Women Leading The Finance Industry: Nancy Rosentrater of Oxford Bank On The 5 Things You Should Do To Increase Your Financial Literacy

An Interview With Jason Hartman

Invest in personal development, with self-help books, workshops, or courses that can enhance your decision-making skills and overall financial mindset. Develop a strong foundation as it will impact your financial well-being. I always tell my girls that it is just short-term pain to get long term gain.

As a part of our series about “Women Leading The Finance Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nancy Rosentrater, COO of Oxford Bank

As COO, Nancy Rosentrater oversees operations for Oxford Bank, considered the oldest commercial bank headquartered in Oxford, Michigan operating continuously under local ownership and management since 1884. In her role, she is singularly responsible for leading efforts to enhance/develop the infrastructure to put Oxford Bank in position to enjoy success and growth as a community bank. She was recently recognized by BankBeat in Outstanding Women in Banking, and her Bank’s “Money Masters” financial education program, was announced in 2023, to guide customers, children, the community, business owners through life’s monetary stages.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the finance field?

It was luck! Prior to 1997, I had worked in retail, then was a manager at an assisted living facility when one of the patient’s sons recruited me to GMAC, where he said I would be in customer service. It turned out I ended up being a collector. I realized pretty quickly that I could either choose to be the stereotypical “collector” or I could turn it into a way to help people. It didn’t take too long for me to be promoted to a team lead, and then a manager. In 2005, I was offered a position at Chase as an underwriter, where I worked for a couple years, and enrolled into the branch manager training program. It was then that I realized that bankers could do so much good for the communities they are in, and I fell in love.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occurred to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

Oh boy, this is a tough one as there are so many of them. I try to learn from everything that happens to me every day. During my first week as a manager, I was in a meeting with a customer, and when I went to get up to go get the paperwork from the printer I tripped and fell right under my desk. In this case, it taught me to wear flats. Twenty-five years later I still will not wear heels to work.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

At Oxford Bank we are always working on something! The most interesting one is a new Treasury Management platform. It is a very detailed, technical, and sensitive project as we have a lot of commercial customers that use our platform. Our treasury customers use a lot of complex products, and this will allow them to do more on their cell phones as well as offer more self-service options, if they choose to use them. This will help our customers with productivity and give them a better experience, save them time, and allow them to bank on their time not ours.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

100 percent without a doubt, our team, and their commitment to our customers makes us stand out. 2020 feels like 10 years ago, but I think the thing I am most proud of is the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program). We pulled together teams to help our customers and non-customers; we worked around the clock and helped over 1,300 people/businesses, which included 850 non-customers, just because we live our culture and care about our community.

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Wall Street and Finance used to be an “all white boys club”. This has changed a lot recently. In your opinion, what caused this change?

It has changed for the better and still has room for growth. As an executive, I am one of two women on the team. One thing I wish would change in the industry is attitudes: if you are a strong, opinionated woman, you get treated differently than the men who are the same way. It is getting better because there are more women in finance, but we need more women in management across the industry, to make real change.

Of course, despite the progress, we still have a lot more work to do to achieve parity. According to this report in CNBC, less than 17 percent of senior positions in investment banks are held by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a)individuals b)companies and/or c) society to support this movement going forward?

1. Individuals need to trust and treat women the same way that they treat men.
2. Companies need to give more women a chance. A lot of times we (women) feel as though we are considered inferior, like we do not deserve or belong in executive positions.
3. Society needs to know that we can do anything a man can do and believe in us!

Let’s now turn to a slightly new topic. According to this report in Fortune, nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In your opinion or experience, what is the cause of these unfortunate numbers? If you had the power to make a change, what 3 things would you recommend to improve these numbers?

1. We must teach our kids to save; many do not do that. I always took my kids to the bank with me and explained what I was doing and how it was going to help our family. Open an account for them and make them earn their money by making it a game. Celebrate when they hit milestones.
2. I believe budgeting is critical. Teach them the cost of what it takes to run your home. Break down the purchases that your family makes. Help kids understand the difference between a “need” versus a “want.”
3. Make them earn their money! Allowance can be given for chores done; a part-time job is important when they are old enough; and help them set goals for earnings and savings.

