Aging Solo: Planning for Care with Purpose with Lisa Marquis

I’m joined by Lisa Marquis, who shares what really happens when someone is navigating aging solo—whether by choice, loss, or life changes like divorce.

We get into the realities most people overlook, the legal documents you can’t afford to skip, and how to choose someone to step in when it matters most. Plus, the unique risks women and divorced individuals face—and what to do about it.

If you want to protect your independence, your finances, and your future care decisions, this is worth your time.

For additional information about Kelly, check her out on Linkedin or www.SteadfastAgents.com.

To explore your options for long-term care insurance, click here.

Steadfast Care Planning podcast is made possible by AMADA Senior Care and Steadfast Insurance LLC.

Come back next time for more helpful guidance! 

Transcript

Kelly Augspurger [00:00:02]:
Hi everyone, and welcome to Steadfast Care Planning, where we plan for care to live well. Today we're talking about something that more and more people are facing, but not enough people are planning for, and that is solo aging. I'm Kelly Augspurger, long-term care insurance specialist and your guide. With me today is Lisa Marquis, a master credentialed collaborative family law attorney and a shareholder of Quilling, Selander, Lowndes, Winslett and Moser. Lisa, welcome. So glad you're here.

Lisa Marquis [00:00:32]:
Thanks, Kelly. Glad to be here.

Kelly Augspurger [00:00:33]:
Aging solo can look different for everyone. It might mean you're never married, you're widowed, or you're navigating life after a divorce. These are all different paths, but lead to the same need for intentional collaborative support. You may not have a built-in person to step in when life changes. And as longevity increases, this becomes more than just a lifestyle topic. It really is a care planning conversation, because the real questions become, "Who will help you? Who will make decisions if you can't? And how will care be coordinated and funded?" Lisa works closely with individuals and families navigating these transitions, helping them think through the legal and financial realities of aging solo. So, Lisa, I'm really looking forward to this conversation. Can we jump right in?

Lisa Marquis [00:01:19]:
Absolutely. Let's go.

Kelly Augspurger [00:01:21]:
All right. Well, let's set the stage and start with, when does aging solo become real for people? And who does that actually include?

Lisa Marquis [00:01:30]:
Well, I was thinking about this earlier and it really varies because as you mentioned in the introduction, there are some people who never marry, so they know going through life that they're going to be solo agers. But then there are those folks who find themselves as a solo ager, either as the result of the death of one of the spouses, or what we call a silver divorce. And so that reality can hit people at very different times and very different stages in their life. When we talk about a silver divorce, we're really focusing on people who are 55 and older and then typically who've been married 25 years or more. And so you can imagine for those folks being thrust into living alone. For some of them, they've planned it, so they have a little bit of a heads up, but for others, they're sort of thrust into that situation.

Kelly Augspurger [00:02:19]:
Well, that's helpful. And I think where this really starts to matter is when something actually happens. So let's just kind of talk about a reality check. What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about aging alone?

Lisa Marquis [00:02:31]:
I think for a lot of people...and keep in mind, I'm typically seeing them in the situation of going through a silver divorce, and a lot of them come in and they...assuming they're the person who is initiating the divorce, they've thought through a lot of things, but maybe have not really contemplated what the change in their lifestyle is going to look like once they go into dividing assets and having two separate residences that they have to support. The other piece of it is, is that they don't really contemplate the loneliness that may occur as a result of living alone. Especially, if you've shared a house with somebody for 25 or 30 years, all of a sudden being in a place by yourself, it can get really quiet.

Kelly Augspurger [00:03:14]:
Yeah. I think that is a huge concern as people age, is if you want to stay at home, you might become isolated. If you don't have people coming into your home regularly, multiple days a week, even every day, that can lead to isolation and depression. And so these are things that we really want to avoid as much as possible and mitigate some of those consequences that we tend to see when you are aging alone. So, Lisa, what actually happens when someone is aging solo without a clear plan in place? Can you give a real life example of what that might look like?

