Our guest on the podcast today is Kathleen Rehl. Kathleen is an author, educator, speaker, and certified financial planner dedicated to empowering widows financially and guiding the professionals who support them. She operated her own planning firm for 18 years before shifting her focus to writing, teaching, and research. After her husband died, she transformed her personal grief into a mission, helping others navigate widowhood, legacy planning, and purposeful aging. She is the author of Moving Forward on Your Own: A Financial Guidebook for Widows.

Episode Highlights

Learning widowhood from the inside (00:02:17)
What changes when only one person is left to make decisions (00:04:13)
Irreversible choices widows often face early on (00:05:16)
Stress-testing for life without a spouse: Where will you live, and how will you live? (00:08:39)
Why widows leave advisors—and how advisors can do better (00:16:03)
Slowing down decisions to prevent emotional and financial harm (00:18:53)
Continuing care retirement communities as a housing and risk management choice (00:25:55)
“Refirement” instead of retirement, and building a lasting legacy (00:30:38)

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If you have a comment or a guest idea, please email us at TheLongView@Morningstar.com.

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Kathleen Rehl: Helping Widows and the Advisors Who Serve Them

The Long View

Kathleen Rehl: Helping Widows and the Advisors Who Serve Them