InsuranceNewsNet Magazine February 2012 : 32
GRIEF B Y S TEV E P L EW E S Planning Through How a Strong Relationship and Astute Planning Kept a Client on the Right Path ne of the most rewarding aspects of being a financial advisor is guiding clients through major life changes and seeing the impact you have on their lives. This, however, also puts advisors in a position of great responsibility, where a client’s well-being may rest in their hands. I found myself in such a scenario with two of my clients, whom we will refer to as Bob and Ann. They relied on my guidance through our long and close relationship, further teaching me the importance of my role. I met Bob through his workplace. He was a pharmacist enrolled in his employ-er’s benefits plan, which I managed. We set up a personal meeting and, over some time, we began planning for retirement for him and his wife, Ann. Using an element of planning that I picked up during an MDRT Annual Meeting, we set up benefits, such as life and disability insurance, that travel with him in case he switched employers, solidifying our long-term relationship. And over the span of several years, we adjusted products to their needs and created a stable finan-cial plan for their upcoming retirement and concurrent move from Maryland to South Carolina. Bob and Ann trusted my guidance and implemented all suggestions I provided for their investments. They kept their faith in me and our plan—even through minimal short-term losses—and ulti-mately were able to watch their invest-ments grow. We became good friends and I enjoyed sharing in the successes of their family: kids, graduations, mar-riages and grandchildren. Eventually, my clients retired and sold their home. They relocated to South Carolina to begin their life as a happily retired couple, reap-ing the benefits of careful planning and lifetime of hard work. But then the unthinkable happened. Bob passed away only two months after moving into their dream home in a new state. His sudden death left Ann alone in a new place, without any fam-ily or friends nearby or even time to adjust to retirement. My responsibility as a trusted advisor to my clients now involved helping Ann through this emo-tional experience. Because of the strong relationship I built with Bob and Ann over several years, she knew it took no more than a phone call to me to ensure her finances were in order. After being contacted by Ann, I knew all of our plan-ning would prove to be more valuable than we anticipated. Since Ann was in such monumen-tal grief, I realized I needed to make all financial decisions and processes as straightforward as possible. Because when someone faces such a great loss, even simple things can suddenly seem complex and overwhelming. This O I realized I needed to mak e all fina ncial decisions and proc esse s as stra ight forward as possible. Bec ause whe n face d with such a great loss, even simple things c an suddenly see m complex and overwhe lming. 32 InsuranceNewsNet Magazine February 2012
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