Lisa Marquis [00:03:49]:
Yeah, so I actually had that occur in the context of a silver divorce. And ironically, the couple thought they had planned...I mean, they had their estate planning documents lined up, but what they hadn't factored in was the husband's incapacity. And so when they ended up getting a divorce, the estate planning documents they had prepared, the powers of attorney and so forth, that we'll talk about here in a minute, they didn't really factor in the location of the adult child who had been named as the alternate agent. And in Texas, anyway, when there's a divorce, if the spouse is listed as an agent, they're automatically disqualified from that. So what ends up happening is in that particular case, we were in a tough spot where the daughter who was the dad's agent lived way out of state. And it was not really efficient for her to continue in that role. But there was no other choice because dad did not have the capacity to modify his estate planning documents to name anybody else.

Lisa Marquis [00:04:51]:
And so, it really created a bad situation for that particular family. I mean, the daughter did it, but it was a huge burden on the family that had not been anticipated.

Kelly Augspurger [00:05:02]:
So what does that look like, Lisa? Does that mean she's traveling to and from where dad physically is? Is it, it's more complicated because she is in a different state because of needing to be physically present in some situations.

Lisa Marquis [00:05:14]:
In some situations, yes. I mean, in that particular case, they ended up having a really good relationship with the financial advisor that had been the financial advisor for the couple before they got divorced. And so she at least had that person to rely on. And then there was a son who lived here, so he helped with the day-to-day, like going to check on dad in the assisted living facility and that sort of thing. There was a lot of emotional and financial burden put on those adult children who, they themselves, were already in their 50s. So it was a big change for that family. And as you can imagine, it causes some strife within the family, as well, when the adult children get put into a role that they didn't really anticipate taking on.

Kelly Augspurger [00:05:57]:
That's right. So to avoid that, Lisa, what do you recommend?

Lisa Marquis [00:06:00]:
That case brought home to me the importance of, number one, people staying on top of their estate planning documents and paying attention to not only changes in their own life, but changes in the lives of those they've designated. Because there may be times when they've designated someone who's had their own change of life circumstance that makes it difficult, or impossible for them to serve in that role. And secondly, make sure sure you have more than one alternate listed. I mean, if you can list two or three alternates in addition to your primary person just so that if there's an unexpected change, then you're not scrambling or being forced to have a private payer, or a corporate type trustee appointed which can quickly deplete assets for these folks.

Kelly Augspurger [00:06:47]:
So when we're talking about legal documents, Lisa, these obviously are critical, right?

Lisa Marquis [00:06:52]:
Yes.

Kelly Augspurger [00:06:53]:
When we're talking about planning for the future and aging and retirement. So what legal documents become absolutely critical when someone doesn't have a built in support system, or even if they have a built in support system, which specific documents do people need?

Lisa Marquis [00:07:07]:
So the 3 main documents that I think are actually more important than even a will, and there's some estate planning attorneys that will cringe at that. But when you're talking about someone who is solo aging, they don't have necessarily presumed people that the law would look to, that says this person can make decisions for you. So first and foremost, having a medical power of attorney that designates who can make those medical treatment decisions for you if you're incapacitated and can't do so. Along those same lines, have a HIPAA authorization so that the doctors can speak to those people because they're not going to do it otherwise. And those are the people that need that medical information in order to be able to make the medical treatment decisions for you. And then in Texas, I think other states have it, too.

Lisa Marquis [00:07:54]:
But in Texas, we have what's called a directive to physicians. And that's the more, if the only thing keeping you alive are the machines and you don't want to be kept alive, that document comes into play. And then on the financial side, in Texas we call it a statutory durable power of attorney, but it's a financial power of attorney, somebody who can make financial decisions for you. Some people do it immediately. When I have individual clients that are not married, I always recommend that they only make it effective upon their incapacity, because like it or not, there are people that can take advantage of that and can put them in a very bad situation. But, I mean, the will is great. That sort of takes care of things after you die. And from the standpoint of solo aging, what we're looking at is how can we best protect these individuals if those decisions need to be made for them, especially if they need to be made in an urgent timing situation?

