RoseMarie Keogh-Smyth Makes Money Human

Matt Pecar did not consider himself a reader. He needed a reason, an interest, something to pull him in. Then, in 2024, he opened a book with an unforgettable title and found himself unable to stop. The financial lessons were practical, the language was familiar, and the advice made sense. With RoseMarie's guidance, Matt started paying off debt and building a savings buffer. For the first time in a number of years, he flew his family home for Christmas. By the one year mark, he achieved the biggest milestone of all: his family was debt-free.

The book? Don't Have Sex Nine Months Before Christmas and Other Practical Financial Tips.

With more than 1,200 copies sold across seven countries, the book has reached readers well beyond Canada and earned the 2025 International Impact Book Award for Finance. Its provocative title breaks the ice on subjects many people avoid, while the pages inside deliver practical financial lessons with wit, candor, and unapologetic honesty.

Matt's transformation captures what RoseMarie Keogh-Smyth does best: she makes intimidating financial ideas human, honest, and achievable, helping people discover that changing how they think about money can change what they do with it.

RoseMarie Keogh-Smyth and the Taproot Method™

RoseMarie Keogh-Smyth is Canada's Original Taproot Wealth Strategist, a financial educator, speaker, award-winning author, and founder of Mortgageless Mentor. Her work rests on a simple but rarely practiced belief: money should support the life people are building, not punish them for living it. Through the Taproot Method™, named for the deepest, strongest root of a tree, she helps families tackle debt while pursuing dreams, building toward mortgage freedom, estate essentials, and a lasting family legacy.

Her mission grew from a frustration with traditional financial conversations. Too often, advice arrives as jargon, judgment, or discipline dressed as wisdom. People are told to stop buying coffee, to worship the budget sheet, or to act as if financial freedom requires joyless deprivation. RoseMarie rejects that. She is not, in her words, a “treat-stealing witch.” She is more interested in the deeper question: what do you want your money to make possible, and what choices will get you there?

That approach resonates with people who don't read finance books, follow the markets, or spend Saturdays comparing retirement products. Her audience includes busy parents, working families, homeowners, and people who may feel behind but are ready to move forward. “Debt is not a postal code,” RoseMarie says, refusing to let anyone be defined by a balance. There's no “fake it until you make it” in her world, just starting where you are and figuring out where you want to go.

Breaking Money Taboos at the Kitchen Table

The kitchen table, RoseMarie believes, is the first finance classroom. Long before children open bank accounts or sign their first mortgages, they absorb lessons about money through piggy banks, garage sales, everyday purchases, and overheard conversations. They learn as much from what adults leave unsaid as from what they discuss openly.

That belief drives her work with high school students and her efforts to bring practical financial literacy into classrooms. She wants young people to understand money before they're responsible for managing it, giving them the confidence to make informed decisions rather than learning through costly mistakes. It's a goal sparked by Matt, who described her book as a “finance adventure” and suggested it should be recommended reading for Grade 12 and post-secondary students. Financial literacy isn't just about understanding money. It's about knowing what to do with it before the decisions get expensive.

A Voice That Changes the Money Conversation

RoseMarie’s work has earned recognition for both what she teaches and the relationships she builds. In 2025, she received the Mission Accepted Media Woman of the Year Award for Collaboration, recognizing her commitment to supporting others, building meaningful relationships, and creating opportunities through collaboration. Her work in financial education also earned Mortgageless Mentor the title of Best Financial Education in Canada of 2026 from Evergreen Awards.

For RoseMarie, the ultimate measure is whether people feel more comfortable talking about money, more confident making decisions, and more capable of building the future they want.

Let Your Finances Support Your Values

RoseMarie's clients do not confuse encouragement with permission to avoid difficult choices. She believes many people are treating themselves into financial stress, often under the banner of deserving more. Her challenge is to measure financial decisions against personal values rather than eliminate every pleasure.

“Let your finances support your values,” she says, an idea that turns money from a scoreboard into a tool. Whether someone is spending five dollars or five thousand, RoseMarie encourages them to consider what that money makes possible and whether the choice reflects what matters most to them.

Her clients demonstrate how changing financial habits can create meaningful results. Rauni paid off more than a third of her total debt in just ten months, explaining, “I changed how I think about money.” Marie began rethinking her finances, making progress toward credit-card and mortgage freedom while planning family trips to Greece and Costa Rica. Financial responsibility and meaningful experiences can absolutely exist in the same plan.

When Financial Freedom Becomes Something Bigger

Jessica first came to RoseMarie with a straightforward goal: Mortgage Freedom! But as they dug into her finances, something unexpected emerged. Jessica didn't particularly love the house she was working so hard to pay off, and she didn't have to wait years to pursue the life she wanted. After their first meeting, she bought her “Mr. Right” home, knowing exactly what she needed from the sale of her “Mr. Right Now” house to make the numbers work.

RoseMarie could see that Jessica had the mortgage situation under control. Where she could really help was with planning for the future. As Jessica admitted, “I hadn't even started worrying about worrying about my retirement.” Their work continued through monthly and eventually quarterly meetings, helping Jessica look beyond the mortgage and make room for other dreams, including buying a horse.

A year after completing their work together, Jessica returned to RoseMarie: she was pregnant and worried that her changing circumstances had created a financial crisis. As they reviewed the numbers, however, it became clear that the financial foundation Jessica had built was doing exactly what it was supposed to do. Her finances were solid, and what felt like financial panic was largely the uncertainty of preparing for motherhood.

Instead of solving a financial problem that didn't exist, they began planning for her unborn child's equestrian future, from first boots to first pony, figuring out what it would cost and when to start putting money aside.

That conversation illustrated the philosophy at the heart of Mortgageless Mentor. Money allows possibilities. Financial stability means having choices when life changes and the confidence to pursue opportunities that once seemed out of reach.

Debts AND Dreams: Building a Life While Paying for It

RoseMarie believes people do not have to choose between tackling debt and pursuing meaningful dreams. That philosophy drives her six-week Debts AND Dreams Sprint, which helps participants identify a meaningful goal, understand its financial cost, and begin creating room for it while managing debt and everyday responsibilities.

Whether it's a family vacation, a new business, a home renovation, or a once-in-a-lifetime experience, the point isn't to wait until every debt is paid before enjoying life. It's to make deliberate choices that allow both to happen.

Her philosophy is captured in another of her favorite reminders: “Live like you're dying. Save like you'll live to 100,” a nod to her grandmother, who celebrated her 100th birthday in her own home.

Building Roots for the Next Generation

Despite its name, Mortgageless Mentor is not about mortgages. It is about the freedom that comes from making intentional financial decisions and creating opportunities for the generations that follow. Through financial education, one-on-one guidance, speaking engagements, and her writing, RoseMarie helps families challenge inherited money habits and build something different.

She wants people to become “THAT ancestor,” the one who broke the cycle and left something meaningful behind. That does not require a perfect budget, an extraordinary income, or a finance degree. It begins with honest conversations, an understanding of where the money goes, and a willingness to make different choices.

For RoseMarie, lasting wealth includes the confidence to make decisions, the freedom to pursue meaningful experiences, and the knowledge passed from one generation to the next. The kitchen table is where many of those lessons begin, and sometimes changing a family's financial future starts with opening a book, asking a question, or finally having the conversation everyone has been avoiding.

The conversation continues at Mortgageless Mentor, where RoseMarie helps families make room for their debts AND dreams. Follow her on LinkedIn and Facebook for more of her practical, often unconventional take on money.