Financial coach Dionne Lee is passionate about helping women take control of their money so they can achieve financial freedom and independence.
The 48-year-old from the Gold Coast, Queensland, knows from personal experience what it is like to go through hardship after a marriage breakdown. Her own divorce left her building back her property portfolio almost from scratch after she agreed to give her ex a larger share of their marital assets.
An experienced mortgage broker and founder of the Xcellerate Group, Dionne founded A Woman Inspired to help women sort out their financial health, reduce their debt and build income streams which will support the lifestyle they want. She focuses on working with women as they often face additional challenges due to lower average earnings and taking time away from the workplace to start a family.
Dionne says: “A lot of women haven’t been the breadwinner and they often don’t know where to start. They may not have the funds they need for their retirement or they may be wondering how they will cope after a divorce.
“I find out where they are, where they want to be and how much passive income they would need to be financially free. I focus on getting rid of debt and cleaning up any financial mess first so they can build from there.”
Dionne, who was named Bankwest’s Broker of the Year for Queensland in 2024, has more than 30 years’ experience in finance and lending. She started working in the financial sector when she was just 17, buying her first home at 20 and becoming the owner of three investment properties by the age of 22.
She credits her own interest in building wealth to a board game she played as a 12-year-old child – Cashflow, created by Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki. The aim of the game is to escape the rat race by achieving a passive income which is higher than your expenses and the concept was so inspiring to Dionne, it kickstarted a lifelong passion for her.
The mother-of-three is keen for everyone to learn how they can manage and improve their finances and she believes children should start learning about concepts like budgeting and investing while they are still in school.
Dionne says: “Many people just don’t have good financial literacy – it isn’t taught in schools – so I make sure they know what they need to do to get where they want to be. People don’t know what they don’t know.
“I love to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and a pen and ask women what their goals are and when they want to have the choice to retire.”
Dionne believes the first step for all women wanting to take control of their finances is to tackle any debts. She recommends writing a list of all your current debts, including the balance owing, minimum repayment and interest rate for each one.
She says: “Once you know exactly what you owe, work out what your financial goals actually are. If the plan is to payout your debt as quickly possible, then work out which is the most expensive debt to pay off in terms of interest rate, which is the fastest debt to payout in terms of the balance owed and which of the debts has the highest minimum repayment. You can then decide which debt to concentrate on first.”
To find out more about Dionne and her work as a financial coach, visit www.awomaninspired.com.au