Dreams Do Come True

Diana is a woman that is admired by everyone she knows. After you hear her story, I’m sure you’ll understand why.

She was raised by a loving family in a middle class home. Her dad, Dave was in mid-level management at a local company and her mom, Eve, like most moms in the 1960’s, stayed home to take care of the kids. Her older brother Dennis and her twin sister, Debbie.

It was Dave and Eve’s dream that their kids go away to college. This was unthinkable in their day. Once her and her brother and sister were in high school her mom went to work in the local doctor’s office in order to make ends meet and to save for college for the three kids.

Diana was a straight A student, pompom girl and voted most fun to be with in her senior year class. She could have easily gotten a scholarship to any college, but her dream was different. She wanted nothing more than to fall in love, get married and have as many kids as they could afford. Her plan was to go away to college to get her MRS.! Then Diana met Joe. He was the star quarterback for a neighboring schools football team and they fell madly in love.

Joe received a partial athletic scholarship at a nearby school but it wouldn’t pay for all his tuition and expenses. He and Diana decided that Diana would not go to school and instead work full time to help with Joe’s college expenses and to save for their future.

After putting Joe through college and graduate school she was happily making plans for their wedding. Joe showed up one day and said he was having second thoughts. He thought they should see other people before they got married. After the initial shock Diana found out that Joe has actually been seeing other people for quite along time. Diana was crushed. She couldn’t believe that Joe would betray her like this. Especially since she has sacrificed so much for their future together. All her hard work and most of the money she earned these years had gone to pay for Joe’s tuition. Diana was left with starting all over again. She went through the next year in a fog. Not even knowing where to start to pick up the pieces of her dream.

One day about a year after her and Joe broke up, Diana got a frantic phone call from her Mom. Her dad had collapsed at work and was being rushed to the hospital. Diana picked her mom up and they rushed over to the hospital but it was too late. Her dad had died of a massive heart attack. The entire family was grief-stricken at his loss but Diana’s mother was truly inconsolable. She would never be the same after his death and relied heavily on Diana for everything. Her brother and sister were now married with kids and were not as available as Diana so most of the responsibility of looking after her mother fell to her.

Diana struggled through the years to find a new direction in her life. It was very hard for single woman without a college education to get ahead. She never did get married. She had a huge trust issue with men after her relationship with Joe. And between working full time and seeing to her mothers needs on the weekend she barely had time to do anything else.

Diana came into see us after being referred from a friend. Our meeting with her was very emotional. After carrying the burden alone for so many years, she broke down in tears when she explained the situation to us.

Diana owned a condo and was making decent money at her job as office manager at a local firm. She had recently started going back to school to get her degree in business administration that would help her move up the corporate ladder at her firm and secure her financial future and retirement. She was able to pay for this by tapping into her home equity. She realized it might take a long time but that was okay. She was happy to have a new dream.

The big problem was her mom. Eve had recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and would soon need help with her day to day living. Diana was panic stricken. Her mom did not have long term care insurance and Diana would either have to pay for someone to come in and look after her mom (which was something she swore she would never do) or sell her home and move in with her.

We calmed Diana down and told her that we thought there were many ways we could help her out, but first of all she needed to realize she was not alone. We arranged a meeting with Diana, her mom and her brother and sister.

When we met here’s what we discovered.

Eve owned her home free and clear. Like everyone else these days her real estate taxes were skyrocketing and she was missing out on several tax exemptions that would save her thousands of dollars a year.

Her investments were all held in joint tenancy with the kids and this would cost them a fortune in estate taxes when Eve passed away. We set up an appointment with them and an attorney and they set up a living trust that would protect them from losing the bulk of their mother’s estate.

Eve’s insurance policy hadn’t been updated since her husband died. By reevaluating her needs we were able to find a better Medicare supplemental policy that would give her more coverage for less money. We also helped walk her through the complicated Medicare D paperwork that will save her thousands of dollars a year on all the new medication she will be on.

Increase her income and safety by diversifying her portfolio, while still maintaining a conservative and low risk position to the principle.

Diana was still adamant that she didn’t want anyone else taking care of her mom. So we were able to illustrate to her that if she sold her condo and moved in with her mom she would be able to take the proceeds from the condo and use it to buy a cabin in the mountains and still have some left over to pay for college tuition.

Diana’s mouth fell open. She had never even imagined being able to have a vacation house. Her brother and sister assured her that they would be happy to stay with Eve on the weekends so that she could get away.

Once again, Diana cried. But they were tears of joy and gratitude. She told us that for the first time in twenty years we were the first people to make her feel safe again.

We even had a few tears after hearing that.

Diana, like every one of our members, has a unique story. But there is one thing that is the same for everyone.

Life changes. Things happen that you don’t expect and dreams get shattered. But that’s no reason not to find new dreams.

That’s why we’re here. To help you make smart choices about your money so you have the best shot possible of enjoying a “Worry Free Retirement”. Doing What You Want, When You Want, Where You Want”!

PLANNING BEFORE TAKING ACTIONS IS THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL, AND IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF FINANCIAL SUCCESS!! So make sure you call us BEFORE making any moves!