Recently a young widow was referred to my firm by a CPA. Her name was Maria and she needed money to live independently. At the time, she was living with her elderly parents and owed back taxes and had significant credit card debt. Maria was also applying to multiple schools to seek a full-time job teaching position.
Her husband sadly died of brain cancer. While he was alive, he handled all the finances and investments. Earlier in life they were both were well off financially. Over time, much of their wealth was spent on frivolous items and invested poorly.
As the cancer was took its toll, he had locked everything down everything regarding their finances on his computer. That data was saved on a heavily encrypted hard drive. Upon his death, no one was able to crack open the hard drive. He had friends and co-workers that were talented programmers and developers and they too could not unlock the hard drive.
By the time the widow came to our firm the hard drive had been destroyed. She brought with her some documents detailing she had stock held at Computershare. I refer to Computershare as a black hole entity that is a custodian that holds stock and dividend reinvestment plans. The same entity is very difficult to work with and from our experience would never pick up the phone to speak to callers needing help. Their service has improved dramatically since then.
Upon our meeting, we gave her a game plan and obtained and completed the forms to show proof of her current address, proof of her husband’s death and proof of heirship. The process was slow and painful, but after two months we had custody of her stock, had changed ownership to her name and found some more money in a forgotten 401k of her late husband.
Many people have come to our firm in the past feeling powerless and helpless. Concerned about their future and lacking the knowledge and experience necessary to maneuver through their financial maze. At the end of the day, they only want to regain their independence and live their life the way they wish to.
We understand what the widow was going through. Many people who have come to us over the years have felt this way. They feel the pain of loss and feel powerless due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of financial assets. We have 38 years of experience assisting and guiding many people and businesses through the death and disability of family members. We have taken the lead to dig through the documents and statements to find the money our clients need when they need it most. We have led the clients through the many complicated processes and mazes that confound the finance industry. The results are clear. We find the money with a proven system that has worked throughout our 38 years of helping damsels in distress.
We completed additional documentation for Maria. We updated the address and proved that the widow was the beneficiary of the funds. We took custody of her securities and liquidated the securities. We sent the widow her cash.
Maria can now live comfortably, free from her elderly parents. She finally has the money to live her life independently.
If not for our assistance, she would be stuck living with elderly parents. Maria would still be behind on income taxes and would still be heavy in debt. She would not be financially able to assist young adult children.
Maria is now a kindergarten teacher and lives in her own apartment. She is free to live her life independently and can assist her young adult children financially from time to time.
At Callaway Financial Services, we have the experience to recognize where the assets are held. We know the process to change the title and contact information for the customer. Our team can take over the financial assets and liquidate or manage those assets for the customer. We discovered where the widow’s money was held and created a plan of action to get her funds.
Many people will not make the phone call to our firm for fear of being chastised for poor financial decisions. You should not fear this as we all make poor decisions from time to time. While we are all human and it is important to acknowledge the mistake and learn from it and then move forward.
Some fear relinquishing control of their finances. You will remain in control. We are your financial guide and are here to help. We will need copies of statements of your investment accounts so that we can determine what you own. If you are just beginning to build your wealth, we will need some detail of your finances so that we have a better idea of where you stand financially and what direction to guide you.
Others are overwhelmed with all the information available to them and are stuck in a mental paralysis and cannot make a sound decision. Again, we are your guide as we were Maria’s guide. We ask that you present to us your information so that we can make sure you have all your hard-earned resources, as Maria did. Allow us to discover your needs, your goals, your risk tolerance and what we can do to improve your quality of life. Lastly, allow us time to do our job.
Call us now! Just as the widow’s CPA told her to call us so we can schedule a face-to-face appointment or a phone appointment, whichever you prefer. There is no cost on our initial consultation. Once you have engaged our firm, we will meet periodically to follow up establishing your account(s).
