I had a phone call from a lady who recently lost her husband.
She was in her late 40’s and had contacted us in regards to advice around her financial matters. The couple had $485,000 in cash with the large family home paid off.
She had never made a financial decision in 27 years of marriage.
All financial matters had always been left to her husband. She didn’t know what bank accounts existed, if her car was leased or even who to contact to cancel the newspaper subscription.
Completely detached from her finances.
She was on her own and now she needed to make some decisions.
Couple this with the grief and loss of her husband and she was feeling stressed.
In these types of situations, when something major happens like the passing of your partner there is no shortage of people who are willing to offer advice. Giving guidance or telling you what you should or shouldn’t be doing.
In reality they are coming from an angle of how they would play this out in their own life. Putting their own value judgement or assessment on the situation.
“Here is what I would do……” they say.
And most of the time these people will have your best interest at heart. They just want you to be well looked after and to be happy again.
Her reality is that she has no financial knowledge and now she has been thrust a large amount of money.
When something significant like this happens, unless the roof is going to be pulled from over your head you don’t need to make a knee jerk reaction.
Stop and Ask:
- “Who do I turn to get the help that I need?”
- “Who can I trust to get the help that I need?”
- “Do I need to make a decision urgently?”
- “Does it really need to happen right now?”
Typically you don’t need to make a decision right away.
The sky won’t fall in and life will go on.
Unless the money is needed to pay something off, you don’t have to rush these things.
Do your research around all the implications and get comfortable with these big decisions.
Pause and take a breath.
“This document or website contains general advice only. You need to consider with your financial planner, your investment objectives, financial situation and your particular needs prior to making an investment decision. Charter Financial Planning Limited and its authorised representatives do not accept any liability for any errors or omissions of information supplied in this document except for liability under statute which cannot be excluded.”