Caring for yourself and your family while planning for the unexpected is a difficult balance. Samantha Russell, Chief Evangelist at FMG, and Linda Grant-Smith, Wealth Strategist at Baird, share their personal and professional experiences with caregiving. Tune in for resources and strategies to tackle tough conversations and ensure readiness for unexpected life events.  Both of our guests share how women can proactively prepare for a variety of caregiving roles and situations. From specific financial tools to use to the important decisions to make sooner rather than later, the conversation covers a myriad of tips to navigate life’s curveballs. 

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Key Quotes:

LINDA:  What impact does it have on generally a woman's life? Generally, the woman is the caregiver and oftentimes the oldest daughter is called into that role for their in-laws or their parents. It can be devastating to your career. So I was thinking about the three things that matter. It seems you've got to communicate with your partner about these things before it happens, even when you're young.  You've got to understand where the other one is coming from, and then you've got to find yourself standing alone in a stable position.

SAMANTHA:  If someone's listening to this, and you're not going through this, but you're wondering how you can help someone, I think about not waiting to be asked. Because so many people are used to being self sufficient, they don't want to ask. You know, my friend group set up a meal train, and I did not cook a meal for over six months at one point. Every single day, there was something dropped off, and I would have never in a million years asked for that. But they didn't wait for me to say, "Can we?" They just did it.  I think that's how you can help people. JALEIGH: Yeah, that's great advice. I saw someone that had gone through some similar situations say, "Don't just ever ask me, oh, let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I will never call you. But if you say, I'm going to do this for you, unless you tell me not to, or here's three things I could do to help tell me which one would be the biggest help you that specificity that leaning in, in a very specific way, can sometimes be the biggest help."

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Time stamps:

• 01:02 - Meet our guests 
• 03:25 - Samantha’s story
• 08:34 - Linda’s story
• 10:40 - Stepping into a caregiving role
• 15:24 - Prepare your documents
• 18:01 - Starting conversations with family
• 25:45 - Basic financial prep
• 34:36 - Helpful resources
• 38:34 - Where to find our guests

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Links:

Find Samantha Russell on LinkedIn

Find Linda Grant-Smith on LinkedIn

Find Angela Pittman Taylor on LinkedIn

Find Jaleigh White on LinkedIn
More about Baird

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