Page 18 - Ready Set Retire

Stephen J. Kelley

I met her through a strategic relationship I have with a local
CPA. We do a lot of his financial planning for him and pay him
a finder’s fee. It’s all on the up and up and disclosed, so nothing
is wrong with it. It allows both of us to focus on what we know
best, helping our clients and prospering from our efforts and
service to them. It’s a good relationship.

Anyway, he asked me in to meet with one of his clients, call
her Barb. Now Barb was a recent widow. Her husband had
died about 12-18 months ago, and she was at a loss on what to
do with a relatively large insurance settlement. So, Jim, my
strategic partner, asked me to meet with her.

To keep it as non-threatening as possible, we both met with
her in Jim’s conference room. She was a lovely person, about
68 years old, clearly well put together and used to being in
control. But the first thing I noticed was she had no emotional
control over this money. Apparently, she took a while to cash
the check, then when she did, she deposited it and left it in a
money market account making virtually nothing, refusing to
touch it or use it.

This was causing her significant financial stress; she had barely
enough to live on from his Social Security benefit, and was
rapidly depleting their savings accounts trying to make ends
meet. So, I met with her and pitched our services, because

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