Are You Prepared for the Unexpected?

A tragic story... And what we can learn from it... Are you prepared for the unexpected?... Six steps you should take today... How to completely take the guesswork out of investing...

In January 2008, Susan Covell Alpert got the news no spouse wants to hear...

Doctors diagnosed Larry – her beloved husband of 46 years – with leukemia.

Susan and Larry and their two daughters had lived a blessed life. They traveled the world and moved from New York to California. They had a large network of longtime friends... And they had each other. "It was the two of us against the world," Susan said.

Larry had a strong will to live and was determined not to let the cancer "beat" him. Susan was right by his side the whole time, living in and out of the hospital with him for the next 10 months. She did her best to take care of Larry and comfort him. He put up a valiant fight, but the disease advanced and he passed away.

When Larry died, Susan was in unbearable grief and terrified of what to do next.

If you've lost a loved one, you know that it's an emotionally draining, exhausting experience. Susan could barely think straight.

The problem is, life didn't stop for Susan...

She had to notify government agencies, fill out paperwork, file legal documents, deal with insurance companies, and pay hospital and doctor bills. The financial decisions didn't simply go away.

In most marriages, one spouse tends to handle the finances more than the other. While Susan paid some of the bills and was always part of the big financial decisions, Larry enjoyed and took care of investing their money.

Fortunately, Susan handled the finances enough to have a basic understanding of their situation. And Larry left everything in good order. And Susan knew where to find the documents and records.

That's far better than many people in her situation...

Often, one spouse will have little or no idea about the couple's bills or financial situation... And is left searching for passwords and locating records. That's a monumental task when you're deep in grief with your head in a fog.

Being able to locate everything is only the first step. As Susan explained, "I knew every stock, and I knew where everything was... But I didn't know what to do with it all."

Susan was no slouch, either. She was a highly organized and sophisticated businesswoman who had run several multimillion-dollar companies. But even with the help of her two daughters and her friends, she felt overwhelmed.

She handled the estate like it was a job, committing several hours every day to work on it. Despite help from numerous professionals, it still took her more than a year to get the family's investments in order. It's not an easy task – especially under intense emotional strain.

"I can only imagine what it must be like for women who have never dealt with paperwork or money management at all," she described in a book she later wrote called Driving Solo. (It's an excellent guide on navigating the emotional and financial aspects of the death of a spouse.)

More than 1 million Americans lose their spouses each year. Sadly, at some point down the road, you'll likely experience what Susan went through.

If you're reading today's Digest, you're likely a subscriber to one or several Stansberry Research products...

Many of you manage your own money. You're doing far better than the average person.

But I (Bill McGilton) know that even using our research to guide your decisions, investing is an extremely time-consuming and challenging process. It takes years of dedication and hard-learned lessons to understand how to balance greed and fear... and risk and reward.

Even with the best research, successful investing requires having to stomach the unpredictability and volatility of the markets. Investors have to navigate interest rate adjustments, currency fluctuations, monetary policy, governmental policies, technological changes, and societal change... and understand how all of these factors influence the markets.

If you're managing your own money, it's crucial to be prepared for the unexpected. I'm talking about more than just an insurance policy (though that's part of it). What you really need is a plan.

While you may have the experience to manage your family's money, your spouse may not. That could put everything you ever worked for – years of effort to save, invest, and grow your nest egg – in jeopardy.

And when we're stressed out, exhausted, and emotionally distraught, we're far likelier to make investing mistakes – especially people who aren't familiar with investing.

Here are some basic steps you can take to start preparing your family for the unexpected...

Implementing any of these steps – or, better yet, all of them – will leave your family in a far better situation.

1. If you have a spouse with limited involvement in the family finances, get him or her involved.

Set aside time every few months. At a minimum, have your partner pay the bills and get a grasp of your family's financial situation. Start small and slowly get up to speed on the process and idea of investing.

Your spouse needs to do it on their own. Start with the family bills. Have your spouse go through the motions of paying them and understand the flow of the money through various bank accounts. Then, move on to investments. It's important to consider your spouse's interest level. Realistically, investing isn't for everyone... Some people will have no interest or limited capability, and there's no sense in forcing the issue.

