Mt. Lebanon native Rachel Gottlieb is one of the most accomplished financial planners and analysts in the country.

She wants to help women understand money and finances as well as she does.

“I just feel like in meeting with people, clients, not to stereotype, but sometimes women are savvy and sometimes they take a backseat,” she says. “I just want them to take an active role on finances. If you look at statistics, the majority of women will end up single at one point. And they’ll be forced to handle their finances.”

Gottlieb, Mt. Lebanon Class of 1998 and a graduate of Lehigh Universitiy, is a certified financial planner and certified divorce financial analyst for UBS Financial Services in New York City, where she is an executive  vice president of wealth management. She has been ranked by Forbes as the No. 1 Female Next Generation Wealth Advisor. She was featured as a Top Women Advisor and Best in State Wealth Advisor. Working Mother magazine says she was a top wealth advisor mom. Gottlieb has also appeared on numerous television programs about investing and the stock market.

“I feel proud about my team and the service we provide to clients,” Gottlieb says “I think it feels very good. You’re helping people and helping them understand. You’re helping them plan for their future and plan for any pitfalls or blind spots. I just feel fortunate to have built this business and help my clients.”

Gottlieb authored a children’s book called Zac’s Dollar Dilemma: Teaching Children How to Spend, Save, Give and Invest, which is about a boy who earns a dollar and doesn’t know what to do with it. He meets various animals that have different philosophies regarding money and learns the appropriate way to handle it in the process. Gottlieb wrote it because she has a 4- and 6-year-old at home.

“There are a thousand things you can lecture kids on,” she says. “But if they read a book, and they have their own conclusions, I thought it was helpful. I did it as a way to talk to my own son. I work with multigenerational families. They say if you don’t talk about wealth to your kids, it can be a problem later on. If they don’t have the tools, they won’t understand what it means to have wealth.”

William Rose, one of her colleagues at UBS, has worked with her for the last two years. He says Gottlieb is unbelievably talented.

“She is a pleasure to work with,” Rose says. “Our clients really enjoy working with her. I think she is able to couple sensitivity and description of knowledge. She can deal with intricate details of people’s lives such as divorce or buying a house. And she can help them plan for a goal in a sensitive way. I think that’s exceptional in this industry, to have intelligence coupled with sensitivity. Her work is second to none.”

Gottlieb hopes to continue doing what she’s done to this point in her career.

“I want to help more people and give back and to help empower women and individuals,” Gottlieb says. “I want to help people with planning. I hope to continue helping people in any way.”