“I’m scared. I just lost the one person in the world I trusted. The love of my life – my entire support system – is gone. I know my world has changed forever, but I can’t grasp what that all means. I’m so sad and life is so uncertain, but I can’t grieve right now. I have children and must be strong. I know I have many administrative and financial things to do. I’ve seen the lists of what I’m supposed to do, but nobody tells you how to do it. Where do I even start? I need advice I can trust, but I don’t know where to get it. I feel so alone. It’s all just so overwhelming.”

Sound familiar? If there were ever a time in your life you needed to ask for help, it might be now.

https://wingsforwidows.org/

We cannot recommend this organization highly enough.  There is no charge for their services and they don’t sell anything.  Hear Chris’s story and his heart for widows.  

From their website:

GUIDING YOU TO FINANCIAL WELLNESS

There are many financial, legal and other practical matters to deal with after a loss.

If you’re visiting us, it is likely you have learned how much there is to do following the loss of a spouse.  Unfortunately, it’s overwhelming.  All of it.  We know, because scores of widows before you experienced exactly the same sense of bewilderment.  How could you possibly know what you don’t know?  Nobody is prepared for such a sad experience.  There are plenty of books about the subject, but tearing through 300 pages to right the ship doesn’t sound like a great option.  That’s exactly why Wings for Widows was created.  To assist you through this unplanned and most unpleasant of life’s transitions.  We hope you’ll continue to read on and learn more, because we’d like to help you get all the practical matters in your life sorted out.

Our goal is to help the newly-widowed embrace their financial future with confidence.

Spouses usually have roles in a marriage.  Your role might have been a financial one; chances are good  that managing the bills, checkbook, debt, and investments was not your role.  If you’ve been recently widowed, now it is.  Maybe you’re still working, raising young children, caring for parents – these responsibilities usually don’t end with the loss of a spouse.  Yes, everything – EVERYTHING – rests on your shoulders.  Who has time to properly grieve, right?  You’ll have to deal with that, too, but you may have more pressing matters  – like staying in your home.  Wings for Widows has one goal: do everything we can to ensure you don’t make big financial mistakes, don’t miss opportunities, and don’t become a victim to fraudsters targeting widows at a vulnerable time.  While much is unclear and uncertain today, we know we can help you gain clarity, control, and confidence of your financial life.

Financial coaching is core to what we do. We offer virtual coaching with licensed financial advisors at no charge.

Nothing can compare to working through this difficult time with a knowledgeable and trusted friend who has your best interests at heart. Unfortunately, few have such a person.  And even fewer possess the experience or knowledge to assist you.  Not even your financial advisor, if you have one, can do what we do – that is, understand everything that must be done to return you to financial wellness.  We have years of experience in the financial planning business and we’ve spent hundreds of hours coaching widows and widowers.  Our proprietary process and tools were developed specifically for you.  We work with you safely, virtually, and we never charge for our services.  Ever.  Click here to learn more about the topics we explore with you during a financial coaching engagement.
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When you work with one of our financial coaches you will also receive a workbook, created by Wings for Widows and written to help you and your coach tackle the daunting issues that new widows face after a spouse dies.  “The New Widow’s Guide to Financial Wellness” is yours to keep absolutely free.

After an initial assessment and based on your individual circumstances, you will be paired with a financial coach.  Your coach will be a registered, licensed, and experienced financial advisor.  They will also be a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP) professional. This is what distinguishes us from all other financial literacy and coaching services.

Our coaches are knowledgeable about a wide range of financial topics including financial planning principles, education planning, risk management, insurance, investments, tax planning, retirement planning, and estate planning.  He or she has experience with gathering information, analysis, and developing, communicating, implementing and monitoring recommendations.  You would normally pay thousands of dollars to work with one of our coaches; we provide this service at no charge.

If you have a phone or a computer / laptop / iPad, you are ready to be coached “virtually.”  This allows us to work with widows from coast to coast.  It is also coronavirus-safe.  Most importantly, you can include trusted family members or friends from around the country to join you during our coaching calls. In fact, we encourage it.

We invite you to begin by taking our confidential Financial Wellness Check – a five-minute questionnaire that will help you better understand your current financial situation.  How are you progressing with your long list of “to-do’s?”  What haven’t you done that you didn’t know needed doing?  Where are you clearly struggling and need help?  Our Financial Wellness Check will answer these questions for you.  It’s absolutely free.  To get started, click here.