Denise is a 56-year-old woman who came to us soon after she went through a painful and emotional divorce. For the last 30 years Denise was a stay at home mother and her husband took care of all of their finances. For the first time in her life, she had to learn how to manage her own financial affairs. At our first meeting, Denise was incredibly overwhelmed. She interviewed a handful of advisors and commented that until she came to Bloom Advisors she felt as if they were all speaking a language she didn’t understand. Our goal was to make Denise feel comfortable and to help empower her on this new journey.
Denise acquired her home in the divorce and half of the marital property and investments but needed help establishing a solid financial plan that reflected her individual goals and objectives. Denise had many questions for our advisors relating to “what now” as she looks at her life:
- Should she sell her house and downsize, or can she afford to keep it?
- What level of lifestyle is appropriate for her now and what can she comfortably afford over the long-term?
- Is she on track to retire with just her assets? Does she need to go back to work?
How we helped:
During our first meeting, the advisory team asked Denise to walk us through her current financial situation and we helped to prioritize the decisions that needed to be made. Initially Denise thought she had to sell her house to free up cash, but after careful assessment, we helped her realize that was unnecessary. We helped Denise confidently navigate the challenges ahead by focusing on three main components:
- Investment Management: We worked with Denise to open her own investment accounts that reflect her risk tolerance and financial situation. After a few conversations, it was clear that her appetite for risk was different from her ex-husbands.
- Insurance Review: Once Denise’s divorce was finalized; she began receiving calls from brokers and insurance salesmen trying to convince her to invest in products with extremely high fees and penalities such as a annuities, complex life insurance products and other inappropriate investments. Luckily, she brought the information to our advisors and they were able to independently review the materials and make recommendations that best met her needs.
- Estate Planning: Denise required an updated estate plan to reflect this major change in her life. It was important for her to ensure that her adult children would receive her assets in a tax-efficient manner in the event of her death even if she were to remarry.
Today, Denise is more educated and involved in her financial affairs. She meets with our advisory team annually and takes advantage of many of the educational programs and seminars that we host at Bloom Advisors.