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Cash windfall can lead to downfall

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Szifra is quoted in the Merrimack Valley Eagle-Tribune

By Bill Kirk and Emily Young

October 28, 2007

For Lisa Arcand, winning $1 million in the lottery helped make her dreams come true. Or so she thought.

She took the earnings and bought a house and new furniture, went on a couple of vacations, enrolled her son in Central Catholic and opened a restaurant on Merrimack Street in Lawrence.

Then reality struck.

“Winning the lottery is not all it’s cracked up to be,” said Arcand, 42, a single mom and lifelong Lawrence resident. “Actually, it’s been very depressing.”

Today, less than four years after striking it rich on a scratch ticket, Arcand has decided to close her dream business — Fisherman’s Corner. [Read more…] about Cash windfall can lead to downfall

A Feel for Finances

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Szifra is profiled by the Lowell Sun

By Dan O’Brien

July 15, 2007

Lowell native Szifra Birke is part of nascent trend to incorporate psychology into wealth advising

CHELMSFORD — It wasn’t too long ago that the thought of using a licensed psychotherapist to assist people in their money matters was… well, farfetched.

But Lowell native Szifra Birke has been ahead of the curve before. [Read more…] about A Feel for Finances

Therapy Meets Wealth Management

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Szifra is interviewed in Financial Advisor magazine

July 2007

Life planning and taking a holistic approach to finances are in vogue now, but Lexington Wealth Management, based in Boston and Manhattan, has taken it a step further and recently engaged the services of a licensed therapist with a speciality in wealth counseling.
Szifra Birke was first a client of Lexington Wealth Management, a boutique firm that advises the suddenly wealthy and high-net-worth individuals in transition situations. She then started counseling some of the firm’s nine staff members informally, until both sides decided the relationship was working so well it should be made formal. [Read more…] about Therapy Meets Wealth Management

The Angst Of Newfound Riches

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Szifra is mentioned in Business Week

By Susan Berfield

July 1, 2007

Wealth can be overwhelming. Now there’s a new breed of counselor to help.

When Thomas and Joan came into some money, $30 million to be precise, they were overwhelmed, and not in a good way. “We were shell-shocked, embarrassed, and kind of miserable instead of being overjoyed,” Thomas says. This dramatic turn in their affairs, which resulted from the sale of a private company in which Joan held a sizable stake, left the couple suffering from a clear case of “sudden wealth syndrome.” So they turned to James Grubman, a psychologist who works with several financial advisory firms, including theirs, for help. “We couldn’t talk with anyone else. The stresses money brings on are not particularly sympathetic,” says Thomas. [Read more…] about The Angst Of Newfound Riches

BusinessWeek Weekend TV

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June 23, 2007—Psychology and Money

Financial advisers are realizing they have to deal with more than just dollars and cents when helping their clients. Some are hiring psychologists and other counselors to help them understand the emotions behind their clients’ views on money. We’ll talk with one “wealth” counselor.