The Autumn of the Year…Turning over a New Leaf

A Personal Note from Mary Grace Musuneggi

Lose Weight

Stop Smoking

Organize Papers

Start a Business

Create a Financial Plan

New Year’s resolutions by nature are made on New Year’s Day, the end of the holiday season. We make these major life changing decisions when we are worn out in body and spirit; when we lack energy, conviction, time and money. We resolve to do so much at a time when we have no real urge to do anything but rest.

Fall is a much better time to make those resolutions and map out a strategy to bring them into reality. Like any course, we need to begin with where we are. Take the time to review your current life situation. How is your health? Are you happy with the way you look? How are you emotionally? Are you stressed? Are you spending enough time with your family? Have you put your education on hold? Are you happy in your current career? What does your financial picture look like? What are you assets and liabilities? Is your romantic relationship all you want it to be?

Once you know where you are, then you can decide where you want to go and how to get there. And a good roadmap is always in writing. So write out the goals and what you need to do to reach those goals. Revisit your written goals often. Strategies become goals and realities when they are written, reviewed and worked on.

And sometimes, we need help to bring our strategies to realities. Ask for help. Seek out knowledge from those who know the things you do not know. Get professional advice. Follow the path of those who have accomplished what you want to do.

By beginning to create your new year now, you will have three additional months to think and dream and develop your goals. Resolutions made in the autumn of the year have much more opportunity for successthan those made in the hustle and bustle of the New Year’s holiday. 

Mary Grace Musuneggi

Founder and Executive Director

October 2014

Upcoming Single Steps Strategies Events:

Thursday, December 4 – How to Feel Like a Million Bucks…Through the Holidays

Susan Cekosky, Positively FitU

Thursday, December 11 – Toys for Tots Holiday Donation Party

The Musuneggi Financial Group 

For more information log onto https://www.singlestepsstrategies.com/calendar/

Having the Talk

A Personal Note from Mary Grace Musuneggi

Can you remember back to your early teens, or even pre-teens when you became curious about the opposite sex? And it was time for your parents and you to have “The Talk?” For some of us that conversation was something we wanted to have; but dreaded as much as our parents did. For some, that talk never came; because some were given a book from the Girl Scouts, or were sent off to a class at the local YMCA. Discussions about “growing up” were scary and uncomfortable for most involved.

Then came the time for us to have “The Talk” with our own children. Again, a needed discussion that may have come much sooner than expected; but was for many no less uncomfortable.

Now as we age or as we see our parents age, another kind of “talk” needs to occur. This time “The Talk” is between the child and the parent, where the discussion turns to later life issues. Instead of it being about “growing up,” it is time to talk about “growing old.”

This “talk” can be just as uncomfortable, but certainly as necessary, as it explores personal feelings, finances, living arrangements, final arrangements. But having “the talk” means there are no questions or misconceptions as to what the parent wants and how these desires can be accomplished.

Not having “the talk” can set up a family for having a loss of money, loss of security, loss of control, loss of independence, and loss of family stability.

Join The Musuneggi Financial Group and Single Steps Strategies for upcoming workshops that can provide you with information to be prepared to Have the Talk.

Tuesday, August 26 – The Cost of Aging

Michael Baker – Target Insurance Services of PA

Thursday, September 25 – The Greatest Gift – Pre-Planning

Patrick McGowan, Conroy Funeral Home

Tuesday, October 14 – What is Estate Planning And Why Should You Do It?

Tracy Zihmer, Feldstein, Grinberg, Lang & McKee

Attendees will be eligible to receive a complimentary Long Term Care Analysis and an Estate Planning Review.

Mary Grace Musuneggi

Founder and Executive Director

August 2014

Single Steps Strategies Turns 10!

We can hardly contain our excitement — ten years of empowering women! And what better way to celebrate than with so many of our friends and supporters, toasting to another decade and raising money for Dress for Success Pittsburgh.

We had a beautiful evening for a party, and the grounds at Metamorpohsis were in full bloom. Thanks to all who attended–it was wonderful sharing stories and laughs, recalling fond memories and planning for what is ahead. And a special thanks to the donors who made our Dress for Success basket raffle possible: Anytime Fitness; Bistro 19; The Children’s Museum; Edwina Kaikai, Mary Kay; First Commonwealth Bank; The Musuneggi Financial Group; and The Warhol.

When Christopher and I started Single Steps Strategies in 2003, we had high hopes and expectations. But what has happened in the last decade exceeded even our loftiest goals.

The idea for Single Steps came from my experiences with other women. I’ve been in the financial business over 35 years, and even early on I consistently met women who were facing life-changing situations—marriage, divorce, widowhood; raising a family, often as a single mom; losing a job; retirement—but they didn’t have the resources they needed to get through those situations. I believed that if we could give women access to those resources—knowledge, tools, strategies, support—they would have a much better chance of succeeding in the face of whatever life put in their way.

To us it seemed clear that resources started with education. And since our industry is finance, that was a natural starting point for us. So we began hosting workshops that would help women to learn more about managing their money and encourage them to do so independently of any partner. At Single Steps Strategies we love men—we really do!—but we feel strongly that every woman, whether she is single, married, divorced or otherwise, needs to know how to handle her finances. And then we started to look for other experts and organizations to partner with, helping to host and promote their workshops and share their information, and this broadened our scope well beyond finance.

Fast forward to 2014, and we’ve now done hundreds of workshops like “Move it or Lose It,” “We Have to Stop Meeting Like This”; “Shameless Self Promotion,” “When Love Hurts,” “How Are You Wired?” “The Humpty-Dumpty Syndrome,” “Re-entering the Workforce: What Do I Want, How Do I Get There?” and “Couples Financial Therapy”—and of course our signature Women Who Wine events. The list goes on and on.

We are very proud of the progress we’ve made, and helping Single Steps Strategies to blossom and grow has been a genuine labor of love. But we’re not settling down just yet. Now we’re looking ahead to the next decade, and we think it’s going to be even brighter than the last. We’ve launched our brand new website, and we hope you love the fresh design and exciting new features as much as we do. And because we want to reach more women with more great information and tools, we are now active on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn!

Here’s to the next ten years of empowering women!

For the full Birthday Party Photo Gallery, click here.