Category: Widowhood

Widow Filing Taxes the First Year (and After): Your Status Year by Year

Widow filing taxes the first year: the final joint return, qualifying surviving spouse rules, then single brackets. The…

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What to Do With a Life Insurance Payout: A No-Pressure Plan for the First $500K+

What to do with life insurance payout money: why proceeds are tax free, the retained asset account letter,…

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“My Husband Handled All the Finances.” A Starting Point, Not an Apology

If your husband handled all the finances, you are not starting from zero. A 5-document map, a 90-day…

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Should You Keep Your Husband’s Financial Advisor After He Dies?

Should you change financial advisors after your spouse dies? Widows switch at three times the usual rate. Five…

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Widow Social Security Benefits at 60: Survivor Check Now or the Switch Strategy?

Widow Social Security benefits at 60 pay just 71.5% of his benefit, and the earnings test can wipe…

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What to Do Financially When Your Husband Dies: The First-Year Checklist

What to do financially when your husband dies: a first-year widow checklist. What must happen now, what waits,…

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Should a Widow Sell the House? The Two-Year Tax Deadline Nobody Mentions

Should a widow sell the house? The 2-year $500,000 exclusion, the step-up in basis, and when keeping the…

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Inherited 401(k) Spouse Options: The Choice Widows Under 59½ Get Wrong

Inherited 401k spouse options: why rolling his 401(k) or IRA into your own before 59½ locks it behind…

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How To Manage Money After Losing a Spouse

Written by Hazel Secco, CFP®, CDFA® Losing a spouse is a devastating event that brings emotional turmoil and…

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Top 3 Reasons to Fire a Financial Advisor

Written by Hazel Secco, CFP®, CDFA® Are you a woman who is recently divorced or widowed? It might…

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