Kelly Augspurger [00:08:47]:
Lisa, I do often see that some solo agers, and then maybe even other couples, or families tend to identify different people for their financial POA and then their medical POA. Maybe one child is in charge of the medical and another child is in charge of the financial.

Lisa Marquis [00:09:05]:
Oh, absolutely, Absolutely. We all have our strengths, right? I mean, yes, it doesn't have to be different people. There's no reason it has to be different people. But parents, especially when they're at the ages that we're talking about, they know pretty well what their kids are capable of. And as much as we love our children equally, we recognize that they may not have the same strengths. And so part of it is playing to the strengths of whoever you're designating. And also for a lot of parents, it's a matter of spreading that burden around. I mean, if you've got kids that have their own kids that they're raising, it's a lot to have all of the sudden the care of their parent thrust back on them, as well.

Kelly Augspurger [00:09:45]:
That's right. And then they become the sandwich generation.

Lisa Marquis [00:09:48]:
That's right.

Kelly Augspurger [00:09:48]:
They're the ones that are caring for parents, but also caring for children, as well. Well, I think this leads us to kind of pivot to a trusted person in your life. So how should someone choose a trusted person to step-in if needed? And what can go wrong if they choose poorly, or don't choose at all?

Lisa Marquis [00:10:06]:
So obviously trust is in that terminology, right? I mean, it has to be somebody that you trust. And I would go further to say it needs to be somebody who shares your life philosophies, basically, but also that you believe understands your own thoughts and desires as it relates to financial decision making, or medical treatment. I would go so far as to say choosing poorly is worse than not choosing at all. In a situation where somebody becomes incapacitated, for example, and they don't have the documents to designate who's going to make those decisions, then there's priorities for who has standing to come in and seek a guardianship and be appointed to make those decisions for these individuals. And at least in that scenario, those individuals are making those decisions under the oversight of a court. So they're not just running amok with somebody's assets. For example, early in my practice, I had a couple of situations where it was devastating financially, where unfortunately this parent had named a child as their power of attorney and it was effective immediately. And the child went in and basically cleared out dad's bank accounts and there was no recourse against the bank because they had the power of attorney and they were authorized to act under it.

Lisa Marquis [00:11:32]:
And it was a career defining moment for me in terms of realizing just what people are capable of. And so that situation was so much worse for that individual than had he not named anybody at all. So I guess we never know. But I think, the longer you've known somebody before you designate them...I gave you the one example. It is not normal tp do that!

Lisa Marquis [00:11:58]:
And so, generally I would think adult children are the best alternative if they have their ducks in a row, and so forth. Because at the end of the day, let's be honest, I mean, if a child goes in and depletes mom and dad's estate, and then mom and dad don't have money to take care of themselves, it's going to come back on the kids eventually anyway. They certainly have the highest financial incentive and one would hope, the closest emotional bond to make sure that the parents are taken care of. In the silver divorce arena, sometimes what we run into, though, is if the adult children don't necessarily agree with the choices of the parent who is deciding to pursue that divorce, it can create a pretty deep family friction. And that can really put somebody in the position of absolutely solo aging when they thought they had these adult children, but then the tension and conflict caused by the divorce can break that relationship

Kelly Augspurger [00:12:54]:
Spot on. I have seen that. It can tear families apart. If we don't choose a trusted person correctly, or if the family disagrees on the way that care should be actually performed and completed. You know, "What are mom's preferences?" "Well, I know what mom's preferences are."

Kelly Augspurger [00:13:11]:
"Do you?"

Kelly Augspurger [00:13:11]:
"Yeah, I know what they are, but we both have different responses." That's a problem. It truly can tear families apart. And so I think the sooner that mom, dad, or even if you don't have any children at all, having these discussions with the people that you're closest with, maybe that's not even a family member, maybe that's a very dear friend of yours, but so they know what your preferences are and what your plan is so that it can go more smoothly down the road. So that we can avoid a lot of this.

