<p>Steve, she may have made mistakes in the past, but at this point, it is difficult to advise people. Interest rates on bonds are not that high, and no MM are not keeping up with inflation. Stock market entails risk that she wont have time to recover from.</p>
<p>She was born in 46, so she is AROUND retirement age. Tough for anyone to second-guess anyone else. I think many people ASSUME that they will be taken care of, especially if their spouse earned a lot of money and they had investments and SEEMED to be doing well. </p>
<p>My friend has NOT shared her situation with her kid or stepchildren, I believe. I believe her situation is more common than folks might want to believe. She only entered the workforce at around age 50 or so–was a major community volunteer before then–JR League, American Cancer & other worthy organizations. She’s still reeling from getting the very recent letter from the pension that it will be discontinued now that her husband has died. Heck, he just died this month, on Valentine’s Day!</p>
<p>I’m taking a 5 minutes break from tax returns–please, please, please I implore every reader to know and understand your family finances. At a minimum, keep all account numbers, names and contact #s of banks, investment companies, stocks, real estate, pension administrators, etc. together where you or your executors can easily locate them.</p>
<p>Most commonly, one person in a marriage assumes the financial bookkeeping role. I’ve been a CPA for 25 years–I usually meet with one person from the family. There are many horror stories where the “bookkeeping” spouse dies, and it takes 1-2 years for the other one to dig through, figure out, and find accounts. This adds a great deal of frustration and stress to an already very trying time.</p>
<p>Money also does funny things to people. Clients have had their share of surprises when I ask about gambling winnings, stock dividends, and even W-2s! (which were unknown to the other spouse)</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more. My mom & SIL are mostly in the dark. I deal with the “day to day” stuff and H deals with the annual tax returns, so we both know most of our assets. I really think it’s tough on EVERYONE when family members don’t work together on these things.</p>
<p>I did put together a list of important contact #s & information the other week. Guess I ought to put together more info as well. Our accountant knows most of our info, but he is currently in poor health.</p>
<p>Agree that money does do funny things to people.</p>
<p>My mom is also EXTREMELY conservative in her investments/savings. I think it’s partly a reaction to my dad, who is the other extreme (margins & day trading). I’m just glad they have more money than they spend and significant assets, plus excellent health. She does NOT stay ahead of inflation or keep up with COL, but is comforted, knowing that these funds are HERS.</p>
<p>Himom, my guess is that your friend can either take 50% or her exs SS, or her own, but if she doesnt have many years working, her own wont be much. </p>
<p>I am so sorry.</p>
<p>Has she looked into how hard it would be to reactivate her RN?</p>
<p>HImom–it isn’t that my aunt is conservative, it’s that she is too conservative and is going to run out of money if she doesn’t rebalance. She will have her pension to cover her living expenses but she won’t be able to do anything else. </p>
<p>Your parents probably balance each other out and with his day trading, etc. keeps up with COL and can take some chances because of the fall back on your mom’s conservative nature. That is a good thing.</p>
<p>I’m not saying she needs to dump all of her money into international stock funds, but she does need to put some into accounts that aren’t losing money.</p>
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<p>I’m the bookkeeping spouse in our family and it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I consolidated information into one notebook for H, just in case I should kick the bucket unexpectedly. I don’t sign up for on line statements or bills, but have paper sent to the house so that nothing will get missed.</p>
<p>I think she can get 100% of his SS, minus whatever penalty if she starts receiving before she turns 66. She is still reeling from his death less than 2 weeks ago + the letter from the pension that it will be stopping payments now that he has died.</p>
<p>I just found out yesterday that she let her RN lapse and she said that it’s MUCH more complicated these days than in days of yore. Maybe she’d be interested in working at a doc’s office? Haven’t asked her about that and am not sure that those jobs pay all that well either. Did broach the idea of being a case manager (which one of my RN friends does) but she wasn’t interested in that (said she did that back in the day). She was toying with the idea of applying at Macy’s (that would be minimum wage or close & involve standing for hours on end).</p>
<p>Macy’s used to have commissioned sales spots and you could actually make pretty good money for what you do. I would suggest she ask about that. </p>
<p>Would she be interested in working at a school? With her RN background, maybe she would be interested in a position as a special ed aid or something to get a foot in the door. Pay and hours are more than likely better than working retail and if she is full time, benefits would be available.</p>
