Maureen Demers - Back to Work

Many women who have made the decision to stay at home with their young children face the inevitable transition of returning to work when they deem the time is right. Whether their children are younger or older, the question commonly asked is “Okay, now what?”

Maureen Demers, CFP, knew the answer to this question early on as she had laid the groundwork for her return to the financial services industry during the twelve years that she was away raising her family of three children.

Prior to having children, Demers was in the finance industry working for a money manager in Boston and later for a financial planner in Hampton, N.H. She would simultaneously attend Boston University to acquire her certificate in financial planning and continue to nurture her career.

Marriage and children would follow at which time Demers and her husband made the personal decision for her to stop working and raise her children at home.

“It was a really hard choice,” Demers said. “A lot harder than I expected it to be.”

Leaving the familiarity of her job and the daily routine that she had become accustomed to was in all honesty an eye-opening experience for Demers.

“To go from working every day and having that type of structure and then having a baby where there is absolutely no structure at all," Demers said. “It was a tough transition in the beginning.”

The reality for many working women who choose to stay at home is that the initial phase of the transition can be difficult. Pushing through it, of course, has many rewards of its own.

Demers accepted and met the challenge recognizing that the value of being at home with her children was worth the change in lifestyle from being a working woman.

“You just do it, nobody else is going to do it for you,” Demers said. Demers has remained at home until about one year ago when her youngest child entered the first grade and was in school full time.

The timing of Demers return to work was calculated and a natural next step in her dual career as mother and businesswoman. She had known from the time she left the workforce that this would be the timeline she would follow and prepared accordingly.

While at home Demers volunteered within the finance industry and took on project work for her former employer. She remained fresh and current within the industry while keeping her certifications active. The conscious decision to stay professionally connected would prove worthwhile when the time came to start her own business.

“I always knew in the back of my mind that I was going to go back,” said Demers. “That is why I kept up with my education, credits and my contacts.”

“It is good to have a network,” she added.

Demers Financial Planning is full-service business whose goal is to “take the worry out of your financial future.” Demers works out of her home and rents conference room space when necessary and is launching her business slowly to assure that she starts on solid ground.

“You hear so many statistics about business that fail within the first two years and I don’t want that to happen,” said Demers. “I want to make sure that what I am doing is on the right track. I don’t want to crash and burn.”

Returning to work is an adjustment for Demers and her family, however she is happy to be able to show her children this side of herself. A side that is a role model gleaning both the personal and financial rewards of being back to work.

To learn more about Maureen Demers, CFP and Demers Financial Planning LLC call 978-494-4337 or visit www.demersfinancial.com.