What Nobody Tells You About Being a Trailing Spouse on Wall Street

(Photo: Henry noticed where my attention was and took one of my 6 CFP books I was reading to pass my Certified Financial Planning exam. ;-) 

Greenwich → Houston → Atlanta.

Each move for Rich's career meant starting over. 

New city, new schools, zero network.

But the real kicker came when Morgan Stanley held Rich's stock plan. As a "courtesy," they assigned us a financial advisor.

When Rich kept dodging the guy's calls, he finally said, "Just talk to my wife."

I was between careers. The last thing I wanted was some know-it-all guy who just wanted a piece of my ass(ets).

The call was painful. Pre-Zoom era, conference call with “his team” of people listening in. He spent 10 minutes introducing himself and talking about his kids (who cares?), he didn't know anything about me… 

He pivoted to asking about my kids. Seriously? I'm thinking: why does this matter?

Annoyed, I started grilling him about options strategies for our concentrated stock position.

Suddenly he perks up: "Oh, you're a former hedge fund person."

Finally, some credibility. Could've saved us both 20 minutes if he'd spent two seconds on LinkedIn. 

In reality, I didn’t yet know who I wanted to be. 

And I wasn’t going to get vulnerable with this guy and 

tell him I’m lost and I don’t know what to do with my life. 

More silence on this call. Panic on both sides.

Then came the kicker: "Send me your tax returns so I can build you a financial plan."

That's when it clicked.

This guy had no idea how to connect with women who'd sacrificed their careers for their partner's trajectory. Women who were smart, accomplished, but temporarily untethered.

He saw a trailing spouse. Not a former portfolio manager. Not someone with 20 years of Wall Street experience. Just... the wife.

That conversation planted a seed.

What if there were an advisor who actually understood the unique challenges of modern women navigating transitions? Who saw their potential, not just their current pause?

Ten years later, I'm that advisor.

Because sometimes the worst service you receive shows you exactly what the world needs.

And what trailing spouses need isn't sympathy or small talk about kids.

It's someone who sees their full story—past, present, and especially their future potential.

That's the advisor I became. The one I desperately needed but couldn't find.

If you need someone who really sees you, please reach out!

Thank you for reading!

Tiffany Kent

Your Friendly Wealth Engagement Guide

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