'Looking beyond the trauma...'
Margaret is 55 and has recently received the settlement of her divorce from her husband of 29 years, Greg.
The settlement amount was $6 million. From this, Margaret has purchased a new residence for herself and her younger, 22 year old daughter, Nicole, costing $2.5 million. Another $500,000 is to be allowed for stamp duty, some furnishings and minor renovations and a new car, leaving $3.0 million to be invested to meet most of Margaret’s future lifestyle needs.
Margaret is working part-time as a vet, and has been for the last 6 years – she earns about $60,000 a year. When she was married, she did what she liked with this money – buying clothes, lunches with girlfriends, taking her daughters to concerts etc. Most of the day to day expenses of running the household were met from Greg’s income – Greg also took responsibility for the overall family finances.
The separation process is traumatic enough for Margaret. As she now tries to look forward to the rest of her life, the requirement to take responsibility for her financial future is a further source of stress and considerable apprehension. Before her marriage, she was comfortable with money management, but those skills have not been practised or updated for 29 years.
However, Margaret has no desire to become a financial expert – there are other more important areas of her life that she wants to focus on. She knows she needs help to plan her financial future – she wants a sounding board, someone she can trust, someone who is concerned not only about ensuring her investment wealth is handled wisely, but about her and her aspirations.
