����Ӱҵ

I like to reflect on things I’m thankful for: Friends, a good job, family. In fact, family most of all.

It was my dad who truly taught me the value of family. He used to say, “Family is more than blood. It’s a union of committed people. They take care of you, and you take care of them.” He died when I was just fifteen. A car accident. But a day later, my mother came into the bedroom that my sister Elli and I shared. She was teary, but she said everything would be all right. Dad had worked hard and planned well. We could stay in our home. We could continue our lives.

As I grew up, I worked hard too. I did well in school. Got my MBA. And I’ve had a great career as a marketing director for a major retailer. But none of that success means as much to me as my husband Anthony and two girls, Amelia and Brianne. I want to be to them what my dad was to me. In so many ways, they take care of me. I want to take care of them. And as the family’s major breadwinner, I’ve done that. It’s something I’m very proud of. But the closer my husband and I get to retirement, I also realize I need to take care of me, of my future. How do I balance those two things? Women often live longer than men, so I might be without Anthony for several years. And the kids? I want to leave them as much as possible.

Anthony knew I was thinking about all that. He was, too. So he suggested we talk to our financial professional*, Darlene. She’d done well by us over the years, helping us build our investment portfolio. And she’d been instrumental in that first step most families take in protecting their financial security: the purchase of life insurance to make up for lost income if Anthony or I should unexpectedly pass away.

As we discussed our concerns moving toward retirement, Darlene had some new suggestions for us to consider. First, she reminded us that contributing to a sound retirement savings strategy was also a form of protection for the family. As long as we’re financially set, we’ll never be a burden on our kids. So she suggested a variety of options for maximizing the growth of our savings. One was an annuity. It not only enabled us to grow our retirement assets faster through the power of tax deferral, it allowed us to provide a guaranteed source of income to supplement our retirement savings. Darlene also reminded us that the cornerstone to a solid financial plan was life insurance.  She worked with us to get the right coverage for our needs so our kids would be taken care of if we died prematurely.  She even suggested long-term care insurance, so that elder care expenses wouldn’t eat into the money that, otherwise, Amelia and Brianne would eventually inherit. My mom was in a nursing home, so I know how draining those expenses can be.

So now, we’re incorporating those suggestions into our retirement planning. It’s funny: I used to think that retirement planning was all about meeting my own personal needs. Maybe it is for some people. But I’m glad, with the right strategy, that it can also be about taking care of the people who matter most to me.