My question is about financial matters, but I am so out of my element I’m not sure what I’m asking about, or if such a thing exists.
Y’all are much smarter so I’m hoping you can shed a little light on things for me, please bear with me while I explain myself.
My hubby and myself were once the poster children for never growing up. We both worked in bars, earning very little on paper, but considerable amounts as cash money. We lacked drive and ambition, and spent our time working and playing, staying up late, sleeping late, eating out and moving with a fast crowd. We were not motivated to own things like cars or houses or other common adult purchases. We actively avoided all such adult things like investments, mortgages, credit cards, insurance etc, etc., as not for us. We spent our time and money traveling to exotic parts of the world for long holidays, months at a time. We weren’t acquiring much but we sure were having fun.
Don’t misunderstand this to indicate we were not careful with our money. Quite the contrary, it takes discipline to save funds for such holidays and some wisdom to stretch that money out (and in foreign currencies too) over the months you are away. And, of course, you must avoid debt like the plague in order to be able to save to begin with. Initially this was easy for us as we had no credit. After 10 - 15 yrs of this, our bank, in recognition of how much money we always seemed to be managing gave us credit cards. No worries, we’d lived in an entirely cash world for so long it really wasn’t any problem for us.
Round about this time adulthood came crashing into our lives in the form of a parent needing full time caregiving. And before you knew it we were up to our eyes in 3 meals a day, 20 loads of laundry wkly, adult diapers, meds etc. But this was only the catalyst really. We stepped fully, and ill prepared into, a mortgage - how’s that for debt? I don’t think either of us slept well for a month! I quit working altogether and my husband began his own business from our home.
In the way of such things, one thing led to another and, before you knew it, there was an insurance man on the scene. About this time an accountant was also brought into the picture, that home business produced tax issues we knew nothing about.
Additionally there is a financial planner, who handles the funds of the bedridden parent who’s stroke started all of this. The thing is, these radical lifestyle changes meant that for the formative years of this arrangement we were mostly in crisis management. I’m not saying we made bad choices just that we made them because we had to.
In the not distant future there will be another change and a large portion of the funds the financial planner currently manages will become ours to direct as we see fit. We could just leave it with the guy who’s already got it, he seems to be doing okay, and he’s a good friend.
That, “actively avoiding all that adult crap” seems to have not been so wise now, I feel we are very ill prepared for the next choices we have to make.
I want to know if there is some sort of financial wizard overseer who can give us advice on all these fronts. And what might that person’s job title be?
I guess I understand that the insurance guy is doing his best to sell us insurance and the financial planner, financial plans, mutual funds, investment vehicles etc. Each one is always slagging the other though. And just last week someone else tried to weasel into the mix with this plan to save us money by renegotiating our mortgage for a better rate, saving us on our insurance, and then applying the savings to the mortgage principal (all for a small fee of $3,000.). I put the brakes on that scheme as it just plain seemed foolish for us.
Each thing we entered into, I was aware we were being sold something. I get that everybody has to turn a profit, really I do. We are just so out of our element, it’s always felt like we were at their mercy. Now we’re coming to decisions that will matter for many years to come. I just wish I didn’t feel so much like we were just waiting to be victimized. Or do you just pray the accountant you’ve choicen is a good one? We don’t really know enough about these things to even tell if he’s good or bad, doing things in the best fashion for us?
How about it, is there such a job description? Ideally it would be someone who could advise on Mortgages, insurance, accountants, investment vehicles all with OUR interests at heart, not sales of product.
(Sorry it took so long to get to the point, I just wanted you to have the back story)
Thanks for listening, and for any suggestions you may offer us.