You are a “finance insider”. If you had to advise your adult child about 5 non-intuitive things one should do to become more financially literate, what would you say? Can you please give a story or example for each?

1 . START SAVING EARLY! Even if it is just $50.00 a month — and don’t touch it. When my two girls were born, I started saving $25.00 a month for college and $25.00 a month for weddings for each of them. While I didn’t have enough to pay for their education, I had it automatically taken out of my check, put into an account I almost forgot about, and was pleasantly surprised when I got the 529 statements. It reminded me that money was there for them. As for the weddings, when my oldest daughter got engaged, I was excited. After saving for 30 years, I have way more than I expected.

2 . Learn how to balance your checkbook. Not a lot of people still use the old ledger. I am not proposing that we should all do this every month, but we should all know how to do it and it will help you to watch your spending when you see what you are spending in black and white. It is always amazing to me that some young people come into the branch who don’t even know how to write a check. I think it is so important to have this knowledge.

3 . When buying something, don’t focus on the payment amount, focus on the interest rate and the term. Many times, people will say I do not want my payment to be over $300, not even thinking about the rate, which is the most important factor you need to know.

4 . It is all trial and error. Don’t fear mistakes; instead, view them as valuable lessons. Define what went wrong, adjust your approach, and use each set-back as an opportunity for growth in your financial journey. If you fail, don’t be afraid to start again.

5 . Invest in personal development, with self-help books, workshops, or courses that can enhance your decision-making skills and overall financial mindset. Develop a strong foundation as it will impact your financial well-being. I always tell my girls that it is just short-term pain to get long term gain.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I had a manager early in my career and she was so hard on me. She would give me things to do that I had no idea how to do, and she would not help me. Instead, she would say, “Figure it out and I will tell you what you need to do better.” Once I completed whatever task she gave me she would say, “No, try it again.” Sometimes this would go on for hours and when I finally met her expectations, she would say, “It was fine the first time but I knew you could do better.” At the time I remember thinking I cannot wait to get out of her department. Looking back, I do not think that I would be where I am today without her “tough love.”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Learn from everyone, including people you do not like. It is easy to learn from people you like, but the ones that you don’t like usually teach you the most, as you can see from the story about my first leader. Still today this holds true. You may learn what you do not want to do or who you don’t want to be, but are still learning something!

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

:-)

Treat everyone equally, whether they are a janitor or the CEO of a company. You never know when you are going to cross paths with them.

Thank you for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you only continued success.

About The Interviewer: Jason Hartman is the Founder and CEO of Empowered Investor. Jason has been involved in several thousand real estate transactions and has owned income properties in 11 states and 17 cities. Empowered Investor helps people achieve The American Dream of financial freedom by purchasing income property in prudent markets nationwide. Jason’s Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors™ is a comprehensive system providing real estate investors with education, research, resources and technology to deal with all areas of their income property investment needs. Through Jason’s podcasts, educational events, referrals, mentoring and software to track your investments, investors can easily locate, finance and purchase properties in these exceptional markets with confidence and peace of mind.

Starting with very little, Jason, while still in college at the age of 19, embarked on a career in real estate. While brokering properties for clients, he was investing in his own portfolio along the way. Through creativity, persistence and hard work, he earned a number of prestigious industry awards and became a young multi-millionaire. Jason purchased a California real estate brokerage firm that was later acquired by Coldwell Banker. He combined his dedication and business talents to become a successful entrepreneur, public speaker, author, and media personality. Over the years he developed his Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors™ where his innovative firm educates and assists investors in acquiring prudent investments nationwide for their portfolio. Jason’s sought after educational events, speaking engagements, and his popular “Creating Wealth Podcast” inspire and empower hundreds of thousands of people in 189 countries worldwide.

While running his successful real estate and media businesses, Jason also believes that giving back to the community plays an important role in building strong personal relationships. He established The Jason Hartman Foundation in 2005 to provide financial literacy education to young adults providing the all-important real world skills not taught in school which are the key to the financial stability and success of future generations. We’re in a global monetary crisis caused by decades of misguided policies and the cycle of financial dependence has to be broken, literacy and self-reliance are a good start. Visit JasonHartman.com for free materials and resources.