Widowed
Case Study
Patty’s Story
Patty married Bob, who worked in banking throughout their married life. She stayed home with their four children during their younger years, and later found work in a local dental office part time.
She is an avid gardener and she and Bob worked hard to maintain the exterior of their home and keep it in pristine condition. It’s a home she raised her children in and now spends plenty of time in with her grandchildren.
Bob’s health began deteriorating recently and things ended up moving more quickly than anyone expected. He’s gone now, and she’s not only grieving their ended time together, but unsure of all the details of their financial life. As a widow, Patty is looking for someone to explain everything to her so she can understand, make recommendations, and help her manage financially. She doesn’t want to burden her children with these tasks or decisions.
Needs:
- Unsure of her total assets and income
- Needs to know how to update her Social Security benefits
- Needs to understand trust arrangements and monitoring
- Wants to understand each investment account
- Needs help reviewing contracts, debts, and insurance to help make sure everything is set up well
- Wants someone to walk her through rolling over any accounts
- Wants to understand what financial changes may need to happen and what can remain the same
- Have someone to answer questions with objective thoughts and provide guidance
Patty’s Needs
Patty has been through a lot and has been feeling overwhelmed. Thinking about the details of account locations, access, investments, and financial paperwork is too much, but she knows it needs to be done.
As a widow, she has questions like:
- What will my income look like and what accounts or other places will it come from?
- How do I update my Social Security benefits?
- What do I need to know about my assets and investments?
- What do I need to know or do about any trusts in my name?
- Are there any important financial details I need to know?
- What paperwork do I need to update?
- Should I be making any changes to my finances?
- Can you educate me on my investments and financial next steps?
Patty’s Plan
Being a caring and calm presence is one of our key focuses when connecting with someone who’s recently experienced a life transition. These conversations let a client share their concerns and feelings, and we listen and aim to simplify.
After understanding needs and items we can assist with, our team members could make several recommendations regarding risk levels, account management, and financial updates to help Patti navigate her next steps. Such items might include:
- Outline her assets and income cash flows
- Retitling of investment and benefit accounts
- Explanation of trust arrangements and future monitoring needs
- Claim filing for life insurance death benefits
- Review of medical insurance and recommendations
- Recommendations for asset sales if needed
- Detail the beneficiaries on investment accounts
- Review any debts and offer plan for management
With a detailed financial plan created to fit her specific situation, Patty can feel supported and prepared for her financial future.
Note: The above case study examples are hypothetical and do not involve actual Domani Wealth clients. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or certain level of results or satisfaction if Domani Wealth is engaged to provide investment advisory services. To the contrary, there can be no assurance that a client or prospective client will experience a certain level of results or satisfaction if Domani is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of our current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees continues to remain available upon request or at this link.
*Please Note: Limitations: The above is a hypothetical scenario-not involving an actual Domani client. It illustrates the hypothetical experience of a fictitious client based on a scenario that an actual client might experience. The scenario is designed to help illustrate how Domani might provide services to similarly situated clients. Keeping in mind that no two clients, situations, or experiences are exactly alike, the above should not be construed as an endorsement of Domani by any of its past or current clients, nor any assurance that Domani may be able to help any client achieve the same satisfactory results. To the contrary, there can be no assurance that a client or prospective client will experience a certain level of results or satisfaction if Domani is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services.
Explore more Case Studies
Divorcee
For those who are going through a divorce, it can be overwhelming to understand all the nuances of your new financial picture and what steps you need to take.
Planning for Retirement
Domani Wealth partners with those planning for retirement and their future who want to make sure they are on the right track to reach their goals.
