Focus on What's Important - ElderAdo Financial

met a couple a few years ago who were in their early 70s. For this story I will call them Jason and Carrie. As in many couples, one managed the finances, in this case, it was Jason who handled the finances during their marriage of 50 years. Carrie knew the basics, but if anything were to ever happen to Jason she would be lost and incredibly overwhelmed.

Early in their marriage, Jason wanted to protect his wife and ensure that they had the support needed to age well together. However, Jason was struggling to keep up with the ever-changing world of technology. He was also struggling to remember to pay bills, forgetting about balancing their accounts, floundering in managing their retirement investments, and had difficulty filing the proper documents needed for taxes, Social Security, and Medicare. Not only that, but Jason was forgetting to lock doors, was frequently losing his keys, and leaving the stove on when he was done cooking. He didn’t voice his concerns and was becoming more fearful, scared, and frustrated that he wasn’t himself. He was afraid to admit he was falling behind and failing to do the most basic things.

One day in May, the bottom fell out. Jason was working in the yard when he started feeling nauseous. In seconds, his heart was racing, his mind spinning, and he knew he was about to black out. He called for Carrie, who rushed him to the hospital.

At the hospital, the doctor recommended an MRI to identify what was happening. When the results came back, there was a possible issue with his brain, but there needed to be more testing before any diagnosis could be made.

Jason was sent home and found himself sitting in disbelief and thinking about what would become of his life, of Carrie’s, of the perfect future they had planned. Jason realized he couldn’t manage it all anymore. He couldn’t protect his wife like he wanted to or be her hero. His mind was failing him, and he didn’t know how to stop or fix it.

Do you know how to manage your finances or your nest egg if something were to happen to your spouse?

Or, are you confident that your spouse will have the support and knowledge necessary to manage the family finances if you’re not around?

Back to Jason. He was used to figuring things out on his own.

In the early days he tried day trading using Robinhood, purchasing a retirement strategy course, asking friends for advice, and buying an annuity.

None of these tactics worked. Jason even tried working with an “advisor” of a commission-only firm and that was a total disaster! So then Jason tried working with a robo advisor to save on fees and get some kind of strategy, but it barely helped.

Then one day Jason and Carrie stumbled across an e-book What To Do When A Medical Emergency Disrupts Your Life (And Money) and spoke with an advisor who knows how to navigate finances during medical emergencies. It worked. They found the help they needed.

With guidance, they created a strategy that would protect them as they waited for the medical results. More importantly, Carrie felt that she had support if Jason were hospitalized and their finances were finally simplified so that things wouldn’t be forgotten.

The real enemies of financial security are real issues like unforeseen health scares, lack of education about how difficult it is to navigate retirement, bad advice from people who just see you as a commission check, complicated tax laws, and confusing paperwork for Social Security and Medicare. There are countless people that want you to believe that retirement planning is easy and you can do it yourself while saving thousands. There’s a lie that you can’t trust advisors because they just want your money. Some buy into the falsehood that an insurance policy will take everything.

It took a medical scare for Jason and Carrie to finally figure out that having an advisor, who understands life emergencies, on their team made their life so much easier, manageable, and hassle-free so that they could focus on Jason’s recovery. Jason and Carrie discovered how to secure their financial future without having to manage all the details. Not only that, but Jason discovered how to protect his wife if he was no longer capable.

Carrie learned that she didn’t have to figure it all out on her own and had peace of mind knowing she had supportive allies on her side. Carrie also discovered how to read financial statements and ask the right questions about her 401k. They even discovered how to enjoy their wealth without being fearful that they’d run out of money. They spent years struggling to manage their finances on their own, listening to the wrong advice, and trying multiple do-it-yourself strategies. Not to mention the mounting stress, sleepless nights, and constant worry.

The biggest thing holding Jason back was putting his pride aside to ask for help and figuring out who would have their best interest in mind. He wanted to trust someone to help without taking advantage of him. It took Jason years to figure out what not to do, mainly the hard way. Not to mention all the wasted time and money spent doing things the old way.

But when Jason tried something new, he was educated about how to navigate medical emergencies and their finances. He started talking to an advisor who understood his situation. Within a few weeks he was shown how to make his financial future simpler, easy, and organized.