The Scoop: During her career as an attorney, Dee Simone began sharing stories about her dating triumphs and failures on her blog, Dee’s Dating Diary. Because of the overwhelming response, she switched careers and become a dating coach. Today, Dee offers dating and relationship advice to clients from around the country. She’s also a self-made investor who is helping her clients with financial advice on her new site, Your Investing Diva, so they can approach dating with complete independence and freedom.
A year ago, Dee Simone wasn’t giving investment advice. In fact, the attorney-turned-dating-coach and creator of Dee’s Dating Diary had learned little about investing or the stock market in her life.
But she decided she wanted to have more financial stability and independence. Though Dee had been a lawyer, she hadn’t experienced the financial success she had expected when she joined the profession.
“I was living paycheck to paycheck,” she said.
Dee Simone chronicles her journey into the world of finance in her new blog, Your Investing Diva.
So, Dee started on a quest to achieve financial independence. She studied the best practices for generating a healthy investment portfolio and became an investor. As she learned, she also documented the process because she recognized that so many women were as unaware about investing as she was.
“I created a personal journal on my computer, but I realized there are many others, especially women, who might be interested in my investing journey,” Dee said. “So, I thought a blog would be a way to get women interested in investing.”
Dee began by chronicling her path to becoming an investor on a dedicated blog called Your Investing Diva. She documented her successes, failures, and discussed how she found the money to invest herself.
While investment advice might not initially seem like a natural fit for a dating and relationship coach, Dee suggests there’s a clear connection between successfully investing and finding a compatible romantic partner.
“A healthy investment portfolio allows women to focus on whether a potential partner is a good person,” she said. “I’ve seen women enter relationships they shouldn’t have because they relied too much on the financial support of the other person.”
Investment Tips for Women Who May Feel Left Out
As Dee cataloged her own investment journey, she recognized just how unsure some women were about where to begin. And many had little understanding about the subject because they believed they didn’t have the means.
“They don’t even educate themselves on investing since they don’t have the money to get started,” Dee said.
One topic Dee covers in-depth on Your Investing Diva is how she got started. The first step was tracking her budget to see where she was spending money. She was surprised by how much she spent on food, primarily eating out at restaurants or ordering takeout.
“I was shocked how much money was going to food every month,” she said.
Instead of spending the $150 to $200 a week as she had been, Dee set a goal of spending only $50 a week on food by making meals at home. By sticking to her food budget for six months, Dee saved $3,000. She used those funds to start investing.
Dee wants to teach women that financial stability can lead to better choices in relationships.
Most impressive wasn’t that she had saved so much so quickly, but that she could generate wealth on her own, without asking anyone for money.
“I didn’t need to argue for a promotion, or find another job for myself,” she said.
Her foray into investing gave Dee a sense of freedom she hadn’t felt before, and she wants to offer that sense of self-reliance to others. Through investing, women can feel less tethered to a job or relationship that makes them unhappy, she said. Wealth generation can provide them enough time to search for a career or partnership that is more satisfying.
Dee doesn’t consider herself an investment expert, she wants to show women it’s possible to invest, even if they feel they have limited means to do so.
“I make a point to say, ‘this is just my experience,’” she said. “You might have a different way. I’m very honest in my blog in a way that you don’t see from most people.”
Financial Independence Can Create Healthier Relationships
Women who invest also have more freedom to seek the romantic partners they desire. Though investment advice may seem surprising coming from a dating and relationships expert like Dee, financial independence and healthy romantic relationships have a lot in common.
“Most women have a laundry list of things they want in a boyfriend or future husband,” said Dee. “One common theme I see with those lists is that they’re unrealistic, and they almost always have an income requirement for men.”
However, that list-making can be superficial, since a man’s income level doesn’t say much about the kind of partner he’d be.
“If you’re creating your own wealth, you don’t need a man to provide you with a home or buy you what you want. You’re free to look for the long-term health and viability of the relationship.” — Dee Simone
“Income doesn’t tell you if he will cheat on you, and it doesn’t mean you will have a viable relationship,” Dee said.
In fact, Dee said many of her female coaching clients are unhappy with the wealthy men whom they thought they wanted. Men with high-income jobs often don’t have much time to connect with their partners. Many work long hours in demanding and stressful fields. If women want a long-term partner who is available, they should seek partners who work at standard 9-to-5 jobs.
“You just cannot devote as much time to a relationship if you’re a wealthy person,” Dee said.
Successfully investing and building personal wealth can offer women the financial stability they need without having to put it on a list of qualities they want — or need — in a man.
“If you’re creating your own wealth, you don’t need a man to provide you with a home or buy you what you want,” Dee said. “You’re free to look for the long-term health and viability of the relationship.”
In the Future, Dee Will Continue to Follow Her Passions
A year ago, Dee likely never thought she’d be so interested in investing — let alone advising her clients that investing could help them find more fulfilling relationships. But as her views on financial independence have blossomed, Dee has also shifted her perspective on her own mission in life.
Dee originally thought her purpose in life was to help people with their legal problems. Then she saw the impact Dee’s Dating Diary had on women and went into coaching and providing relationship advice. Now, she has evolved her practice a step further by helping her readers and clients with financial growth. She takes a more holistic approach to helping people rather than just focusing on one area.
“I’ve come to realize that I have many passions. I see myself as someone who is inclined to help people all around, for legal, dating, or investment advice,” she said. “I want to help people live more joyful, love-filled lives.”
Dee may not have planned her newfound interest in investing, but her new passion invigorates her in a way she didn’t expect.
“It has been so empowering, and that’s what I’m excited to share, too,” she said. “It’s one thing to invest, but there’s this innate sense of accomplishment. You feel unstoppable and more in control of your life.”
What’s next for Dee and her new take on advice-giving in 2019? She sees herself making more YouTube videos and learning new ways to make strategic investments.
Most of all, though, she wants to continue helping women in whatever way she can.
“I want to tell women they can get into this investing world themselves and nobody can keep them out,” Dee said. “Nobody can stop you from creating financial wealth and happiness for yourself.”
