Pull up an easy chair, and sit yourself down and lean back while I tell you ‘bout the folks who live in the town of Greenback….

So goes the old song, The Money Tree, which I learned as a young girl. Sometimes I find myself humming it to this day. 

There are actually many plants that are called money plants and money trees. When I pulled the plug on my marriage in 2010 and moved into a lovely apartment overlooking the ocean to heal, I purchased a tiny money plant, a jade (Crassula Ovata) and sat it on the windowsill. Now, 14 years later, it continues to grow and branch, and I offer my cuttings to family and friends so they can enjoy luck and prosperity too.  

The path hasn’t always been perfect; especially the immediate two years post-separation. My unpartnered friends and clients know this from their own experiences.  Somehow, that’s how long it takes all of us to feel like ourselves again.  

 The day will come, he’ll come running to me, when the sun turns black and there’s a money tree. The day will come, he’ll be changing his tune, when there’s a granite lake and a cotton moon. 

When we’re experiencing that initial divorce pain, it’s easy to question whether or not a Money Tree exists*.  And it’s hard to believe you’ll ever recover. That’s recency bias. While I’m the one who left my marriage, that didn’t make the tears any fewer or the pain any less. Financially, I stared at spreadsheets wondering how I would recover enough assets to retire on time. But I did and sooner than I expected. Except now I’m not interested in retiring. 

According to the precepts of Feng Shui, the most prosperous place to put your money plant is in the southeast corner of your home.   

My plant struggled from its placement in imperfect light until I learned this. As it spent years suffering in a western-facing window, I struggled too, under the feeling I needed to find the right place to plant myself so I could grow again. 

According to How to grow a LARGE Jade Plant, regular pruning to force branching helps it develop breadth as well as height.  

My plant struggled from growing too tall, and it finally bent under its own weight until I learned to rebalance it via consistent pruning. I struggled too, under the weight of my expectations, sacrificing balance in the nonstop pursuit of a goal. To regain my balance, I needed to narrow my scope and refine my plan. I feel less stressed than I have in years. 

My jade was unhappy until I learned that all it needed was a little dried basil to nourish the soil in its pot. There were many times I struggled with the right nourishment for myself, figuratively and literally, to remain healthy.  The work of a lifetime, I now eat carefully and intentionally.  

Today, my much larger (even though it was recently pruned) money plant sits in Saratoga Springs on my desk between the southern and eastern facing windows. It is healthy and happy and grows remarkably fast. 

Pruning is intimidating. But I regularly prune my jade and share my cuttings so others will have luck and prosper. Houseguests leave with a cutting or two and instructions to share, so that my jade will continue to spread the wealth wherever it grows. 

I have three little jars prepared to take to Ohio—one for our house, one for my stepdaughter and son-in-law’s home, and one for David, my Production Padrino, when I see him. And there are more cuttings growing, some from a single leaf. 

I’ve learned many lessons from my jade plant. I feel wiser, now.  And those lessons have made me feel lucky and have left me prosperous. In the future, I will get to share my cuttings what I have learned, with you.  

This is a post about the Madrina Molly Community.  We’re almost ready! #WeRescueOurselves #NotYoungNotDone 

*If you’re a fan, this is Liza Minnelli in peak form from Kander and Ebb’s The Act, 1977.  This number closes the first act. And it’s a doozy. 

Copyright © Madrina Molly, LLC 2024. All rights reserved.

The information contained herein and shared by Madrina Molly™ constitutes financial education and not investment or financial advice

Sherry Finkel Murphy, CFP®, RICP®, ChFC®, is the Founder and CEO of Madrina Molly, LLC.

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