Lisa Marquis [00:13:39]:
Absolutely,, those direct, pointed conversations. I mean, my children are 28 and 26 and we even mentioned the idea of death and they're like, "I don't wanna talk about it." But you really have to have those conversations. And especially if you're going to name someone that is not one of your children and you want to make sure that everybody's on board and understands why, is just sit down and have that conversation and have it with all of them at once. Don't talk to your son one day and your daughter another day, and then they're hearing different things. I mean, I think you have to have that conversation with them together so everybody understands what your true desires are.

Kelly Augspurger [00:14:19]:
That's it.

Kelly Augspurger [00:14:19]:
It's not necessarily a one and done because maybe this evolves and changes over time. Maybe it's a conversation you have when you're 65 or 70, but then as you age, maybe your preferences are changing, or maybe something else has changed within the estate plan and they need to know what the updates are. So yeah, it's not, "Okay, we did it. We never have to talk about it again." Well, maybe you should. Maybe we do need to revisit this if something in our life has changed.

Kelly Augspurger [00:14:47]:
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Kelly Augspurger [00:15:30]:
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Kelly Augspurger [00:15:51]:
Lisa, when we're looking at people who do have adult children, or family, what assumptions do you think tend to break down when it comes to caregiving?

Lisa Marquis [00:15:59]:
I think a couple of things. One is just a failure to recognize the busy lives of those adult children. They've got their careers, they've got their own children. And frequently, especially in today's situation, I mean, they live a long way away, they're not necessarily close by. And you know, for a lot of my female clients going through a divorce, the single biggest fear, the thing I hear over and over again is this fear of becoming a burden on their children. So they usually think in terms of the financial cost of being a burden on their children, but I don't think they really factor in the emotional cost and physical from the standpoint of time demands and pressure and so forth that gets placed on those children. I think there's a lot of assumptions that whichever child lives closest to mom or dad is just going to step in and pick up the slack, or whichever child has done the best financially is going to step in and pick up the slack.

Lisa Marquis [00:16:59]:
And if you haven't had those direct, pointed conversations that we just talked about, I think a lot of parents assume their kids know what their wishes are, and that could be a huge erroneous assumption. And it's a tough situation when you're trying to make medical treatment decisions, or financial decisions for a parent and you're operating under beliefs that maybe you heard them talk about 20 years ago. And their whole situation has changed, especially in the scenario where they're solo aging, so they're either alone because of death, or alone because of divorce. So never assume that your children really understand what your desires are. You need to keep that line of communication open and having those conversations along the way.

Kelly Augspurger [00:17:49]:
Totally agree. And I think that emotional component there, Lisa, like that is something that is totally underestimated. So let's dig in a little bit deeper with that. What do you think people are most unprepared for emotionally, when they realize they may be aging alone?

Lisa Marquis [00:18:04]:
Honestly, I think it's just the underestimating what efforts they need to continually make to keep their social network in place. I mean, whenever you have a death, or even a divorce, your support system comes out and they're there to support you, but eventually that wanes. I mean, they have to get back to their own lives and their own obligations. And maybe it seems silly, but just having somebody in the house when you come home, somebody to speak to or have that companionship with. And that I think is one reason why it impacts men sometimes a lot worse than women, because we're a little bit better at building those social networks, but they have to be nurtured. And so I think that's probably the single biggest issue I have is just an expectation that, "Oh, my days are going to be filled with all of these things." And then you realize that your friends, they still have their other lives going on. And so just that loneliness can creep in if you don't make a conscious effort to keep those relationships strong.

Kelly Augspurger [00:19:06]:
Totally agree. And I think that's where the value of like independent living, or assisted living, continued care retirement communities, where if we are going to age solo on our own and not have a built-in roommate, then it's so advantageous to go to some kind of a community where you have people down the hall or in the same building. You can have meals together, you can do activities, you can hop on a bus and go on a day trip somewhere. Because that truly does help with preventing depression and isolation and overall just happiness and joy and being able to age with other people. Even if you again are truly aging solo, you still have other people around you that you can do life with. I think that piece of it is so important. I've seen this benefit so many families where they're like, "Mom and dad, they wanted to stay home as long as they could." I'm like, "I get that and we need to respect that."

