Several years ago, a client couple referred their neighbors. Let’s call them Jim and Kate. They had been married almost 20 years and had established careers and two younger children. After recently purchasing their dream home, they came to us to help consolidate multiple investments and build a financial plan for their retirement. We started by solidifying their college savings, reviewed existing life policies, and started managing their accumulated retirement accounts.
Jim was an early employee of his firm and was working with leadership to design his exit strategy. He wanted to spend more time with family, and was starting his own business. A few years later Jim got sick, and we sat with them at the attorney’s office to draft wills and healthcare directives. Fortunately, his life insurance was already in place, as insurance companies won’t issue a policy once a serious healthcare issue arises.
Jim recently lost his battle with a debilitating illness. Through the waves of emotions that followed, we were able to provide Kate with peace of mind around her financial future, so that she could focus on her family and their grieving. When she was ready, we helped her reregister accounts, file insurance claims, update her will, and refine college planning. Thankfully, the life insurance benefits more than covered expenses while she took a leave of absence from work and prepared their oldest child for college.
Kate has told us many times how grateful she is to be able to lean on us. A year after losing her husband, we helped her dismantle her inherited business and work through the pros and cons of strategies to help restart her life, including selling their family home and securing financial freedom.
Partnering with a trusted Financial Advisor now could be one of the most important moves you make. Life is unpredictable. When you find yourself faced with stressful life changes, having built strong advisor relationship will prove to be invaluable.
