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HTML <html> <head> <title>Widowed, Ripped Off, and Alone Part I</title> </head> <body> <h1>Widowed, Ripped Off, and Alone Part I</h1> <div class="info">Author: <a href="author_1_97119.html">Steve Hood</a></div><div class="body">She’s an intelligent woman, seemingly well to do, living in a high rise condo in Florida. Retired, active lifestyle, involved in many activities with her friends, giving of herself to her community, church, and local charities. She did everything right, at least right for her generation, place and time in her life. <br /> <br /> She was the loving wife of an auto company executive. She hosted parties for him and his business colleagues. She kept a beautiful home, entertained lavishly; always there for the children, active in the community, in short, she lived the American dream.<br /> <br /> But below the surface was fear, uncertainty, and pain. What's happening here, how did it happen, and can she save herself?<br /> <br /> Why is she now living a nightmare, through no fault of her own?<br /> <br /> There are many reasons, for her life was and is complex. But high on the list is the fact she relied entirely on her husband to make all the financial decisions throughout their years together. After all, he was an MBA and a financial wizard. He ran the company’s financial division and had an extremely successful career. But he did something neither counted on, nor planned for. He died.<br /> <br /> He died, but left her with a sizeable pool of investment assets, life insurance, and a fine home, seemingly more than enough for her to continue a comfortable lifestyle. But there were two crucial things she lacked. She did not have a high financial I.Q, and she did not have a trusted financial advisor. Having just one of the two would have protected her, but unfortunately having neither led to a number of unwise decisions, which ultimately led to severe financial difficulties later.<br /> <br /> After the death of her husband she moved to Florida, purchased an upscale condo, and developed new friends and activities. Because her pool of assets was ample she was able to draw income from it to support her lifestyle. Her financial advisor, whom she had retained due to her husbands relationship, soon advised her to make changes in her portfolio, changes he said would be beneficial to her.<br /> <br /> With her agreement, but also with lack of understanding, her investment portfolio soon began to resemble the high flying NASDAQ and technology indices of the late 1990’s. As long as the market was going up, everything seemed fine. She was making substantial monthly withdrawals from her portfolio, and her accounts continued to grow. Life was good.<br /> <br /> But then, things began to go badly. The market began to swoon in 2000, her account began to decline precipitously, and she began to worry. “Oh, don’t worry honey, her advisor said, the market always comes back in the long run. I’ll keep a close eye on it for you.” And every now and then over the next few years, the market did bounce back, at least temporarily. But it didn’t come back to its previous level. She continued to trust her financial advisor, and her accounts continued to lose value. Over the next three years, with continued withdrawals and market declines, she lost over 50% of her money! <br><br /> <br /> Stay tuned for Part 2<br /> </div> <div class="source">Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlealley.com/article_161578_28.html">http://www.articlealley.com/article_161578_28.html</a></div> <div class="author"> <div class="authorOccupation"><strong>Occupation:</strong> Investment Advisor</div> <div class="authorBio">Steve Hood is a financial advisor with more than a quarter century of experience, concentrating in pre and post retirement planning and investment management. He specializes in helping his clients find quality investment and insurance programs, and builds and manages "All Weather" investment portfolios. For further information contact Steve at LifePlan Financial Advisors, Inc. 541 549-1154 or http://www.allweatherinvestors.com </div> <div class="authorUrl"><a href="http://www.allweatherinvestors.com" target="_blank">http://www.allweatherinvestors.com</a></div></author> </body> </html>
Text Widowed, Ripped Off, and Alone Part I Author: Steve Hood She’s an intelligent woman, seemingly well to do, living in a high rise condo in Florida. Retired, active lifestyle, involved in many activities with her friends, giving of herself to her community, church, and local charities. She did everything right, at least right for her generation, place and time in her life. She was the loving wife of an auto company executive. She hosted parties for him and his business colleagues. She kept a beautiful home, entertained lavishly; always there for the children, active in the community, in short, she lived the American dream. But below the surface was fear, uncertainty, and pain. What's happening here, how did it happen, and can she save herself? Why is she now living a nightmare, through no fault of her own? There are many reasons, for her life was and is complex. But high on the list is the fact she relied entirely on her husband to make all the financial decisions throughout their years together. After all, he was an MBA and a financial wizard. He ran the company’s financial division and had an extremely successful career. But he did something neither counted on, nor planned for. He died. He died, but left her with a sizeable pool of investment assets, life insurance, and a fine home, seemingly more than enough for her to continue a comfortable lifestyle. But there were two crucial things she lacked. She did not have a high financial I.Q, and she did not have a trusted financial advisor. Having just one of the two would have protected her, but unfortunately having neither led to a number of unwise decisions, which ultimately led to severe financial difficulties later. After the death of her husband she moved to Florida, purchased an upscale condo, and developed new friends and activities. Because her pool of assets was ample she was able to draw income from it to support her lifestyle. Her financial advisor, whom she had retained due to her husbands relationship, soon advised her to make changes in her portfolio, changes he said would be beneficial to her. With her agreement, but also with lack of understanding, her investment portfolio soon began to resemble the high flying NASDAQ and technology indices of the late 1990’s. As long as the market was going up, everything seemed fine. She was making substantial monthly withdrawals from her portfolio, and her accounts continued to grow. Life was good. But then, things began to go badly. The market began to swoon in 2000, her account began to decline precipitously, and she began to worry. “Oh, don’t worry honey, her advisor said, the market always comes back in the long run. I’ll keep a close eye on it for you.” And every now and then over the next few years, the market did bounce back, at least temporarily. But it didn’t come back to its previous level. She continued to trust her financial advisor, and her accounts continued to lose value. Over the next three years, with continued withdrawals and market declines, she lost over 50% of her money! Stay tuned for Part 2 Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_161578_28.html About the Author: Steve Hood is a financial advisor with more than a quarter century of experience, concentrating in pre and post retirement planning and investment management. He specializes in helping his clients find quality investment and insurance programs, and builds and manages "All Weather" investment portfolios. For further information contact Steve at LifePlan Financial Advisors, Inc. 541 549-1154 or http://www.allweatherinvestors.com http://www.allweatherinvestors.com
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