Case Study

 A Woman's Financial Needs

We work with women of all demographics: single career women, married, divorced, widowed. Women have unique financial planning needs due to their longevity, caregiver role, and differences in pay scale and savings.

Single women often fear not having someone to listen to them, to explain sometimes complex issues surrounding their finances, benefits, or options that they may have.

Take Melissa, for example. She is happily single, has built her career over many years, owns her own home and is generally able to afford what she needs. Melissa is concerned about saving the right amount to provide for a comfortable retirement, home improvements, and the possibility of living to age 100. Through financial planning and proper asset allocation, we are addressing her concerns and helping her to follow the path toward her goals by identifying saving needs, budgeting and providing for her philanthropy goals. With planning, Melissa knew the options available to her when she was offered an early retirement package from her employer. She decided to take the package and is semi-retired and working part-time on her own terms.

Then there's Lee. Lee was married, raised her children, and found herself suddenly single after thirty-plus years of marriage. We helped Lee to assess her needs prior to her divorce settlement, understand the differences of taxation applying to different assets, and plan for her future needs. Having someone to help explain the pros and cons of a decision and educate her on important decisions she faced provided her with the ability to look confidently to her future.

Martha lost her husband of 45 years after a long illness. During their marriage, her husband John took care of the major financial decisions, including paying the bills and managing their assets. John had a survivorship option on his pension, along with a life insurance policy to help take care of Martha if he predeceased her. Martha had to deal with the grief of losing John, and then consider how to take over caring for herself. We sat down with Martha, helped her to sort through her ongoing needs, and worked with her to understand what she had and what she needed to live independently. We were a phone call away when she needed us, and in time, she felt comfortable moving forward on her own.