to learn. She also taught me that girls can do anything that boys can do – in school, in the pool, on the soccer field, or in the office. She told me that reading and education were the keys to my future. I believed her, and that confidence eventually led me to that little staircase in Baltimore that ultimately brought me to a dream career as a financial planner serving women and their families.

In these times when technology seems to have grabbed ahold of every aspect of our lives, I am holding tightly to the threads of wisdom and lessons that my mother passed on to me in hopes of one day passing them on to my children. On the heels of Mother’s Day, I thought we’d pay a tribute to of the powerful women and mothers in our lives who paved the way for us as working professionals and helped us become the women we are today.

Below is a collection of tidbits and lessons shared by many of the moms in our FBB family.
Here’s to you, mom.

Maggi Keating, CFP®, Senior Portfolio Manager & Shareholder

There are three lessons that I remember my mom “harping” on over the years.

First, women could have any career that a man could have. She earned a degree in pharmacy in 1958 as one of three women in a class of several hundred men. She went on to work in a pharmacy throughout her career, taking a pause to raise her four children but retaining her license by working the night shifts.

The second lesson was to live within your means. The lesson was not to incur any unnecessary debt. I am not even sure she considered the harm of having credit card balances with double digit interest, but that constant reminder gave me sleepless nights when I ran up a credit card to $1,000 right after graduating from college. Since then, I have never carried a balance on my credit card!

The third was to try to put aside instant gratification. Think for the long term, and make decisions that will benefit your future “you.” She also encouraged us to invest in ourselves through education and curiosity. She was a lifelong learner and avid reader of an eclectic mix of topics.

Martha P. Callahan, CPA, CFP®, Portfolio Manager

As one of three girls, I learned many fundamental financial lessons from my mom. Mom was an electrical engineer during a time when there were very few women in the profession, She set a strong example for my sisters and me to do our best in school, get a great education, and work hard in our careers.

From a young age I was allowed to ask questions about money. I understood that money was a private topic, but it was also an open dialogue within our home. My early views on investing came from both of my parents. They helped us open and invest a small amount of money in Roth IRAs when Roths were first introduced in the late 90s because they understood the power of compound interest and tax-free growth, especially for young adults. They believed in the long-term growth potential of stock investments.

When I opened my first bank account, Mom taught me how to write a check and balance a checkbook. As a freshman in college, she helped me open my first credit card at a local credit union to begin building credit. I had a very small credit limit ($1,500), and she taught me to pay it off and never carry a balance. My maternal grandmother taught me how to look up a stock price in the newspaper to determine market value for an investment long before smart phones were invented. These financial conversations not only helped prepare me for life as an adult, but they also set the foundation for my career in finance.

Jennifer Scher, CFP®, Portfolio Manager

My mother didn’t often sit me down to deliver financial lessons—but she didn’t have to. She taught me through her actions, modeling a quiet, steady discipline when it came to money. She believed deeply in quality over quantity, choosing to spend on fewer, well-made items rather than chasing trends or stockpiling bargains. One or two great sweaters were worth more to her than five that would fall apart after a season. She practiced what she called “choosing your luxuries,” a reminder that you can’t have everything, but you can have a few things that truly matter to you—if you budget wisely. And when it came to bigger purchases, there was always the 24-hour rule: Take a pause, think it over, and be sure it’s how you truly want to spend your money.

When I started high school, she gave me a quarterly clothing and spending allowance. If I wanted anything beyond that, I had to earn it. It was her way of gently handing over responsibility, and it shaped my relationship with money from a young age.

Now, as a parent myself, I’m trying to pass those values on to my daughter. She receives an allowance, which we divide into three parts: spend, save, and give. We talk openly about budgeting—not as a limitation, but as a tool that helps you make empowered choices. I remind her, as my mother showed me, that having a budget doesn’t mean you’re poor—It means you’re thoughtful. I want her to understand that money is not just about having or not having but about using what you have with intention. Just like my mother did for me, I hope to teach her—mostly through what I do, not just what I say—that living within your means can still include joy, generosity, and the occasional splurge.

Michael J. Mussio, CFA, CFP®, President

Mom worked in and retired from the Finance Department of a nearby municipality outside of Columbus, OH. She always had a knack with numbers and was a whiz at finding the mistakes and explaining my errors with my math homework!

Given her budget and finance background, mom paid the bills in our household and kept all the records related to our family’s monthly cash flow. My brothers and I were encouraged to work from a young age—paper routes, neighborhood lawn care, and working at our local public golf course. She was quick to describe the additional “employee benefit” (beyond our hourly wage) of free golf and encouraged us to take full advantage of it!

Mom (and Dad) always preached the idea of security and that we were personally responsible for ourselves in that department. Therefore, saving was always a priority over discretionary spending. By the time I was in the back half of high school, I realized that among my friends, I was one of the few that always had money to spend without asking my parents for cash or the gas card. I clearly remember that feeling of independence as one of both pride and freedom. Thanks, Mom!

Stein A. Olavsrud, CFP®, Executive Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer

My mother was an accountant. Her advice tended to be more focused around books and records than investing. I believe the first lesson she taught me was how to reconcile a checkbook. While this may seem very straightforward, I believe this was the foundation for my ability to manage money and is a basic skill that many people lack. Reconciliation begins with keeping track of your expenditures and then taking the time to review all items that have, and have not yet, cleared your account. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure that your balance reconciles with your cleared and uncleared expenditures. It’s straightforward, but the importance of keeping your finances organized in all areas is the groundwork for saving and investing. If you don’t know what you have, you don’t have a grasp on where your expenses are going or how much you have available to save.

Jaime Quiros, CFP®, CDFA®, Senior Portfolio Manager & Shareholder

Two money lessons from my mom: The first was that we work too hard for our money to waste it, so be smart about how to spend it. The second was to always look for investment opportunities and, more important, be ready to act, as you never know when they will appear.

Mel Casey, CFA, CAIA, Senior Portfolio Manager

Mom shared many life lessons with me over the years. She taught by example as a business owner and a parent.

Never base your lifestyle on variable income: Whether you earn overtime or discretionary bonuses, always cover your expenses from your base income, so that you will be prepared for unexpected events.

Education is always a good investment. Whether as a “Plan B” or in a pursuit of your main passion, education is an investment in your human capital that will pay you back over decades.

Your health is your wealth: Investing in a healthy lifestyle nearly always pays off in the long run as you protect your human capital, the most valuable thing you have when you’re young.

Diversification can relate to income streams as well as investments: My dad’s stable job and good benefits package allowed my mom to be more risk seeking in acquiring and running a small business.

Delayed gratification can move the needle in the long run: After borrowing to acquire a small business, paying down the business loan over the first few years instead of taking a salary put the family in a stronger financial position for many years afterward.

Alex Vela, CFP®, Portfolio Manager

Mom was really my first financial advisor. Her money wisdom still sticks with me today. She taught me the value of saving before spending, budgeting for small and large purchases, and to avoid debt. Growing up, she showed me how to prioritize needs over wants, and that has helped me as an adult to purchase vehicles, pay off student debt, and purchase a home.

Michael D. Bailey, CFA, Director of Research & Shareholder

My mom always encouraged me to ask a lot of questions when making big decisions, especially those that carried financial impact such as how to pay for school (tuition, scholarships, student loans) and large purchases such as a home or a car.

She also taught me to not be timid about negotiating – whether on small things such as travel or bigger ticket items like home maintenance or improvement expenses.

As a college professor, mom emphasized the value and importance of graduating from college as an investment in my career and as a way to be an educated member of society.