Mary Murphy

ubs financial advisor

By Rebecca Lavoie
NH Mirror Contributor

For Mary Murphy, money is power, and not in the way most people think. “Financial knowledge is something everyone should be armed with, especially women.”

Murphy, whose career spans decades of international travel and upper management positions at IBM and several start-up companies, has “downshifted” and now works as a financial advisor at UBS in Manchester.

Her passion, however, is teaching other women the lessons she learned from her father, who taught her at a young age that a stocked financial toolbox can lead to independence, success and security.

“He gave me the greatest gift I ever received,” she said. “When I was a child in the ‘60s, he was monitoring the skyrocketing divorce rate, and he realized that he wanted me to be insulated from the impact of that. What he taught me were principals I’ve used and built upon my entire professional and personal life.”

Murphy has found an outlet for passing on her financial knowledge by working with WIFE, the Women’s Institute for Financial Education. WIFE, whose slogan is “A Man is Not a Financial Plan,” is the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial education to women nationwide.

Her involvement with WIFE in New Hampshire stems from a year she spent teaching Manchester West students math and financial planning.

“I knew when I came to work at UBS that WIFE would allow me an opportunity to continue teaching what I know, continue helping people,” she said.

According to Murphy, women face several disadvantages when it comes to long-term financial planning.
They often take time off of work to raise children or care for an elderly parent, which not only decreases their lifetime income but also affects promotion opportunities. Time off also hurts women because they significantly decrease contributions to their retirement accounts and social security, which affects them most in the last quarter of their lifetime, especially as they outlive their partners.

Women who are divorced or widowed often are in the most difficult position of all, Murphy said.

“WIFE was founded on the principal of helping women in financial distress,” she said. “The worst-case, and one of the most common scenarios, is that a woman never contributes to her household’s financial decisions, and when she finds herself alone, those skills are needed for the survival of their families.”

And what does Murphy stand to gain through her work with women around New Hampshire?
“I get to share the greatest gift my father ever gave me,” she said, “and I get to share it with the people that need it the most.”

For information about WIFE and Money Clubs around New Hampshire, contact Mary Murphy at 626-2913 or mary.c.murphy@ubs.com.

What’s your favorite room in your home?
My den because it has a fireplace, a big screen TV and comfortable couch where I can curl up with a book or watch the "Nightly Business Report."

What’s the best chick flick ever made?
“The Joy Luck Club.” I enjoy mother-daughter relationship dynamics and am quite close with my mother.

Are you a gardener?
Vegetable gardening, particularly herb gardening, is one way I relieve stress and enhance my cooking.