The death of a spouse or partner is a significant, and potentially devastating, form of adversity. Widowhood can result in numerous negative outcomes for the surviving spouse or partner. However, it is possible for someone who experiences widowhood to transform the experience into a higher level of functioning. It is thought that resiliency—a personal attribute that allows someone to manage adversity and transform negative life events into positive outcomes—is one factor that corresponds to better postwidowhood outcomes. The purpose of this study is to estimate the degree to which postwidowhood financial satisfaction, experiencing financial challenges, and disagreeing about money issues among remarried and repartnered widows and widowers are associated with resiliency. Based on the results from three regression models, it was determined that higher levels of resiliency are associated with greater financial satisfaction, fewer financial challenges, and fewer money disagreements after remarriage or repartnering among widows and widowers. Results from this study have practical implications for those who provide financial advice to others. Financial service professionals are in a unique position to help clients who experience widowhood improve self-efficacy by promoting a sense of worth and purpose in the context of household finances and life functioning among clientele.
Author: John E. Grable, PhD, CFP, holds an Athletic Association endowed professorship at the University of Georgia where he conducts research and teaches financial planning. Dr. Grable is best known for his work related to financial risk tolerance assessment and behavioral financial planning. He serves as the director of the Financial Planning Performance Laboratory.
Author: Laura Mattia, PhD, CFP, is a fee-only comprehensive financial advisor, a member of NAPFA, and a fiduciary advocate, with over 30 years of experience in finance. A former CFO and advisor to top CEOs for their businesses and family offices, Dr. Mattia is passionate about influencing positive change in the financial industry and the need for competent and ethical advice. Dr. Mattia teaches CFPs how to create financial plans as fiduciaries at Texas Tech University and for large national financial service firms. She recently spent several years creating a new CFP-registered program at the Muma Business College, University of South Florida, in Tampa.
Author: Carrie L. West, PhD, earned her doctoral degree in interpersonal and family communication at the University of Denver. Now she teaches in the communication department at Schreiner University in Kerrville, TX. Carrie was widowed when she was 29 and had two sons, aged 6 years old and 1½ years old. This experience inspired Carrie’s particular research area in communication of bereaved spouses and families as well as the influence of interpersonal and relational communication on health and well-being. Carrie is passionate about bringing practical and useful strategies to the widow(er) community to enhance quality of life and well-being.
Author: Linda Y. Leitz, PhD, CFP, is a certified financial planner in Colorado Springs, enrolled to practice before the IRS, and has been a financial professional since 1979. She helps individuals and small businesses with their long-term financial goals through It’s Not Just Money, Inc. She assists her clients with investments, retirement planning, education funding, estate planning, tax planning, and goal setting. Linda is also a certified divorce financial analyst and helps people in the midst of a divorce resolve financial issues. Linda is an accomplished writer and speaker. She provides freelance writing with extensive experience in financial and business issues. Linda currently has two books available: The Ultimate Parenting Map to Money Smart Kids and We Need to Talk—Money & Kids after Divorce. Before becoming a financial planner, Linda held positions in the banking industry in management, credit administration, and loan portfolio management. She began her career as a bank examiner. She has a BBA in business administration from Principia College and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Linda is currently a PhD candidate in personal financial planning at Kansas State University.
Author: Kathleen M. Rehl, PhD, CFP, CeFT, is an authority on widows and their financial issues. She shares insightful experience and expertise through her speaking, writing, and mentoring. A widow herself, Kathleen inspires her “widowed sisters” and their advisors. She wrote the award-winning book, Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows.
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