Gail Wong is on a mission to help professionals rethink their relationship with money, not just through budgets or spreadsheets, but by examining the beliefs behind their financial behaviors.
Gail is a certified coach, gender-lens investor, and founder of Live True. With a background in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and a decade and a half of coaching experience, she brings both financial depth and emotional intelligence to her work.
“If you want lasting and sustainable change in your money behaviours and outcomes, you must also be proficient in managing your money beliefs.”
In this feature adapted from her Debunking Money Beliefs LinkedIn post, Gail explores how the narratives we carry—often unconsciously—shape not only our finances, but also our careers, confidence, and choices in life.
Highlights
Reframing Five Money Beliefs
In her article, Gail organizes financial behaviors into five domains. Each is deeply intertwined with internalized ideas that often limit our growth. Here’s a breakdown of her perspective:
1. Earning: Worth Beyond the Paycheck
Gail challenges the belief that “money only comes with hard work and struggle” or that “self-promotion is distasteful.”
“Even with an honours degree from a top business school, Wall Street experience and a trauma-light upbringing, I was seriously handicapped with money until I mastered and rewrote the money beliefs that drove my emotions, decisions and habits.”
This transformation helped her step into her value, raise her coaching prices, and own her role as the family’s “Chief Investment Officer.”
2. Spending: Knowing the Why Behind the Buy
Spending habits, according to Gail, are often either compulsive or overly restrictive. She encourages readers to pause and ask:
“Why am I really making this purchase?”
The answer can reveal underlying needs—comfort, validation, control—that, once identified, unlock more intentional behavior.
3. Saving: Between Scarcity and Leakage
While saving is lauded as a good habit, extremes can be problematic. Gail warns against both hoarding and leaking:
- Hoarding reflects fear and a scarcity mindset.
- Leaking often comes from overgiving, impulse or guilt.
By becoming aware of which end of the spectrum we fall into, we can create a sustainable rhythm of saving that supports, not stifles, our lives.
4. Investing: Power Through Participation
Many believe investing is risky, intimidating, or “not for someone like me.” Gail urges us to challenge this hesitation:
“I don’t have enough to invest. What if I lose all my hard-earned money?”
These are common scripts that hold us back. For women and underrepresented groups especially, claiming the right to invest is a powerful act of agency.
5. Borrowing: From Shame to Strategy
Debt, Gail says, isn’t inherently bad—it’s about how it’s used. She categorizes borrowing into:
- Good debt (used for growth)
- Bad debt (predatory rates that snowball quickly)
- Unclear debt (emotionally entangled or accumulated without strategy)
Reframing debt from a place of shame to one of strategic use can restore financial control and reduce stress.
The Secret Ingredient: Financial Healing
What sets Gail’s approach apart is her trauma-informed lens. As the first certified Trauma of Money professional in Southeast Asia, she connects financial behaviors to deeper emotional and psychological roots.
This perspective also helped her become more visible, more comfortable with selling her services, and—most importantly—more aligned with her values.
“I find myself breaking new ground in promoting myself and being willing to be visible (and ‘imperfect’) in my own skin.”
Real Results with Real People
Through her Make Money Better program, Gail guides clients to “cross over from fear and scarcity into trust and conviction.” Using her 7C’s blueprint, she helps purpose-driven professionals rewrite their money stories and take empowered action.
Clients have:
- Negotiated better salaries and contracts
- Healed from financial burnout
- Learned to invest with confidence
- Built stronger, values-aligned businesses
What We Believe About Money Shapes What We Do With It
Financial literacy is important—but it’s not the whole story. As Gail Wong powerfully demonstrates, transforming your relationship with money starts from within.
Whether you’re a startup founder questioning your pricing, a professional hesitating to invest, or someone stuck in scarcity cycles, examining your beliefs may be the most important financial decision you make.
Are your money beliefs serving you—or silently holding you back?
Highlights
Editor’s Note:
This article is adapted from a LinkedIn post by Gail Wong, ACC, titled “Debunking Your Money Beliefs.” It is part of a broader series in which Gail explores common financial myths and mindsets. This installment focuses on five myths, as originally shared by the author.
Read the article in Chinese here.
