Here are a few common situations of how we work with our customers, their family and their advisors:

For You

Marie wants to know that she is going to be “alright.”

Marie is 72 years old and her husband died two years ago.  She has $3,000,000 in investable assets, a home in North Scottsdale with a small mortgage, and some personal assets.  Her daughter is in Los Angeles and her son is in Minneapolis.  She likes to travel and especially likes to visit her grandchildren.  She has a local investment advisor, but handles all of her own bills, as well as her personal and medical appointments.  Marie contacts Your Life Advocates to make sure she is going to be “alright” and that she has plenty of assets and cash flow to manage and maintain her lifestyle.  She expresses concern that she does not want to become a burden to her children, she wants to eliminate regular worries and she wants to remain independent.

Being “alright” is not solely a financial concern.  In order to maintain your independence, a little coordinated planning is required on your part.

We explain that being “alright” requires regular attention to her personal, legal, financial, and heath affairs.  “What are her assets?” “What are her expenses?”  “How does she pay her bills?” “What happens if she gets sick?” “Do her children not only know where everything is located, but also have easy access?”  “Has she communicated her needs and desires to her family?” “Does her family understand what she wants to happen with her care, money and living situation as she advances in age?”

How we can assist Marie in maintaining her independence and a good quality of life.

1. We help her aggregate and centralize her assets, liabilities, expenses and income. She creates a reasonable budget.  Now she understands her finances.
2. We help her stop using checks to pay bills by setting her bills up on her bank’s online bill pay system and teaching her how to use online bill pay. Now bill paying for Marie is easy for her to manage.
3. We make sure Powers of Attorneys are in place and help her communicate to her designated agents their responsibilities. Now her children and designated agents understand what Marie wants as she ages or if she becomes sick.
4. We document Marie’s basic health care information (doctors contact info, prescriptions, pharmacies, allergies).
5. We document all important contact information for the people in Marie’s life; family, neighbors, friends, advisors and vendors.
6. We visit Marie on a monthly basis to help her keep her affairs updated and on track. We address all of her questions and concerns.  Now Marie has the peace of mind of knowing that we are a consistent resource working to help her stay as independent as possible which allows her more discretionary time to enjoy life.  She also knows that we are here to assist her family if the time comes for them to step in.

For Your Advisors

Mike, Bob’s trust officer, is starting to get calls from Bob’s family members as to Bob’s well-being.

Bob is 85 years old and lives in Desert Highlands.  He has $9,000,000 in investable assets and a nice home, but suffers from declining health.  His assets are managed by a local trust company and Mike is his long-time officer.  Bob has also hired a part-time in-home caregiver, a housekeeper, a landscaper, a pool man and a maintenance man.  Bob’s 68 year old next door neighbor “looks after things” and has keys to the house.  Bob’s niece and nephew back in Michigan begin contacting Mike with questions about Bob’s well-being because they are having trouble getting a hold of Bob on the phone.  They want to know things like; “How is Bob doing?”  “Why isn’t he answering his phone?”  “How are his finances?”  “Has he filed his income tax returns?”  “Who is overseeing his caregivers and service providers?”  “What is the legal, personal and fiduciary relationship to the next door neighbor?”  

Trust officers and many other advisors only have so much time to proactively interact with their clients. 

Mike is concerned that Bob may be at risk.  However, Bob is his client.  Mike has limits on what he can discuss with Bob’s family because of his fiduciary constraints.  Your Life Advocates has no similar constraints and is not a fiduciary.  Therefore, we are designed to be proactive, rather than reactive, and we will review and address a client’s needs on a regular basis.  Mike would appreciate having another set of eyes and ears regularly checking in on Bob.  He introduces Bob to Your Life Advocates to help keep Bob’s living situation from spiraling out of control and to give Mike, as well as Bob’s niece and nephew additional peace of mind.

How we can help Mike by assisting Bob.

1. We verify that all of his service providers are employed by reputable companies that perform background checks on their employees. Your Life Advocates becomes a “bright light” that examines Bob’s home on a regular basis.
2. We help Bob aggregate and centralize his assets, liabilities, income, and expenses. He also creates a realistic budget.
3. We set him up on his bank’s online bill pay and teach him how to pay his bills with online bill pay.
4. We review Bob’s bank and credit card statements for unusual transactions.
5. We review Bob’s trust and power of attorney documents to ensure they are accurate, current and free of encroachment.
6. We help Bob open up the lines of communication with Mike, his other trusted advisors, and his niece and nephew. Now we actively establish a flow of information between the players in Bob’s life.
7. We visit Bob in his home on a monthly basis. We look to see if the service providers are doing what they were hired to do and if there any safety issues.
8. We help Bob keep his life on track and now Mike can sleep at night knowing that Bob has an independent advocate.

For Your Family

Julie is assuming greater responsibility for her parents’ personal, medical and financial care.

Julie’s parents, Dennis and Betty, are both 80 years old.  Dennis has a heart condition that has already put him in the hospital once, and Betty suffers from Alzheimer’s.  They live in a modest northeast Phoenix bungalow and appear to have decent resources.  Julie has 2 brothers who are neither financially nor geographically able to help care for their parents.  However, Dennis, Betty and Julie’s 2 brothers know that Julie who lives in Phoenix has ample resources and can “take care of mom and dad.”  When Julie contacts Your Life Advocates she is overwhelmed and concerned.  “Where does she start?”  “Where does she get referrals for quality service providers?”  “How does she make sure her time does not begin to get stretched too thin?”  How does she take care of her mom and dad, but still have time for herself, her family and her career?”

People taking on the role of caring for family members become overwhelmed, overburdened and under-appreciated.    Julie is becoming inundated with her responsibilities.  She feels like she is always reacting to the newest emergency.  She is spending so many hours online and on the phone trying to find resources, access accounts and look for support services.  Julie comes to Your Life Advocates to help her save time for herself, her family and her own professional career.

How we can help Julie by assisting Dennis and Betty.

1. We organize and consolidate Dennis and Betty’s financial affairs. We educate Julie on the reality of Dennis and Betty’s resources and medical situation.
2. We set Dennis and Betty up with online bill pay and provide Julie with their monthly expense details so she can easily pay their bills online if necessary.
3. We provide Dennis, Betty and Julie with a list of quality service providers to help with all of their needs.
4. We help them establish a plan in case of sickness and advanced aging so Julie will know exactly what to do.
5. We document Dennis and Betty’s basic health care information and help Julie bring on a health care manager.
6. We visit Dennis and Betty on a monthly basis and act as a clearinghouse for all of their service providers, advisors and family.
7. We help keep Dennis and Betty’s affairs organized and help Julie keep her brothers up to date so she doesn’t have to be responsible for all communication to her siblings.

For Your Peace of Mind

All our Advocates are subject to successful background searches, regular drug tests, vaccinations and integrity tests. All Advocates are also continually responsible for adhering to a strict code of conduct which, among other things, holds all Advocates free from conflict of interest with our Customer’s activities. Your Life Advocates maintains general liability, crime, personal property, theft and employment practices insurance on our Advocates. Your Life Advocates also maintains security and cyber insurance and protection on our customer records and our database.