If you happened to be a senior citizen you may be wondering, how can “sudden wealth” possibly happen to me? Unfortunately, sudden wealth typically happens to senior citizens by the death of their beloved spouse. Now you might be thinking, “wait a minute, what’s ours is mine, so how can the death of my spouse produce sudden wealth for me?”
As three time authors on sudden wealth, we define sudden wealth as suddenly being personally responsible for more money than ever before. In many marriages, one spouse handles the finances. In the event of the death of that spouse, the surviving spouse is suddenly responsible for more money than ever before. While the financial aspects of this traumatic life event may leave the spouse in good shape financially, they may be woefully underprepared to deal with the new financial responsibilities while grieving the death of a loved one.
Such a situation is illustrated in Chapter 1 of Sudden Wealth...Blessing or Burden?. “My Rock” is a heart wrenching depiction of the challenges faced by Mary when her husband of 45 years, Richard, unexpectedly dies. At the shock of her family, she manages to lose over $500,000 in a very short period of time as she makes one bad decision after another before it is revealed that she is suffering with Alzheimer’s.
We continue to speak around the country to enlighten seniors that sudden wealth happens to them quite frequently, and having a well coordinated financial team experienced with sudden wealth is essential for their overall financial health.