There's Risk; then There's Risk
Coming of age in the 1960s, Peggy Diefenderfer, '65 psychology, was part of a generation that challenged societal norms, embraced risk and questioned traditional modes of behaving. Because so many of these changes are now considered commonplace, it's often difficult to appreciate how radical they appeared at the time.
Diefenderfer is used to risk; she's been dealing with it all her adult life. In 1965, the year she graduated from Penn State, a seminal event took place that not only shook her world, but the worlds of millions of women.
“The Feminine Mystique had just been published,” she recalls. “Nineteen sixty-five was one of the last years where the conformist idea—get married, have kids and stay home to take care of them—was still the only one. After 1965, it was all shelved. Suddenly we were told we should have independent careers in addition to responsibilities at home.”
And Diefenderfer followed that course. She earned a master's degree in social work from Bryn Mawr, and joined the staff of a community mental health center in Pottstown, PA. In 1970, her son was born and she stayed at home until he was seven. During that time, she became involved in an initiative that would evolve into a powerful political organization. It was comprised of a group of people that had never before had a voice in national politics.
“I sat on the national steering committee of a group called The Gray Panthers,” says Diefenderfer. “They were newly formed and felt that ageism was a rampant problem in our society. The Panthers redefined the notion of aging in this country and pushed the boundaries of social change.”
By the 1980s, Diefenderfer was ready to push her own boundaries and wanted a new career. She'd heard that financial planning was going to be very big.
“A friend of mine said, ‘women should stay out of banking, because they hit a ceiling',” she recalls. “I didn't know the first thing about banking but I immediately got a job with SunLife of Canada who were exploring the possibility of making financial planning a part of their services.”
Several years later, Diefenderfer left to start her own financial planning company, Legacy Financial Services. The company, now twelve years old, was founded, says Diefenderfer, to help women who are widowed or divorced, and now manages close to $40 million. Managing other people's money always involves degrees of risk and clients must learn, she says, what degree of risk they are most comfortable taking.
“Risk varies with each person,” she explains. “No one thinks about it when the market is going up; when it's going down, it's all they think about. In stormy weather, you really need to have faith and assure your clients that it will pass.”
Which is what Diefenderfer had to do when she came up against stormy weather—the non-metaphorical kind. Aboard the Queen Mary 2 last September, crossing from Southampton, England to New York, Diefenderfer—and the rest of the passengers—were informed they were approaching a major storm. The ship, which is the largest cruise ship on the seas, was pitching and tossing alarmingly.
“We were all in our cabins, wondering what to do,” she recalls. “We put our faith in the crew, who are very experienced. They told us to stay put and, although it was pretty scary, that's what we did.”
The next day, Diefenderfer overheard an interview with the ship's commodore who said that the ship had sailed in between two storms. The waves had reached 45 feet, and the ship was taking on water all the way up to the tenth deck, the one Diefenderfer was on.
“When we sailed into New York harbor, passed the Statue of Liberty, we were all quite thankful,” she says. “I now realize that risk is always a part of life, but sometimes it takes on new meanings.”