One of the great things about being an advisor is working with clients through various stages of life, including marriage, buying a first home, building families and retirement.
However, life throws everyone curveballs from time-to-time and advisors are often front-and-center for challenges such as divorce or a spouse dying. For the purposes of this piece, the focus will be on how advisors can better assist newly widowed clients.
Undoubtedly, this is an important task. Think about it. When a spouse dies, there’s obviously a grieving period for the surviving spouse and children (if any). Grieving is natural and healthy, but it doesn’t eliminate the need to address a variety of financial issues, meaning advisors are often one of the first calls widowed spouses make.
For advisors, this is a crucial point on multiple levels, not the least of which is the fact that women, on average, live longer than men. Translation: better service for widowed clients can be an effective avenue for attracting and retaining more female clients.
Take Near-Term Action
Obviously, a delicate touch is needed when working with newly widowed clients and advisors need to walk that fine line, but there are some near-term action items advisors can help with.
Those include getting all financial documents in one place, building a comprehensive list of all bank, brokerage and retirement accounts and other assets, such as real estate, and reaching out to insurance companies if life insurance is a factor.
“The first step in financial planning for a widow is to understand their immediate financial picture. This includes taking stock of all the financial accounts and assets that were in the partner’s name,” according to Nationwide. “For larger estates, it may also involve an official valuation and asset inventory. This process will not only help to establish financial resources but also ensure that no assets are overlooked or mishandled.”
Are those tasks “tedious?” Arguably, yes. Are they important? Definitely. Can accomplishing them remove a burden from the surviving spouse and improve their satisfaction. Yes and yes.
Longer-Ranging Action Items
Again with a delicate touch, advisors should put on the radars of surviving spouses some other items that need to be tended following the death of a spouse. Those include updating a will, establishing or updating a trust and reviewing what liabilities, if any, the surviving partner might need to tend to.
Of course, investment portfolios must be reviewed and potentially overhauled following the death of a long-term partner.
“Widows may want to review any existing investments and portfolios. The goal of a review is to ensure that the investment strategy aligns with their financial needs, risk tolerance, and long-term goals. This might mean adjusting the portfolio to reflect changes in income or retirement plans and reevaluating the asset allocation to provide for a sustainable, long-term return,” concludes Nationwide.
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