Diane Terman Felenstein, who represented celebrities as a publicist before gaining renown herself with a best-selling financial advice guide for women, died Dec. 8 at her home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She was 79.

Inspired by the Beardstown Ladies, as group of women in their 60s and 70s who had formed an investment club to pick stocks, Ms. Terman Felenstein wanted women to be knowledgeable about finances in general to help safeguard their futures. The book encouraged women to take a bigger role in guiding their family finances, and it was a hit, covering topics like investments, retirement, estate planning, insurance, and even marriage and divorce.

“If you don’t do proper planning, you’re going to be left holding a paper bag,” Ms. Terman Felenstein was known to say. “We say, ‘If you’re left holding the bag, there ought to be money in it.’”