Trusting God with Every Dollar and Decision

What does it take to leave a 24-year career, fund your own transition, and build something brand new — all on your own? For Lisa, the answer involves a mix of financial savvy, personal faith, and a deep frustration with an industry that was failing single women. Her story is one that many will find both refreshing and deeply relatable.

Lisa recently joined Kelly on the Mission Single podcast to talk money, faith, independence, and the surprising freedom that comes from letting go — of fear, of perfectionism, and of the pressure to have it all figured out.

Two Adventures and a Career Leap

When asked about the most adventurous thing she’s ever done with her money, Lisa didn’t hesitate. She named two: learning to trade options — fully expecting it to be an education rather than a windfall — and, perhaps more boldly, using her savings to fund a complete career change. “Those would be my two adventures,” she said with a laugh.

It’s a move Kelly knows well, having made her own leap to start Mission Single. Both women understand the very particular mix of excitement and anxiety and the faith required to keep going when the path isn’t entirely clear.

A 24-Year Career and a Growing Frustration

Lisa’s professional journey is an unexpected one. She went to school to become a high school English teacher, gave it a year, and realized that while she loved the students, the broader system just wasn’t the right fit. She pivoted into corporate HR and stayed there for two and a half decades — contributing consistently to her 401(k) and building real savings along the way.

Eventually, she began working with financial advisors — a couple of them, actually. And that’s where the frustration began. She found herself paying one to one-and-a-quarter percent annually on her managed assets, only to receive a basic, overly conservative investment strategy with no conversation about taxes, estate planning, or income growth. She started asking herself a pointed question: why am I paying this much for so little?

That curiosity led her down a rabbit hole. And what she found when she started talking to her single girlfriends was even more troubling.

“We Can Talk About That When You Get Married”

Friend after friend had stories of being dismissed by financial advisors. The most striking? Being told not to worry about financial planning — that it could wait until they were married. Lisa’s reaction was immediate and visceral: “What? Somebody said that to you?”

She also heard from married friends who shared that their financial advisors would direct conversations almost entirely toward their husbands, leaving women feeling sidelined and uninformed about their own finances. It points to a broader cultural pattern — a kind of learned helplessness around money that Lisa believes is both damaging and unnecessary.

“There is a societal expectation that men get money better than we do,” she observed. “Women are often called splurgers or spenders — but how come that’s only a female term?” She’s quick to point out that financial language itself can be alienating: derivatives, exchange-traded funds, mutual funds — it all sounds complex, and that complexity can make people feel like they simply don’t belong in the conversation.

For some single women, there’s often an added layer of guilt and self-doubt: “I don’t make six figures, so I probably don’t need a planner.” Lisa pushes back on this firmly. Everyone benefits from good financial guidance, regardless of income level. And more importantly, it’s your money — you’re allowed to make intentional choices with it.

Navigating Big Decisions Alone (and the Faith That Helped)

As a never-married woman, Lisa has faced every major financial decision solo: renting versus buying, how much to put down on a house, whether to lease or purchase a car. The mental load of running through all those scenarios without a partner to reality-check you is real — and she doesn’t minimize it.

“I am not responsible for my provision. God is responsible for my provision.”

Lisa Clements

“It feels like such a burden,” she shared honestly. “You just made this huge financial decision and you want to look to someone — either for a pat on the back or for them to make a face like, ‘ooh, I don’t know…’ Just any feedback whatsoever. Nobody’s in it with you.”

What kept the pressure from becoming paralyzing was her faith. The constant scriptural reminder that she is not her own provider — that God is — gave her the foundation she needed to make decisions without crumbling under the weight of them. She’s clear that without that anchor, she believes she would have operated far more out of anxiety than she did.

