Financial Advisors Benefit Surviving Spouses

The New York Life Foundation recently published results of a survey of five hundred forty-eight surviving spouses who still had children under nineteen years old living at home. The results of the survey reveal that a financial advisor can play an important role in helping a bereaved family.

Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed agreed that losing a spouse had “significantly impacted [the family’s] standard of living. Two-thirds of the surviving spouses stated it was difficult to “put money away,” while sixty-two percent indicated they were having a difficult time saving money for their children’s education. Forty-eight percent of surviving spouses found it hard to get affordable healthcare, and thirty percent found it difficult to obtain or get more life insurance.

One-third of the surviving spouses had a profession financial advisor at the time of their spouse’s death, but the remaining two-thirds “wish they did.” The majority of those who had an advisor stated that having an advisor handle financial matters was “very helpful.”

See Warren S. Hersch, Survey: Advisors Can Play a Key Role Helping Bereaved Families, LifeHealthPro, Nov. 15, 2011.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (WealthCounsel) for bringing this article to my attention.