The Credit Professional Winter 2018 Dec_2018_magazine | Page 21

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Make a Life
After the death of her husband in an industrial
accident, Lucy, then 36, put two daughters
through college, established a career as a
manager in municipal government, built a
network of friends and family, and worked
toward a secure retirement.
Today, Lucy credits a mix of good advisors,
good friends, and good benefits for surviving
her loss.
“I had to go through almost a year of
unexpected things I hadn’t thought about to
know what was ahead,” Lucy adds. She also
had to work to overcome her anger at Ernie
and at God when she became a single parent
suddenly in charge of handling everything on
her own.
An attorney for the municipality where Lucy
worked shepherded her through probate.
She worked with a financial adviser to invest
most of the insurance settlements, setting the
goals of paying for her daughters’ education
and retiring at age 55.
When her husband Ernie died in 1983, Lucy
negotiated with his employer for extended
health benefits for the family. She also received
a settlement from workers’ compensation; Social
Security payments for her daughters; and lump Today, Lucy has met those goals. She is
sum payments from life insurance. Mortgage
financially secure, but chooses to share her
insurance paid off her home mortgage.
home with her daughter and her grandson. She
leads a church project to house the homeless,
Still, Lucy was surprised by the endless
travels, regularly, joins friends for outings, and
adjustments required to adapt to the loss of
participates in community organizations.
Ernie, who was a “do-it-yourselfer” skilled in
maintenance and repairs.
She credits taking things step-by-step and
avoiding rash decisions for her financial and
She didn’t know how to change the oil in the
emotional security.
car, so she had to pay to have it done, Lucy
says. The wood-burning stove had to go because “You have to give yourself time.”
there was no one to cut the wood. She had to
hire a handyman to do all the small repairs that
Ernie once completed.
The Credit Professional
20
December 2018