But maybe your spouse will enjoy going through your decision-making process when it comes to investing. Make it a fun activity where the two of you stay up to date together. It's important to explain why you like a particular investment and what you're seeing in the market. Next time you open your brokerage account to make an investment, let your spouse execute the trade.

2. Keep your personal information, tax identifiers, accounts, investments, and passwords in a secure location.

Make sure your loved ones know exactly where this information is and how to access it. Write out any additional advice on how to access these accounts and investments.

The Internet is littered with stories of people losing a loved one and the family huddling together figuring out passwords so they can access crucial information.

Don't leave your family scrambling. And don't assume that they will figure it out. This is partly why there are so many unclaimed asset firms, which help members of the surviving family discover previously unknown assets.

3. Add details that will help your spouse better understand whether to keep or sell investments.

Be sure to include any useful, trustworthy contacts who can help or provide advice to your partner. If you own an investment that you think is worth holding, write it down and explain why, and include any circumstances that your family should keep an eye on that would change your mind.

Divide your portfolio into companies your spouse should consider keeping for the long haul and more speculative positions to potentially sell. Update your portfolio advice once a year at least.

4. Have appropriate levels of life insurance in place.

Insurance is situation-specific, so details are beyond the scope of today's Digest. Contact your agent (or maybe two or three agents) to get an idea of what makes the most sense for you.

But don't simply look for the cheapest policy. It's more important that an insurance company will still be around to pay out when the time comes. Insurance-rating firm A.M. Best's free report is a good place to start. (It doesn't cost anything, but you will have to register a username.)

5. Go see an estate-planning attorney.

At a minimum, draw up a will. If you're able, have the professionals analyze your situation and set up an estate plan. This way, you'll have a plan in place to navigate probate, trusts set up to deal with health care issues, and minimize taxes.

Estate plans can be useful for keeping your assets safe and can provide an additional layer of protection for you and your loved ones. Plus, there will be people in place familiar with your situation and ready to help. Be ready to review and update this plan every three to five years – or earlier, if your life or financial situation changes.

6. If you're an investor and your spouse isn't, consider setting up an account with a professional money manager who you can trust.

You don't need to have the account fully funded if you manage your own money. You can have a minimal amount in place as a reserve and have your estate set up to increase the funding at a later date. Then, you can rest easy knowing that your family's financial wellbeing is in good shape for years to come.

Regarding that last step...

If you're in the market for a money manager and you have at least $500,000 to invest, then you should consider Stansberry Asset Management ("SAM"). There are several strategies to choose from based on your individual investing goals.

SAM is a separate company with separate offices, ownership, and management from Stansberry Research. SAM uses the investment research from Stansberry Research for its basic investment strategies – though it's not privy to any research or recommendations before our subscribers receive anything.

CEO Erez Kalir manages the funds. Erez is an experienced investor who has been in the hedge-fund business for many years. He has worked as an analyst for some of the biggest fund groups in the world and as a principal manager of his own funds. He graduated from both Stanford and Yale Law School and later worked for Julian Robertson's legendary Tiger Management fund.

SAM takes advantage of opportunities based on "seasonal" factors – the current forces driving the market. And it invests across multiple asset classes, including equities, credit, distressed debt, precious metals, commodities, and real estate.

If you're interested in finding out more about SAM, you can call (646) 854-4370 or e-mail info@stansberryam.com.

Even if you're not interested in having your money professionally managed, following the plan I laid out in today's Digest will go a long way in preparing and protecting your family's financial security. You'll be glad you did it.

New 52-week highs (as of 8/29/19): Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), Dollar General (DG), New Oriental Education & Technology (EDU), Home Depot (HD), iShares U.S. Aerospace and Defense Fund (ITA), Motorola Solutions (MSI), Nestlé (NSRGY), Nuveen Municipal Value Fund (NUV), PepsiCo (PEP), Aberdeen Standard Physical Platinum Shares Fund (PPLT), Radius Health (RDUS), ResMed (RMD), Stryker (SYK), Vanguard Inflation-Protected Securities Fund (VIPSX), Belo Sun Mining (VNNHF), Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund (VNQ), and Aqua America (WTR).

The Stansberry Research offices are closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. We'll pick back up on Tuesday with our regular fare. In the meantime, let us know if we left anything out of today's Digest by sending an e-mail to feedback@stansberryresearch.com.

Regards,

Bill McGilton
Kiev, Ukraine
August 30, 2019

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