A Story of Grief and Redemption

"Have a seat, Mrs. Smith", the attorney said to the woman as he drew the chair out for her.

She sunk into the chair and looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes as he sat down across the table from her.

"First, I'm very sorry for your loss, Mrs. Smith.?I know this has been a difficult time for you, and you have many things to deal with to complete funeral arrangements."

?The attorney paused and then continued, "I've been looking over your husbands documents and I'm afraid they are not what we expected based on our earlier conversation".

Maggie tensed in her chair.?What more could go wrong??Why was this happening?

"I'm afraid the medical bills for your husband's illness have depleted most of his savings.?It is possible that you may have to sell the house to pay the rest that is owing.?Do you have other investments set aside Mrs. Smith?", the attorney asked calmly.

Margaret Smith was an intelligent woman, but she had always found conversations related to money very boring.

As a result, she left the financial decisions to her husband and trusted that he had everything covered.?

Then he got sick.

She had spent the last six months trying to keep everything together - working, taking care of the household, and nursing her husband, when she wasn't running back and forth to the hospital.

It hadn't even occurred to her to check into the finances.?She just did what the doctors recommended, trusting that somehow it would all work out like it always did in the past.

This time it didn't and now she was at her wits end.

When Maggie returned home, she called her sister with the news.?Fear had gripped her tattered nerves and she needed someone she could lean on to help her sort out what to do next.?

She realized, her lack of financial knowledge about their family finances had resulted in her not knowing the potential risk she had been living with all these years.

But where to start.?She knew nothing about selling her house, investing or how to protect herself for the future now that everything and everyone she depended on were gone.

It was all swirling in her head and she needed to get it out.?

Fortunately, Maggie's sister knew Susan, a woman who taught other women about financial literacy and how to build a diversified investment portfolio, starting from any point. A portfolio that balanced long term security with growth.

With Susan's non-judgmental and patient guidance, Maggie was able to build a plan, and began to take control of her financial future.

Susan took the time to explain the foundations of building a portfolio, the different types of investments available, and helped Maggie choose the asset class mix that was tailored for her based on personality, interests, skills, values and goals.

Maggie was able to sell her house to pay off the bills and purchase another cozy place she could call home. She even had a little left over to start building her nest-egg again.

With guidance, Maggie built a diversified portfolio that included growth and speculative assets to fit her risk tolerance, and that allowed her to recover from the financial loss more quickly than she expected.??

With the stress of finances handled, she had time to process the grief of losing her partner and new confidence that she would be okay after all.

As Maggie continued to build her portfolio and interact with financial providers, she gained confidence in her ability to manage her own financial decisions -?her investments grew and she became excited and proud of what she had accomplished.

Best of all, she knew she had Susan by her side to talk to before making any investment decision. This gave her peace of mind, and encouragement to be open to new opportunities when they arose.

Thanks to Susan's help, Maggie was able to enjoy the benefits of having a sound financial plan in place, and the tools and knowledge she needed to take control of her financial future.?

In time Maggie was able to get back into the flow of life, knowing that her investments would continue to grow and provide for her in the future.