Reese Witherspoon Reveals Money Advice She Learned After Her Mom Went Through ‘Tough Stuff in a Marriage’

Reese Witherspoon is sharing a few words of financial wisdom.

The Oscar-winning actress, 49, revealed the money advice she learned from her mother, Betty Reese, 77, during an episode of the Aspire with Emma Grede podcast on November 18.

“Don’t ever let somebody control you with money,” Witherspoon said. “If someone says, ‘I’ll take care of it, I’ll take care of you, I’ll handle this…’ that person could leave. That person could hurt you. You always keep your job.”

She added, “Your job is your life insurance. My mom always used to say that to me.”

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Witherspoon went on to explain that she comes from “generations of women who were not taken care of financially.”

“My mom went through some tough stuff in a marriage with finances. Really tough stuff. And so did my grandma, not in marriage, but with our family structure.”

While on The Drew Barrymore Show in 2021, Witherspoon got emotional as she spoke about her mother’s strength and compassion. The actress shared that her mother was a labor and delivery nurse who had “endless compassion for other people.”

“My mother worked night shifts, she worked weekends, so I had to kinda take care of myself; my brother and I would make dinner and everything. She was so tired, but she just loved her patients,” she said.

The Morning Show star shared one of the best pieces of financial advice she’s received: “Don’t get into debt.”

“Do everything you can to not get into debt,” she said. “Pay off those credit cards, and don’t spend money like it’s yours, because it’s not yours, girlfriend.”

Witherspoon has previously shared that she hopes to empower women to achieve financial stability. During her 2020 episode on The HFPA In Conversation podcast, she opened up about the shame women who make money can often feel.

“There’s so many few women that make a lot of money that sometimes they’re shamed for it, and sometimes they are expected to give more and do more and be more to others in the same position that maybe a male movie star may not be expected,” she noted. “But I do think gender norms have changed quite a bit since that moment in 2000 or something.”

The Legally Blonde star continued by sharing a moment when her daughter Ava, now 26, was in second grade and came home embarrassed after her classmates pointed out that her mother was one of the highest-paid actresses.

“I said, ‘Don’t ever feel ashamed of a woman making money.’ There are women all over this world who don’t have an opportunity or an education or the ability to make money,” Witherspoon said.

She continued, “[I have] an interesting relationship with the word ‘power.’ I just hope in my lifetime, I can help more women make more money. Financial stability is freedom.”