Field Work
August 9, 2011
Widowed Advisor Strives to Help Others
The death of a husband is frightening and overwhelming. These feelings are magnified for women who relied on their husbands to handle the household finances.
Florida financial planner Kathleen Rehl’s new book, “Moving Forward On Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows,” gently guides widows through this daunting task.
The author’s professional experience over the years has naturally “morphed” into her interest in helping her “widowed sisters,” through this book, she said. And her credentials are all relevant: Ph.D. in education, CFP certification, and recent widow. Her husband died of liver cancer in 2007, eleven weeks after his diagnosis.
Here’s what I like about her award-winning book: my 75-year-old mother would like it. Rehl tries to make widows comfortable that keeping their emotional priorities straight is their top priority – allowing time to grieve, making an effort to plan activities with friends and grandchildren, and growing spiritually.
Advice like this is interspersed with examining the reader’s “personal money style,” a “financial feelings survey” and brass-tacks advice like figuring out what net worth is and where the money goes.
We can all use a bit of financial help these days, so this book is really great! I think it will do a lot to be able to help widows. I have a close family member who recently lost a husband to cancer, and I think I’ll recommend this book to her.