Kristine Voorhees, CMFC®, Financial Advisor with Waddell & Reed

Women have become a powerful presence in today’s society. As a demographic group, women have a significant impact economically, academically, professionally, and personally. Consequently, there has never been a better time for women to take control of their financial futures.

Women also face unique circumstances that require special investing considerations, as evidenced by the following:

According to a July 2008 study by Hewitt Associates, women generally need more money for retirement, in part because they live three years longer, on average. Yet most women have done less to prepare for their financial security.

Text by Claire Baiz

I couldn’t bear to carry our Encyclopedia Britannica to the dumpster. I made my husband do it.

We waited for a sunny Saturday to shlep four cardboard boxes to a flat spot beside our stinky, shoulder-high garbage bin. Every few hours, I peeked through a hole in our fence to see if they were still there.

Tom and I are downsizing. We figured it was a longshot, that someone would troll our alley for obsolete leather-bound reference books. We were desperate.

A personal story by Monica Taylor

As I sit here staring at the cutest bald-headed 5 month old in the universe (mine, of course), I ponder how life-changing the last 18 months has been for me.  My journey to get here started in 2009 when I got married in June, pregnant in September and just so happy to be where I was in life.  In November of that year, I experienced my first loss – I was pregnant with twins and I miscarried one.  It was bittersweet.  I hadn’t thought much about twins and although my heart hurt, my energy went to safely carrying baby number 2 (lovingly nicknamed Thor) to term.  At 18 weeks gestation on January 22, 2010, my doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat – Thor had decided to join his brother as one of my angels.  Ouch.

Farm in the Dell Rocky Mountain Front

Text by Suzanne Waring

Our society is structured around those self-supporting individuals who can attain an education, grow up to work at a job, and raise a family.  This sequence has naturally evolved because that’s how  a majority of people find fulfillment.  But what happens to those who are unable to matriculate through life in a typical manner?

Steve Lettengarver and his wife, Glena, of Fairfield have asked themselves this question because they have a daughter who is developmentally disabled (DD).  What would give her an opportunity for seeking fulfillment in her own way?  What will happen to her when they are no longer around to guide and to care for her?