012: Kathleen M. Rehl – Financial Advice for Widows & Enjoying ReFirement

CFP and PhD Kathleen Rehl has had many careers spanning from academia to financial advisory. Most recently, Kathleen has continued penning pieced about widows and money and speaking at selected conferences and events. She is the author of Moving Forward On Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows .

Today, Kathleen reflects on the death of her husband, speaks to how it impacted her and her business, and provides financial and personal advice for widows and widowers.

📺 Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/Rb4EEYNZ2fs

Key Takeaways

01:03 – Kathleen Rehl shares her experience growing up in a four-generation family, early money lessons and her decision to leave academia

08:10 – What inspired Kathleen to write Moving Forward On Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows

13:17 – How Kathleen’s business changed after the death of her husband

16:28 – Kathleen reflects on previous work she’s done with widows and how the experience varies with expected and unexpected deaths

25:03 – Pension, insurance and other general financial surprises that impact widows

26:40 – Basic financial advice Kathleen would give to widows and some of the biggest financial mistakes widows make

31:39 – Support systems and the importance of checking in

34:33 – Financial matters a widow should focus on

38:43 – Resources from Kathleen’s website

45:26 – The last thing Kathleen changed her mind about and one thing she wishes people knew about her

49:28 – Kathleen talks about her ‘ReFirement’

51:48 – Jonathan thanks Kathleen for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with her

Tweetable Quotes

“I didn’t know – with my husband gone – if I was going to be able to continue the business without him. But, my assistant stepped up and took on some more responsibilities and we kept going. I pulled back for a little bit and all my existing clients were very understanding. But I found that I didn’t step back for very long because work was what made sense to me.” (14:10)

“Every situation is unique. And, just because it happened like this for me, doesn’t mean that it’s gonna fit this widowed person over here. But generally, if it was an anticipated death versus an unanticipated death, for many folks out there if it’s an anticipated death, they will start doing some of the things in advance that they need to do planning for this time. Whereas if it’s an automobile accident and they are just gone, they haven’t had time to put a lot of those things in place.” (18:59)

“If you look at men and women, eighty percent of all women when they die are gonna be alone or not married. Eighty percent of men die married.” (21:58)

“That’s where I got a lot of comfort. I had one lady friend who had lost her husband two years before and I had assisted her with some financial matters. That first week, she came over several times in the evening. She brought her crocheting with her. And there were some evenings that she’d just sit crocheting and I’d just sit going through the sympathy cards. But she was there. She was a presence with me.” (32:35)

“Be careful about people who are looking to take advantage who might be potential spouses. When I re-entered the dating game, a very wise widow said to me, ‘Kathleen, be careful. You don’t want to get together with somebody who is looking for you to be their purse or their nurse or their mother.’” (39:57)

“I call it reFirement with a capital ‘F.’ It’s not retirement, it’s reFirement. And, for me, the ‘Fs’ are: family, friends, fitness, focus, and fun.” (49:37)