Birke Consulting 
Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (David Allen)
Firms, Family Offices Turn to Wealth Counselors
Szifra is quoted in this article featured in Private Asset Management, a publication of Institutional Investor, Inc.
By Melissa Karsh, Private Asset Management
February 9, 2009
Some family offices and firms are tapping into wealth counselors, typically psychologists or therapists with specialized training in the behavioral and emotional issues of wealth, as a way to better interact with and understand their wealthy clients during the turbulent markets.
Calibre, Wachovia Wealth Management’s multi-family office, recently hired another wealth counselor. Keith Whittaker, managing director and head of Calibre’s Family Dynamics unit, and Susan Massenzio, who works with Whittaker as a counselor, told PAM they have been speaking more frequently on trust-building through Webinars and other forums for private bankers and advisors. Whittaker said families want more attention on the human aspect of living with or losing wealth, and legal and financial disciplines often cannot provide this. Continue Reading
Wealthy investors turn away from advisers
Szifra is quoted in this article from Investment News
By Charles Paikert
January 11, 2009
Shock of losses, scandal lead high-net-worth clients to question advice
Financial scandals and decimated investments are changing the behavior of wealthy investors in ways that may reshape the wealth management business.”Before [Bernard] Madoff, wealthy investors diversified their portfolio, but didn’t think about hedging their bets in terms of advisers,” said Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and the author of “Predictably Irrational” (HarperCollins, 2008).
Marriages follow the ups and downs of the economy
Szifra is quoted in the Christian Science Monitor
By Marilyn Gardner
November 17, 2008
During tough economic times, couples find that financial problems can affect their marriage.
Life changed in June for Thomas and Jennifer Dodson of Sacramento, Calif., when he was laid off by the architecture firm where he worked. He immediately started his own consulting firm. Although the work is rewarding and fulfilling, it continues to be an “immense struggle,” he says. Continue Reading
Firm invests in psychology
Szifra is quoted in The Boston Globe
By Davis Bushnell
April 13, 2008
Hires counselor for jittery clients
Given the gyrating stock market and constant chatter about a recession, it’s no wonder that investors are anxious.
Officials at Lexington Wealth Management believe they have an answer for jittery clients – a psychologist, Szifra Birke, who is called on as needed to handle emotional situations.
“I don’t do psychotherapy, so my role here is that of a coach and communicator dealing with behavioral issues stemming from finances,” Birke, 57, said in an interview at the Lexington offices of the 11-year-old asset-management firm. Continue Reading
Greater Lowell’s 25 most fascinating people of 2007
Szifra is profiled by the Lowell Sun
By Rita Savard
December 30, 2007
We’ve watched them, learned from them, been inspired by them. In our own backyards, they caught our attention and taught us to go after dreams.
Movers, shakers and innovators. They’re Greater Lowell’s most fascinating people of 2007, as determined by The Sun’s staff. Continue Reading
Cash windfall can lead to downfall
Szifra is quoted in the Merrimack Valley Eagle-Tribune
By Bill Kirk and Emily Young
October 28, 2007
For Lisa Arcand, winning $1 million in the lottery helped make her dreams come true. Or so she thought.
She took the earnings and bought a house and new furniture, went on a couple of vacations, enrolled her son in Central Catholic and opened a restaurant on Merrimack Street in Lawrence.
Then reality struck.
“Winning the lottery is not all it’s cracked up to be,” said Arcand, 42, a single mom and lifelong Lawrence resident. “Actually, it’s been very depressing.”
Today, less than four years after striking it rich on a scratch ticket, Arcand has decided to close her dream business — Fisherman’s Corner. Continue Reading
Investment News profile of Szifra Birke
By Charles Paikert
August 13, 2007
Szifra Birke is fascinated by money.That may not be unusual for someone who works for a wealth management firm, except that she is not a wealth manager, nor is she a portfolio manager or a financial adviser.Ms. Birke is a psychologist. Continue Reading
A Feel for Finances
Szifra is profiled by the Lowell Sun
By Dan O’Brien
July 15, 2007
Lowell native Szifra Birke is part of nascent trend to incorporate psychology into wealth advising
CHELMSFORD — It wasn’t too long ago that the thought of using a licensed psychotherapist to assist people in their money matters was… well, farfetched.
But Lowell native Szifra Birke has been ahead of the curve before. Continue Reading
Therapy Meets Wealth Management
Szifra is interviewed in Financial Advisor magazine
July 2007
Life planning and taking a holistic approach to finances are in vogue now, but Lexington Wealth Management, based in Boston and Manhattan, has taken it a step further and recently engaged the services of a licensed therapist with a speciality in wealth counseling.
Szifra Birke was first a client of Lexington Wealth Management, a boutique firm that advises the suddenly wealthy and high-net-worth individuals in transition situations. She then started counseling some of the firm’s nine staff members informally, until both sides decided the relationship was working so well it should be made formal. Continue Reading