HI! WE'RE

Angela and Arielle

HI! WE'RE

Angela and Arielle

HELPING WOMEN OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS RESET THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY 

Arielle Minicozzi,  CFP®,  CSLP®

 

Arielle Minicozzi, CFP®, CSLP®, has a passion for helping individuals and families achieve financial stability and for helping other advisors serve more clients. In addition to her role at Modern Money Education, Arielle owns and operates Sphynx, a consulting firm that helps financial advisors systematize their businesses and implement technology solutions.

Arielle’s journey toward the financial planning profession was not straightforward. She was an art major in college, then joined a major bank as an intern in their mortgage division. She realized she would be able to assist people in making what would perhaps be the most important purchase of their lives, and decided to stay on for nearly six years.

During her tenure as a loan officer, Arielle discovered the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNINGTM curriculum and began her studies at Farleigh Dickinson University. She obtained her marks in July 2016.

In October 2017, she made the bittersweet decision to leave the mortgage industry and launch her own RIA, Sphynx Financial Planning. Her mission was to help millennials achieve financial stability and sustainable homeownership skills. It was around this time that Arielle and Angela met through the XY Planning Network and quickly became friends.

While setting up Sphynx, Arielle realized other advisors could benefit from the same systems and tools she was using and began consulting other firms. In late 2018 Arielle and Angela decided to merge their practices to make use of their complementary skill sets. In August of 2021, Arielle and Angela decided to focus solely on their financial courses through Modern Money Education and shut down their financial planning practice.

Arielle has been quoted as a subject matter expert on home buying in several publications, including US News and World Report, LendingTree.com, Chime, and others. She conducts educational webinars for other advisors and has done non-profit work for various homeownership organizations as well as her local animal shelter.

In her free time, Arielle enjoys hiking, reading, and spending time with her cat, Nigel Sphynx-Barry.

Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, CFP® (with plaque design) and CFP® (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

Arielle Minicozzi, CFP®, CSLP®


I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family with strong financial knowledge, but I learned a two-sided message about money - on the one hand, my mom, who had less money, was very open about money, forcing us to balance a checkbook, opening up CDs in our name and teaching us about interest, showing us her retirement accounts and talking to us about estate planning. On the other hand, my dad, who worked in the mortgage industry and had more money was less open about money to the point where my sisters and I were afraid of speaking about money with him.

When I graduated from college as an art major I needed a job so I took an internship in the mortgage department of a bank. I thought it would be temporary until I could find a job at a photography studio, but six months turned into six years. Clients always commend me on my ability to translate financial information into easy-to-understand language and I still pride myself on that skill today. As someone who grew up with some personal financial knowledge, but virtually no institutional financial knowledge, I know how it feels to enter the world of adult financial responsibility and have no idea what’s going on; I never want my clients to feel that way.

While it was a hard decision to leave the mortgage world, I knew I wanted to impact people’s lives before they committed to a life-altering decision like purchasing a home. My goal for all clients is that when they finally reach those milestones like graduating college, buying a home, getting married, or having children, they already have the foundational skills and the emergency fund to weather financial storms.

Up Close and Personal with Arielle Minicozzi

 

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family with strong financial knowledge, but I learned a two-sided message about money - on the one hand, my mom, who had less money, was very open about money, forcing us to balance a checkbook, opening up CDs in our name and teaching us about interest, showing us her retirement accounts and talking to us about estate planning. On the other hand, my dad, who worked in the mortgage industry and had more money was less open about money to the point where my sisters and I were afraid of speaking about money with him.

When I graduated from college as an art major I needed a job so I took an internship in the mortgage department of a bank. I thought it would be temporary until I could find a job at a photography studio, but six months turned into six years. Clients always commend me on my ability to translate financial information into easy-to-understand language and I still pride myself on that skill today. As someone who grew up with some personal financial knowledge, but virtually no institutional financial knowledge, I know how it feels to enter the world of adult financial responsibility and have no idea what’s going on; I never want my clients to feel that way.

While it was a hard decision to leave the mortgage world, I knew I wanted to impact people’s lives before they committed to a life-altering decision like purchasing a home. My goal for all clients is that when they finally reach those milestones like graduating college, buying a home, getting married, or having children, they already have the foundational skills and the emergency fund to weather financial storms.

Arielle Minicozzi, CFP®, CSLP®


I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family with strong financial knowledge, but I learned a two-sided message about money - on the one hand, my mom, who had less money, was very open about money, forcing us to balance a checkbook, opening up CDs in our name and teaching us about interest, showing us her retirement accounts and talking to us about estate planning. On the other hand, my dad, who worked in the mortgage industry and had more money was less open about money to the point where my sisters and I were afraid of speaking about money with him.

When I graduated from college as an art major I needed a job so I took an internship in the mortgage department of a bank. I thought it would be temporary until I could find a job at a photography studio, but six months turned into six years. Clients always commend me on my ability to translate financial information into easy-to-understand language and I still pride myself on that skill today. As someone who grew up with some personal financial knowledge, but virtually no institutional financial knowledge, I know how it feels to enter the world of adult financial responsibility and have no idea what’s going on; I never want my clients to feel that way.

While it was a hard decision to leave the mortgage world, I knew I wanted to impact people’s lives before they committed to a life-altering decision like purchasing a home. My goal for all clients is that when they finally reach those milestones like graduating college, buying a home, getting married, or having children, they already have the foundational skills and the emergency fund to weather financial storms.

why we do it

No matter what level of education or wealth someone may have, most people have never been taught the basics of personal finance. Before we partnered, we both started our own individual financial advisory firms to serve young professionals that needed and wanted the guidance of a financial advisor but didn’t have the minimum assets to work with a traditional advisor.

However, even though our model made personal finance available to more individuals, there were still so many people who needed help, but either couldn’t afford or didn’t need holistic financial planning. Angela envisioned Modern Money Education as a way to close the gap and offer financial coaching and courses to smart, savvy women who desire financial guidance on their own terms.

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work with us

Our primary mission is to help women from all walks of life build a strong financial foundation, one focused on aggressively eliminating debt and accumulating wealth. Our passion is empowering and educating young professionals to be financially self-sufficient so they can pay it forward, just as we strongly believe in our responsibility to do so.

Modern Money Education was built to reflect these values, and we live them every day through our personal lives and in our work with our clients. We believe we offer something truly unique to those women who want to change their money mindset and live their best financial lives.

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as seen in...

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fun facts about us

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Angela’s middle name is Mahagoni, after the Diana Ross movie (Mahogany).

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Arielle has a hairless cat, Nigel, who loves to join in on client meetings.

let's connect

let's connect