The following article appeared in the March 16, 2026, edition of The Charlotte Ledger.
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🎧 On the podcast: What mahjong has to do with financial planning
On the most recent episode of The Charlotte Ledger Podcast, The Ledger’s Tony Mecia spoke with Mary Ware, a Charlotte native and wealth adviser with Carnegie Private Wealth whose path into finance started not with business school, but with journalism and a personal-finance class at Central Piedmont Community College that changed the course of her career.
She explains how financial planning goes far beyond picking investments, why women are poised to control more wealth in the coming years and what people often miss when navigating major transitions like retirement or divorce. They also discuss:
Why financial planning is really about values, goals and life decisions
The most common mistakes people make with retirement and estate planning
Why divorce can be one of the most financially stressful transitions in life
What artificial intelligence may change in financial advice — and what it probably won’t
Why knowing your numbers is one of the most important steps in planning well
How mahjong is like financial planning.
This episode is sponsored by Child Care Search, a service of Child Care Resources Inc. Listen to the conversation here, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other pod platforms. (Search for “The Charlotte Ledger Podcast.”)
