Who We Serve Examples
*** These are hypothetical situations based on real life examples. Names and circumstances have been changed.***
#1 Paula -
Paula, a client of mine came to me with her husband. He had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and they, especially he, wanted to construct a financial plan that could help provide for Paula after his death. I had the luxury, if you can call it that, of assisting them in creating a strategy that could support them in their efforts of obtaining a little more confidence.
Paula was her husband's full-time care giver so it was important for her to have a plan in place that could help her avoid being a burden to her children in the future. I informed her that one of the advantages of having a financial advisor is that they can help with things like estate plans and positioning assets in a tax advantaged manner.
It's imperative for me as a financial advisor to endure that my clients trust me and feel comfortable enough to have these difficult conversations especially since many of these conversations can be very emotional.
#2 John and Jane -
John and Jane are clients of min-Their youngest son was just graduating from college and starting a life independent of his parents. He was young, healthy, had a fiance, ad was on the brink of buying a house and starting a family.
Twenty-eight days later, their son died in an accident....
Life is unexpected and you never know what can happen. Prior to his son's death, he did buy a life insurance policy to protect his "soon to be" family. Unfortunately or fortunately, the life insurance proceeds were used to support the bride-to-be go back to school and take care of her son until she had a job that could support both of them. The life insurance policy provided that "protection" for the just in case.
All we can do is plan as best we can. As a financial planner, I can help with things like purchasing Life Insurance that can assist in providing some protections in case you ever have to face an unimaginable situation like this.
#3 Dick and Jane -
Dick and Jane recieved an inheritance that allowed them to retire sooner than they had originally planned so they purchased property on a lake where they could fully enjoy their retirement.
I worked with them together as a team, to create a plan to help assist them living life independent of one another in case one of them were to pass away. Since it is impossible to predict which of them might die first, we made plans for both scenarios. I reviewed each plan with them individually, so that they knew what would happen and hot to proceed financially if they were left to deal with things on their own.
As a financial advisor, I've learned that helping my clients become familiar with their plans is a great way to assist with easing fears about their financial futures. I believe that fear of the unknown can be the scariest thing!
#4 Sandy -
Sandy, a long-time friend of mine, was facing a divorce. Understanding that she would soon be a single woman made her realize how important it was for her and the women in her family to educate themselves financially. We began having meetings to go over all their finances so I could answer any questions they might have. I conducted a full year forensic analysis for each of them to get to the bottom of everything and fully understand their financial situations. This helped us in deciding which options were most suitable for each of them.
I helped Sandy establish "old age coverage" or in other words, long-term care coverage as well as set up an estate plan. I helped both her daughters set up college savings plans for their children and when Sandy lost her father, I helped her mom create a budget in an effort to assist her with her goals of having funds for travel and other hobbies.
Although unfortunate, these situations have allowed me the pleasure of working with three generations of women in her family.
#5 Andy
Dad, Andy, lived a very independent life. He practiced a very healthy lifestyle and never thought he would need “care” at any point during his lifetime. He was a proud man and thought that needing Long Term Care (LTC) wouldn’t ever apply to him.
Then he was diagnosed with cancer.
He stayed independent for as long as he could but eventually required assistance. His pride deemed his daughter and granddaughter his caregivers 24/7. His care was intensive and included daily basic care and multiple trips to Mexico for cancer treatment. While he had his family’s support wholeheartedly, the emotional, financial, and physical strain to care for him around the clock is a heavy one. Our jobs, families, and lives were put on hold to care for him. While we would never change the emotional support we were able to provide for him, the physical support could have been shared with professional caregivers had he thought to invest in them through LTC.
We would do it again in a heartbeat, but the lessons learned during his time of need reaffirmed my conviction that a LTC policy is priceless.
#6 Joyce and Andy
My Mom and Dad, Joyce and Andy, were married for ten years before divorcing. Later, when it came time to retire, each spouse received Social Security income based on their individual earnings and collected separate checks. My father passed away first.
Upon his death, my mother had the option of keeping her Social Security income the same as it had been or taking my fathers, which was substantially larger. She had 60 days to make the decision. You would think it would be a no-brainer to take the larger income when given the option, but not so fast…. My mother’s original Social Security benefit was below the living standard, thus qualifying her for additional benefits, such as reduced rent, help with Medicare Part A premiums, reduced prescription prices, etc. The question then became whether the increase in Social Security Benefit payouts would offset the additional resources she was receiving. Not as easy as you’d think.
In my mother’s situation, after thorough review and calculations, it was determined that the increase was greater than the total cost of the additional services she was receiving, so she took my Dad’s income. Note: Seek professional advice no matter how simple the answer appears.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The opinions voice in this material are for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice for recommendations for any individual. To determine which investments or strategies may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing.