security in retirement after unexpected loss
Disclosure: The below client experience story is considered an “Endorsement” by the SEC and is intended to provide a narrated example of the services and solutions provided by Goodwin Investment Advisory to its clients. The endorsement is provided by an actual client of Goodwin Investment Advisory. The storylines illustrate real-life scenarios and challenges that our clients face and how we can serve as your investment and planning guide. Our firm does not compensate our clients for endorsements, nor do we believe there are any reportable conflicts of interest between the client and the firm with this endorsement.
1. Tom and Mary Whitaker (fictitious names) were working with a private advisor until a coworker recommended Goodwin Investment Advisory. They were looking specifically for someone to help them manage their money because they just had good intentions, but no time to put towards making it a priority. Tom would have loved to have self managed his money, but he was just too busy working. Mary was a school teacher and just wanted to find someone they could trust and who had the same Christian values as they did. Their goal was for Mary to work until she could retire, because as a school teacher she would secure good healthcare for the both of them since she received really good government health care. They wanted to retire and spend time traveling.
2. Tom and Mary planned very well for retirement – they both had a pension, were completely debt-free, had both a primary and a vacation home, and considerable investments. Tom worked very hard and wanted to retire, but did not know if he was able to do so. At the advice of Goodwin Investment Advisory Tom retired at the age of 59. Only 8 months after retirement Mary came home to find that her husband had passed away from a heart attack after his normal work-out routine. He didn’t even have a history of heart issues in his family and he was extremely healthy.
Even though he was able to retire early, he was only able to enjoy it for a few months. This left Mary with many decisions to make in regards to her finances and her future. Mary asked advice on what she should do in regards to her investments, and homes. She was married for most of her adult life and this was a big adjustment period for her and she was glad she had someone to talk to her and tell her about the advantages and disadvantages of the different financial options and decisions she was facing. She specifically wanted financial advice on purchasing real estate properties and she wanted to make sure she was financially well set up for her later years in terms of health care. She wanted her healthcare expenses covered when it came to that time because she didn’t have any family left to take care of her.
3. The next year after Tom passed away she purchased two different properties in Florida that she bought outright by taking out some of her investments. She said, “It was a flighty year trying to figure out what to do with her money and time.” She stayed in Illinois on her 40 acre family farm and realized she wasn’t travelling to Florida as much as she thought she would. She started taking classes at the local community college and really enjoying the relationships and friendships near there. So she decided to sell the properties in Florida.
Mary admits she didn’t always take our advice, but she appreciated the good sound advice we offered. As an accredited investor we recommended that Mary invest in a private real estate fund.