<p>I did recently see a job posting for “retired” folks for “in-home care”. They were more custodial care spots, not medical care, cooking, cleaning but mainly just being there for the homebound person. I think they were targeting retired folks because they would have more in common with the homebound and be a better companion for them.</p>
<p>Yes, my niece was a commissioned shoe salesperson & did pretty well. My friend DOES love shoes & has many vintage Ferragamos that she wears that the cobbler helps her keep in pristine condition. Not sure if they still offer commissions for that with Macy’s or not.</p>
<p>Don’t think she’d be up for in-home care at this point, having been doing that with her H for the past few years, with increasing exhaustion. Thanks for these suggestions though, really do appreciate the thought you put into your posts.</p>
<p>Do you have Nordstrom around you? I know their shoe department is commissioned (here anyway).</p>
<p>If your friend has an attorney, this might not be necessary, but the Federal Administration on Aging sponsors regional centers that offer free counseling on pension matters (I’ve dealt with the New England one for my job, and they were terrific). The one covering Hawaii is here, and they have a toll-free number:
[Western</a> States Pension Assistance Project - LSNC Senior Legal Hotline](<a href=“http://slh.lsnc.net/pension/]Western”>http://slh.lsnc.net/pension/)</p>
<p>Thanks–maybe she’d be better off starting a business–event planning or similar. She has done a ton of this and is very good at it. Personally, I would worry about her at her age doing a job that is taxing physically. She has basically done desk work and shoe sales is pretty physically exhausting (I sold them in my late teens). Maybe she could be a grant writer or grants manager or similar. Haven’t really thought about it much as am still absorbing all the recent events & changes.</p>
<p>Thanks–have just sent her the contact info you provided. Hope they can help her!</p>
<p>HiMom,</p>
<p>From [The</a> United States Social Security Administration](<a href=“http://www.ssa.gov%5DThe”>http://www.ssa.gov)</p>
<p>•A widow or widower, at full retirement age or older, generally receives 100 percent of the worker’s basic benefit amount;
•A widow or widower, age 60 or older, but under full retirement age, receives about 71-99 percent of the worker’s basic benefit amount; or </p>
<p>However, even if she is old enough to get full amount, if they were previously collecting based on his + dependent (her), that will result in reduction. But she needs to contact SS</p>
<p>Thanks, yes, she does have an appointment with SS to go over her options.</p>
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<p>money managing spouse here, too. My husband not only doesn’t know where our bank is, he doesn’t know who we bank with nor will he remember where the safety deposit box is located. I made a short list, including everything needed to access all our accounts on-line and put it in his top desk drawer. I showed one of the kids where that info is and took that kid to get on the signature card at the bank in case it’s necessary for the box.</p>
<p>Copies of wills, powers of attorney, business cards for our lawyers, accountant, etc are in the top drawer of my desk and I just hope someone remembers if it is ever necessary. Maybe I should put a BIG note on the front of the refrigerator, because I can just guess how all this is going to go…</p>
<p>We have a binder with copies of all of our financial accounts, life insurance policies, bank information, etc. so if something happens to us, it’s all in one spot. The kids all know where it is and if something happens to every one of us, it’s easy enough to find. Our financial planner has all of that information as well so he is the back up if they can’t find the binder.</p>
<p>I’m the account keeper in this family BUT…my husband is VERY aware of where the money is, where it is being spent, and what our retirement and savings…and any other assets look like. He also knows where every nickely is spent (well…maybe except every nickel I spend at Goodwill). We had our wills drawn up at the same time by the same lawyer. Both of us have retirement assets in our own names. </p>
<p>Above all, we know what our “means” are and live within them.</p>
<p>If someone was overspending it would be VERY obvious…very fast. </p>
<p>I hope HImom can help her friend navigate this situation, and figure out what to do next. It sounds like she is at retirement age…could collect SS, and maybe get a part time job that would not impact her SS earnings.</p>
<p>It’s great she has a friend who is able/willing to help her out.</p>
<p>I guess we should make a binder (but we already have a TON of different binders floating around). Will do that anyway and figure out where to put it so it can be easily found by the kids, in the event they need to do something.</p>
<p>We have always lived well below our means, so should be quite safe. We are fortunate that H will have a good retirement and I will get a significant surviving spouse pension, since I have no pension in my own name, only minimal social security benefits at some point (if it remains solvent). We will have our home & a few other investments. We are both aware of our assets and liabilities. We should be able to have a comfortable time in retirement.</p>