Brandy Morgan moves a slightly droopy, potted plant onto a shelf that is receiving some sunlight through a south-facing window. This plant took a bit of a beating in her recent move, and she wants it to recover by soaking in some sun during the late morning hours. She makes sure that the plant is positioned high enough on the shelf to avoid a fatal swipe by her black lab’s tail, just as he trots by to investigate something that caught his eye outside the window. He gazes up at her with an innocent look, watching to see if her interest will turn to him now and a possible walking outing. Brandy gives him a loving pat on the head and promises to take him for a walk after she finishes up a few things around the home. Even though Brandy is completely moved into her rented townhome, there are some small, finishing touches she needs to do like this one to feel 100% settled.

Brandy moved two months ago from her home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Bozeman, Montana, and is happy that the move is behind her. She feels that she already belongs in this mountain, outdoorsy-type town. She came here, bought a Subaru, and got the black lab that came with it. His name is Bridger and he’s been a lot of fun as they explore the trails in and outside of town.

Brandy is even more pleased to be in the same town as her son, Geoff, who helped her move. Geoff has lived in the Bozeman area since he attended, and then graduated, from Montana State University five years ago. He works as an engineer at a local firm in town.

Current Situation: Recovery after Divorce

Brandy is especially feeling relieved to be in a new place, starting fresh. Not only has she just moved, but she spent the last year going through a divorce. Fortunately, they were able to settle their divorce out of court, but there was quite a bit of pain in the finality of it for Brandy.

After more than 27 years of marriage, it was extremely sad to Brandy that it had come to this. Her now ex-husband, Barry, had spent most of his time and energy in his work. And over time, it took a toll on the marriage until eventually, there was nothing left. It has also put a strain on Barry’s relationship with Geoff.

Their friends, though good people, found the split awkward, and many took more to Barry’s side of things to remain more friendly with him, as he was the friend that made it possible for them to get into country clubs, exclusive restaurants, etc. And that realization was painful for Brandy too.

And while Brandy is happy to be out of a marriage now, she is truly sad for Barry in the end, as she believes he will never really be contented and will eventually regret the choices that he has made.

Healing and Next Steps

Now Brandy wants to take the time she needs to heal from the divorce. While she has a positive outlook going forward, she realizes that she spent too much time over the years working a lot of hours and not really playing and resting too, and she wants to balance her life better.

Brandy also feels a sense of adventure with her new feelings of freedom in a new town. She is happy to be in a place where she can quickly get out and do the outdoor activities she loves, like skiing, hiking and photography in the mountains. Bridger keeps her moving as well, as he loves to play and go for walks and hikes. He often “asks her politely” to go do something by dropping things in her lap, like sticks to throw and tennis balls. And Brandy has even made a few new friends at the dog park and through some volunteer work she participated in doing clean-up on some local mountain trails.

Brandy has also taken some time to get some counseling to aid her in her quest to fully heal. In doing so, she has searched her own heart and mind about her priorities going forward, and she admits that she would like to reconnect more with her spiritual side. The most she ever focused on her spirituality was when she was a teenager and more involved with horses. There was something in that activity that made her slow down, be present, and ponder the deeper issues of life, and consider what faith meant to her. In any case, she would like to get back to nourishing that part of herself again, even better than she did as a young adult, and she feels fortunate to explore this for more healing and peace.

And now that she lives in the same town as her son, Geoff, she hopes to spend more time with him, though he has his own life and priorities. She assumes that they will figure out their parent/adult child relationship more in time, but she was happy to grab coffee with him the other morning and found a lot of joy in just that small and simple get-together.

Current Work and Future Dreams

Brandy has worked as a project manager for a tech company for many years now. She is paid well and feels that she has rightly earned that pay through hard work and dedication, perhaps to her own detriment as far as being unbalanced between work and home life. She has worked remotely for the organization for many years, and is fine in continuing with the work, but there is a part of her that would also like to leave the corporate world.

As Brandy contemplates this idea, she also thinks about the fact that she is 51 this year, and she wonders how long she needs to work before she can retire.

While married, she and Barry were well off financially. He was a C-suite executive, making $650k a year with benefits. Brandy wanted spousal maintenance so she could feel financially secure going forward, but Barry was adamantly opposed to that. The only way to get the divorce settled was for Brandy to agree to receiving a larger portion of the assets instead of spousal maintenance. This scares Brandy because she is afraid that if she starts pulling money out of her assets, she will deplete them and she wants to make sure that she is stable for the long-term. (See her assets in the right-hand column.)

Brandy knows that she is a competent and capable person but hasn’t managed her finances before, so she needs some coaching with that and assistance with several questions with these new assets in her possession.

Prior to the divorce, Brandy attended meetings with Barry to discuss their investments with their financial advisor. She always felt that the advisor talked over her head when she asked questions. He focused more on Barry, didn’t offer much advice, and deferred to Barry to pick investments.

Barry had a lot of stock in the company where he works. Brandy received $900k of that, and while Barry was very smart with his work in the company and she trusted his belief in the company to do well and grow, Brandy has mixed feelings about keeping the stock. She feels conflicted about it. Perhaps she should unload it as it is a painful reminder of Barry and his behavior. She is just not sure, but she understands it is risky and has volatility as it is all stock in one company. But again, she also likes the idea of being more diversified. She also knows that selling the stock will cause significant taxes, but she is not clear on what exactly that means. She wants to understand the implications and make tax-smart choices.

On top of these ideas, Brandy’s finances feel chaotic and she wonders if she could simplify her situation. Presently, she has accounts with Barry’s financial advisor, the company stock with Fidelity, and as part of her Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) in the divorce, she has an account in her name within Barry’s company’s 401(k) plan. She has also played around with the idea of being more philanthropic and giving to some charitable organizations – perhaps something related to helping kids, but she needs to flesh that out more. Fortunately, Brandy’s new friends have recommended a local financial advisor in town, CoCreate Financial, who has helped several of the ladies in the group who are single or single again with their assets and financial plans. Brandy has set up an appointment with them to review all these details.

The other issue that is on Brandy’s mind is the fact that she would like to buy a house. Barry has one year to pay her the $1.5M that should come as a result of him selling the marital home. She signed a one-year lease on her rented town home with that in mind. She will eventually need a recommendation on a good realtor to help her find a nice home. She has been thinking that a house about 2,500 sqft, with 3-4 bedrooms (for family to visit) would be ideal. She has even dreamed a little about a property that could support a horse, but she also wants a property that is low maintenance. And of course, Brandy would like a prime view of the mountains.