Just a short diary about learning to manage money and what a long, strange trip it's been, to quote Jerry Garcia.
As most of you know, my wife died by a doctors' misdiagnosis of a P.E. in our local Veterans Affairs hospital here in Topeka. Well, the ‘Administrative Claim’ process our federal government has in place for those of us with a grievance against it is winding down soon. It's been two months since the government's six-month investigative window officially closed and it's only because my malpractice attorney and I agree that we’ll keep expenses down by not doing so that we haven't filed the civil suit in federal court yet.
The Federal Tort Claims Act, or FTCA, provides the only course of action available to my daughter and me to find any sense of justice in an imperfect world. Because we live in Kansas, we are bound by state statute to just actual economic damages along with the $250,000 cap on bereavement and for pain and suffering. (I’ll save the rant about recompense from republicans who seemingly know how much pain and suffering my family has been through for another day.) By law, I can only claim the wages my late wife would have earned throughout her life. Since she was a nurse and in her mid-40’s, she had many years ahead of her (and I will miss her each of those days while I live). The amount I am asking for is no small amount, but it is far more than I’ve ever possessed at one time.
What should I do with money I’ve never had? Should I invest it? Sock it away and hope for the best? Bury it in the chicken coop as my grandparents did during the 1930’s? My malpractice attorney can’t be my wealth advisor too, so I’ve used these many months wisely I hope. I’ve researched what I should do by interviewing financial planners, banks, credit unions, and even a few lawyers who specialize in wills, trusts and estate planning. I’ve talked to several local financial planners and investment companies - some with in-house financial planners, some not so close and one place I didn’t think of for many months that stood out to me, and I’ll tell you why.
Credit unions are getting their due here and in other blogs lately. Even though I haven’t received a dime and our case is not settled, I found a credit union that sat down with me and listened to my concerns. They gave me a team of people to help me plan, set-up and run (if the damn case is ever settled) the trust for my daughter, the accounts to hold assets, invest with and one to keep close for no charge. In my strange journey, I found many people whose sole interest in me, was to take a piece of the precious little money I want to see my daughter have to see her through school. Yet, here is a credit union giving me all they could to support my daughter and me before we see a dime.
If you’d like the name of this credit union, email me off list. I won’t keep their name a secret, but I won’t advertise for them either. This is where I’m putting my trust, literally, because they’ve put their trust in me.