Lisa’s Top Financial Tips for Single Women

When it comes to practical money advice, Lisa doesn’t hold back. Here are the three things she wishes more single women knew:

1. Maximize your Roth. Unless you’re earning over $350,000 a year and sitting right on the edge of a tax bracket, Lisa recommends putting retirement savings into a Roth rather than a traditional pre-tax account. The trade-off — paying taxes now instead of later — pays off enormously over time, since all growth and withdrawals in retirement are completely tax-free. And if an emergency comes up before retirement, you can access your contributions (not the growth) without penalty.

2. Actually invest the money in your retirement account. This sounds obvious, but Lisa has seen it happen: someone diligently contributes to their 401(k), and the money just sits there in cash — uninvested. Once the money is in the account, you have to choose your investments. It won’t grow on its own.

3. Stop hoarding cash in a savings account. Research consistently shows that women tend to prefer saving over investing — and Lisa sees this regularly with her clients. She’s met women with $75,000 or even $120,000 sitting in a standard savings account. She celebrates the discipline it takes to save that much, and then gently challenges them: that money isn’t working for you. Keep a generous emergency fund (she suggests $20,000–$30,000) in a high-yield savings account — she recommends options like Ally Bank or Lending Club — and invest the rest.

Two Pieces of Advice Worth Carrying

When asked for her best non-financial life advice, Lisa offered two gems:

Take the emotion out of it. A former boss gave her this advice about work, and it changed how she operates. When things go sideways, the instinct is to ruminate, rehearse, and catastrophize. Stepping back and asking what actually makes logical sense — separating the emotional charge from the decision itself — leads to clearer thinking and much better sleep.

Stay curious. This one is her favorite phrase, and she applies it everywhere — in relationships, in dating, in conversations with people who see the world very differently. Rather than jumping to judgment when someone says something surprising or hurtful, she tries to meet it with a quiet “I wonder why that would be the case.” It shifts you from defensiveness to openness, from reaction to genuine interest in the person in front of you.

Still Searching for a Church Home (and That’s Okay to Say Out Loud)

One of the most vulnerable moments of the conversation came when Lisa talked about her experience in the church as a single woman. She’s been visiting churches — over eleven in the past six to eight months — and hasn’t yet found the community she’s looking for.

She described how the pulpit so often speaks to married life and family units, leaving single people feeling like they haven’t arrived — or worse, like something must be wrong with them. “It makes me feel like I’ve failed,” she said quietly.

She hasn’t given up. She keeps praying, keeps visiting, and holds open the possibility that God might be leading her to connect through faith-based organizations rather than a traditional church setting. She’s 50 years old and honest about the fact that she’d love a life partner — not out of societal pressure anymore, but from her own genuine desire for companionship. And she holds that desire alongside a real peace that her purpose and calling don’t depend on it.

Kelly offered an affirmation in response: the body of Christ needs single women — not as a special category to accommodate, but as full contributors who can pour into marriages, relationships, and communities in ways that are uniquely their own.

A Story That’s Still Being Written

Lisa’s story is one of someone who has taken the messy, nonlinear path and found real purpose within it. She didn’t set out to become a financial advisor to single women — she stumbled into it through frustration, curiosity, and a whole lot of conversations with friends who felt unseen. And now she’s building something that meets women exactly where they are.

If you’re a single woman who has ever felt dismissed by a financial professional, overwhelmed by money decisions you’re navigating alone, or quietly wondering whether the church has a place for someone like you — Lisa’s voice is one worth hearing.

She’s proof that the adventure isn’t over. It’s just getting started.

Lisa Clements is the President and Owner of Clear Springs Wealth, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor serving single women across Kansas and beyond. After building significant wealth independently through a successful 24-year corporate career, Lisa now dedicates her expertise to helping other single women create financial success on their own terms.

As a fee-only fiduciary advisor, Lisa combines deep financial planning expertise with real-world experience in corporate benefits, career growth, and the unique challenges single women face.

Connect with Lisa: https://www.clearspringswealth.com/

Listen to the full interview with Lisa on the Mission Single Podcast.