Karin Risi leads Vanguard’s Advice Services group, which provides financial planning and investment advice to retail and institutional clients.

Since joining Vanguard in 1997, Karin has held various leadership roles within the company’s Corporate, Institutional, and Retail divisions. Karin joined Vanguard as an investment analyst in the Portfolio Review department and later moved to Corporate Strategy. Karin also worked closely with institutional clients in Vanguard's Financial Advisor Services and Institutional Asset Management divisions. More recently, she began working with Vanguard's retail investors, first as a leader in the Flagship Services group and now as the head of Advice Services.

Prior to joining Vanguard, she was an investor relations analyst with Sunoco, Inc. Karin holds a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Villanova University.

Along with about 50 million others, I’m a product of Generation X. I had a Dorothy Hamill haircut, spent my weekends at the roller-skating rink, and grew up watching Madonna on MTV (back when she was more controversial and they actually aired videos). And while there are plenty of characteristics—not all of them positive—broadly attributed to the “slackers” and “latchkey kids” of my generation, we’re generally turning out OK.

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I recently attended the Pennsylvania Conference for Women with a group of Vanguard colleagues. The conference featured an impressive array of speakers who focused on a broad range of personal and professional development topics for women. Sessions were offered on building a small business, leveraging social media, cultivating mentor relationships, and seemingly everything in between. But given that I work in the financial services industry, and that my area of focus at Vanguard is investment advice, I was most interested in the breakout session led by money coach Farnoosh Torabi, author of Psych Yourself Rich.

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We received a strong response to my post “I love you…now let’s talk money,” which primarily focused on newer couples approaching the topic of shared finances for the first time. I was struck by the number of candid comments from those of you—well beyond the honeymoon phase—who’ve been navigating the sometimes murky waters of shared finances for many years. Thanks for sharing so many of your own experiences and valuable advice.

One comment in particular inspired me to draft this follow-up post:

“Attn: Karin Risi – Good idea about indoctrination of newlyweds to financial information. Now how about us old folks at the other end of the line? It would be nice if we left this world together, but that is not likely. It is usually the man who leaves first and the widow [who] may need help. How about a list of “To Do’s” before it’s too late?”

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Investors have every right to feel anxious about the markets.

First, we had the endless drama and squabbling over the federal debt ceiling. An agreement was reached, but before we could take a collective sigh of relief, the equity markets tumbled more than 4% last Thursday amid mounting concern over the fiscal health of several European countries. Late the following day, S&P downgraded its rating on U.S. debt from AAA to AA+ status. We worried over the weekend, and on Monday volatility was in full force, and the equity markets gave up another 6%. It’s enough to make any investor cry “uncle.”

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The article provides several practical tips for opening the dialogue with your significant other. One financial advisor even recommends carving out time for a monthly “money date” over breakfast. While portfolio talk over poached eggs may not be your style, there are clear benefits to laying your financial cards on the table before you take the plunge. Honest discussion about your debts, general agreement on your saving and spending habits, and alignment of your long-term investing goals with those of your partner seem like reasonably critical components of happily-ever-after.

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