In this episode, Priya Malani makes the case against one of the most repeated pieces of retirement advice in personal finance: convert everything to Roth. For high earners, blanket Roth conversions during peak earning years often mean paying taxes at the highest rate they'll ever see, then arriving in retirement with no flexibility to do anything about it. The real issue isn't Roth versus pre-tax. It's tax optionality — and most people give it up without realizing what they're trading away. This episode reframes how to think about tax strategy across a lifetime, not just during accumulation.

Takeaways:

• "Tax-free in the future" often just means you prepaid at your highest rate today.
• Converting to Roth during peak earning years eliminates the flexibility you'll actually want in retirement.
• Pre-tax contributions improve your cash flow now AND give you lower-bracket options later — that's a double win Roth can't offer.
• The income transition years before full retirement are often the most valuable tax window of your life, but only if you have money in multiple buckets.
• Tax optionality isn't a fancy strategy. It's having choices. All-Roth means you've already made them for yourself, at the worst possible time.

  
  

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The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say:

Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

A lot of high earners are doing everything right on paper and still feel stuck. Not financially stuck. Mentally stuck. Priya Malani sits down with Marcia Dawood, angel investor, TEDx speaker, and author of the forthcoming Unapologetic Wealth, to unpack why so many people, especially women, struggle to act on the wealth they're building. They get into the surprising science behind inherited money fear, why financial avoidance is rarely about discipline, and how identifying your values is actually the first investing decision you make. If you've ever delegated your finances out of discomfort or let a raise disappear without a plan, this conversation is a useful mirror.

Takeaways:

• The one hangup people have once they have wealth is that they don't align it with their values and don't have a clear picture of their goals.
• Fear around money isn't always personal, it can be inherited, passed down through generations in ways that are measurably biological.
• Women aren't bad with money or overly risk averse, they're risk unpracticed, and the fix is reps, not a personality change.
• Choosing zero exposure to private markets is still an active portfolio decision, even if it doesn't feel like one.
• Modeling financial confidence isn't just for you, it shapes how the next generation thinks about money before they ever earn any.

  
  

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Guest Bio:

Marcia Dawood is the author of Do Good While Doing Well, TEDx speaker, Podcast host, and an early-stage investor who serves as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee. She is a venture partner with Mindshift Capital and the chair emeritus of the Angel Capital Association (ACA), a global professional society for angel investors. She is also an associate producer on the award-winning documentary Show Her the Money. Her new book, Unapologetic Wealth - Rewrite Your Money Story From Any Beginning, releases in March 2026.

Guest Links:

MarciaDawood.com

The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say:

Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

We tend to think financial stress goes away once you make enough money, but for a lot of high earners, it just changes shape. In this episode, Priya unpacks why so many smart, successful people feel tense about money despite “doing everything right.” The real issue isn’t income, discipline, or effort — it’s decision-making without a framework. This conversation reframes how to think about saving, spending, and investing so money actually creates calm instead of the same anxiety, packaged differently.

Takeaways:

• Financial stress is often a decision problem, not an income problem.
• Accumulating money without a clear purpose creates anxiety, not security.
• High earners don’t struggle with discipline — they struggle with permission.
• Investing isn’t about winning or beating a benchmark; it’s about building options.

Follow Priya Malani:

LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube

The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say:

Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.