Pat Taub
Guest Post by Joan Smith
Many single women in the over-seventy crowd admit to the spectre of the bag lady looming in the background. She embodies our fear of not having enough to live on, just when our ability to earn is diminishing.
You know those articles about planning for our retirement? Many of us don’t have enough extra to warrant that advice. If we did, it has often been drained by unexpected health expenses, a devastating life change, or deflation during the recession.
Anxiety about having enough money is common among older women
Last summer, as I was ruminating about the future, I received an unexpected offer to buy my Victorian house in midcoast Maine. I asked for a healthy price, and, much to my surprise received a cash offer where the closing netted me a check for $100,000. I was both relieved and terrified! I put the money under my mattress, currently called “my savings account.”
Tiny interest checks dropped in monthly. Even I knew earning 0.010% was not the answer. Friends prodded, “Have you invested it yet?” Visions of the dollars I was losing each month danced in my head. I decided to break the taboo of talking about money, and asked friends for advice.
Contemplating how to invest one’s savings
A friend’s husband insisted I only invest in Fortune 500 funds, his reliable lifelong investment strategy. Their comfortable lifestyle spoke volumes. At his advice, I spoke with a bright young woman at my local bank. Eager to help, she suggested the opposite of my friend. Investing abroad produced the highest rate of return, she explained, proved by the earnings chart she slid across the polished table. But did I want my security blanket subject to the upheavals around the globe?
I had another spirited conversation with a friend’s out of state advisor, and then heard his enthusiasm drop when I gave him the amount. When I learned that many firms have a minimum amount they will handle, around $200,000, I almost fell out of my chair. He suggested I email Merrill Lynch, set up an account, handle it all on the Internet, saying, “They don’t care how much it is and will only charge $35.”
Months went by, spring came, and I had not set up an account. Friends again inquired how I was doing.
Biting the bullet, getting one’s finances in order before meeting with a financial adviser
I started to notice I began each inquiry by apologizing. “It’s not that much money…but . . .” What if I just sat down and said, “I have $100,000 to invest, and I’d like to know how you would go about it?”
When my lawyer suggested a woman I’ll call “Sally,” I tried out my new mindset. I walked into her office knowing I am a desirable customer who has done the best she can with her life. I wanted her expertise to help me preserve and grow my nest egg.
An older woman with a trusted financial adviser
To my delight, Sally treated me like a colleague. An imminent retirement would eliminate a salary, but I had devised a budget based on my Social Security and a small pension. Sally would invest my funds so I could take an additional $400/month for visits to family or a trip with friends, and know the fund was growing by at least that amount. I could wait till part-time work felt right, or see if living simply suited me better. Money could be withdrawn for an emergency without penalty, and I could make contributions when possible.
Sally looked at me pointedly: “At age 76, you have earned the right to have this money work for you, and provide what you need. Use it for your own needs. Whatever is left, will go to your children after your life is over. If you haven’t used it, that is!”
The author’s days of hiding her money under the mattress are finally behind her!
I handed over a bank check for $100,000 to Sally to be invested by her firm. I will pay a fee, and have an unlimited number of transactions going in or out. It took a year to find the person and philosophy for me. As I left the office, it occurred to me…I am now an investor! No bag lady for me!
Joan Smith has worked as a vocational counselor, organizational consultant and an interim minister. A calling to spiritual direction emerged during her fifties, and led to founding Healing Soup Retreat in Maine in 2008. Recently retired, she is working on two manuscripts: interviews about personal experiences of calling, and a memoir seeking to understand her mother’s homicide. Joan has lived and worked in Pittsburgh, Pa, Vermont and now lives in midcoast Maine. Her adult son and daughter live on opposite coasts; she counts her two grandsons as her true teachers.
