Dr. Mary Bell Carlson, CFP®, AFC® is a financial behavior expert, well-known speaker, podcaster, and storyteller whose talents and insight have helped numerous people improve their personal finances and inspired professionals to enhance their communication skills. Dr. Carlson started her career as a bank teller and has since continued to hone her skill and expertise within financial services. From working in financial planning firms and then overseeing the nation’s largest 457 deferred compensation program as part of the National Association of Counties (NACo) to serving as a lobbyist on Capitol Hill for the Financial Planning Association, Dr. Carlson’s experiences helped to shape her understanding of the complex nature of financial systems and individual and family concerns. She then went to the Pentagon and served as a subject matter expert with the U.S. Department of Defense. After a transfer to Kansas, she was an Army Survivor Outreach Services (SOS) financial counselor at the Fort Riley U.S. Army Installation. When she moved back to the D.C. area, she began working as a government contractor, providing financial counseling to individuals in the military and intelligence worlds.
Dr. Carlson founded Financial Behavior Keynote Group with a consortium of experts who offer evidence and experience-based thought leadership and presentations. She is known for her expertise in financial behavior change and focuses on the psychology of money. Her book, Anchors, Ostriches, and a Hot Pair of Scissors: Navigating Financial Behavior as a Financial Professional, came out in January 2022.
Dr. Carlson teaches several courses in the financial planning programs at the University of Georgia and Texas Tech University. She serves on the board of George Mason University’s Financial Planning & Wealth Management program. Dr. Carlson is also the o-host of Real Money, Real Experts; a podcast focused on helping financial counselors and coaches grow and impact their clients and improve their businesses. She earned her Ph.D. from Kansas State University in Financial Planning with an emphasis in Financial Therapy; her master’s degree is also in financial planning from Texas Tech University, and her undergraduate degree is in political science from Brigham Young University. She holds both the Certified Financial Planner® and Accredited Financial Counselor® designations. Mary lives in Virginia and stays busy chasing her three daughters, keeping up with her husband’s hiking stride, and pretending to be a world-class travel and event planner for their family experiences.