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My wife's mother finds herself at 77 in charge of the portfolio her husband put together over the years. He no longer has the cognitive ability to manage it. She has done little, and frankly hasn't had to: he set things up in a workable way. Nonetheless she is very stressed by the decisions she does have to make.
She recently asked to speak to me about her finances, and while I was satisfied that there was no urgent need to make changes, I suggested she might want to do some reading to educate herself and gain some confidence in her decision making. I'm wondering whether anyone can suggest a book at might help in her situation? She has no need for saving nor for deep knowledge of retirement vehicle options, since that's long been taken care of. Her biggest concerns are not losing the money, and not losing too much to inflation. She knows enough to have these concerns, but not enough to know how to handle them. She is intelligent, clear-headed, and sees the wisdom in learning about this. They have had good legal and estate planning advice over the years, so this is really just about managing the portfolio.
More specifically - in case this helps in thinking about a direction for her self-education -- she has 6M in a few retirement accounts invested in TIAA traditional annuities, that have been paying her 450k per year. I don't know the details of that, other than that apparently she could take out 1.2m immediately if she wished without penalty, and the remainder could be shifted into another investment if she wished (she doesn't) over a ten year period, 10% per year. Apparently these funds are not really annuitized, because the principal transfers to a trust for heirs after death. (I thinks this is set up as paying interest-only, instead of as a lifetime guarantee. I'm trying to get her to clarify this.) After taxes she spends 200k/yr and puts away 100k.
Her big concern is that she now has accumulated 1M from the distributions that is sitting in a bank account. She has no immediate need for this to generate more money, but feels silly not earning more. I am helping her find a tax-free muni fund, as this level of risk and tax status appeals to her. Nice problem to have!
Thoughts on reading material appreciated, or on her situation in general.
She recently asked to speak to me about her finances, and while I was satisfied that there was no urgent need to make changes, I suggested she might want to do some reading to educate herself and gain some confidence in her decision making. I'm wondering whether anyone can suggest a book at might help in her situation? She has no need for saving nor for deep knowledge of retirement vehicle options, since that's long been taken care of. Her biggest concerns are not losing the money, and not losing too much to inflation. She knows enough to have these concerns, but not enough to know how to handle them. She is intelligent, clear-headed, and sees the wisdom in learning about this. They have had good legal and estate planning advice over the years, so this is really just about managing the portfolio.
More specifically - in case this helps in thinking about a direction for her self-education -- she has 6M in a few retirement accounts invested in TIAA traditional annuities, that have been paying her 450k per year. I don't know the details of that, other than that apparently she could take out 1.2m immediately if she wished without penalty, and the remainder could be shifted into another investment if she wished (she doesn't) over a ten year period, 10% per year. Apparently these funds are not really annuitized, because the principal transfers to a trust for heirs after death. (I thinks this is set up as paying interest-only, instead of as a lifetime guarantee. I'm trying to get her to clarify this.) After taxes she spends 200k/yr and puts away 100k.
Her big concern is that she now has accumulated 1M from the distributions that is sitting in a bank account. She has no immediate need for this to generate more money, but feels silly not earning more. I am helping her find a tax-free muni fund, as this level of risk and tax status appeals to her. Nice problem to have!
Thoughts on reading material appreciated, or on her situation in general.
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