John Picardi • Kennesaw, GA
Active Financial Group • J.W. Cole Advisors
It is important that spouses communicate about their finances and for advisors to insist on having couples involved equally in planning discussions, especially regarding retirement planning and survivorship issues.
A quite older woman was referred to me whose husband had recently passed away. She walked into my office a wreck and said she was afraid she was going to end up homeless. I went to work quickly and helped her gather all of their financial statements. Well, it did not take very long to figure out that not only was she not going to lose her home, but her husband had left a valuable rental property and fairly substantial six-figure liquid assets.
I put together a managed, income-generating plan that should see her comfortably through the rest of her life. It was gratifying to see how relieved and thankful she was. But more importantly, this was probably the very first time she had some understanding of how an actively managed financial approach could work. That education was not easy, but it was quite worthwhile.
Disclosure: John Picardi is a registered representative of J.W. Cole Financial, Inc. Securities offered through J.W. Cole Financial, Inc. (JWC). Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through J.W. Cole Advisors (JWCA). Active Financial Group and JWC/JWCA are unaffiliated entities.
Photography by Kathleen Moore Photography