Kelly Augspurger [00:19:56]:
But also, if something happens, let's say dad passes and now mom is alone and she's been alone for a handful of years, is this truly what's best for her mental health, her physical, emotional, spiritual? You just think of all of it, like if she's alone almost all day...

Lisa Marquis [00:20:13]:
Well even from a safety standpoint, right? I mean, if you don't...

Kelly Augspurger [00:20:17]:
Absolutely.

Lisa Marquis [00:20:17]:
If you live alone and especially in a house where there may, or may not, be people that know to come check on you, I mean, I think that's one of the biggest benefits of the assisted living type facilities is there are built-in checkpoints. Right. I mean, somebody to come in and check on you if you don't show up for dinner one night. Whereas if you don't have that, it can be devastating and sometimes even fatal. If somebody is alone and falls and then they have an injury that nobody's there to pick up on.

Kelly Augspurger [00:20:49]:
Yeah, definitely. Well, aging solo, I think, and I don't know the statistics here, Lisa, but I would imagine there are probably more women who are aging solo than men just due to the fact that women typically live longer than men, than our counterparts. So why do you think women are especially impacted when it comes to aging solo and long-term care needs? Aside from the fact that maybe we just live longer, do you think there are other things at play here?

Lisa Marquis [00:21:13]:
The thought that first comes to mind is that generally we live longer. But I think, too, a lot of times in our family life situation, we have a division of duties. Where it's not uncommon for one spouse, particularly the wife, to be taking care of the kids in the household and doing all those things and the husband is managing the finances. And so I think especially in the divorce arena, but even in the situation where one of the spouses dies, it's astonishing to me the number of women who do not have a good handle on what their financial situation is. They have assumed that their husband has taken care of it. They assume that there's insurance. They assume that everything's going to be okay.

Lisa Marquis [00:21:54]:
And whether that marriage ends because of divorce, or death, when all of a sudden they are on their own, they have to get a whole new support system from a professional standpoint. I mean, they have to get their financial advisor and they have to play catch up in a serious way about just getting knowledge and understanding of what they have and what they're working with. And especially what I've seen recently in some of the silver divorces I've done is it can be devastating financially for these families because I mean, obviously if there was a death and there was life insurance, there's at least something to come in to help provide that support. When there's a divorce, those insurance benefits aren't there. And the number of women who sit in my office and don't even know what their mortgage payment is, the fear that is going on in them in the process of that divorce is impacting them and I think causing added stress as they're trying to navigate this whole new world that they're about to have to launch just solely on their own.

Kelly Augspurger [00:22:49]:
Yeah, I think if you are divorced, or widowed, that probably is a slightly different situation as opposed to maybe you never married at all. So you probably have a pretty good grasp of your finances. Hopefully you do.

Lisa Marquis [00:23:01]:
Right.

Kelly Augspurger [00:23:01]:
If you're the one that has truly been on your own and managing it for your whole life. But yes, for those who are divorced, or widowed, this definitely would be a more primary concern for those specific women. Well, Lisa, let's talk a little bit about care planning. At what point do you think people should start thinking about extended care planning if they know they may be on their own and what happens if they wait too long? What have you seen?

Lisa Marquis [00:23:27]:
Well, certainly obviously age is a factor. You want to be, I would say, probably in your 50s, or so. You start looking at this because what you don't want to do is be in a situation where you have an unexpected health emergency come up that all of a sudden impacts your insurability, or the cost of that insurability. I mean, sometimes you can get insurance, it's just at a cost.

Kelly Augspurger [00:23:50]:
How much does it cost? Yeah, can I afford it? Does it make sense?

Lisa Marquis [00:23:53]:
You're not going to be able to afford it. And then the other piece of it depends on what the rest of their financial situation looks like. Obviously there's budgeting issues. "Can we afford to bring the insurance in?" I think that some people get stuck on that aspect of it and don't do the long-term thinking of, "Okay, yes, this will be tight in our budget right now, but what happens if something happens to one of us and we don't have this coverage?" And that could be in the form of both long-term care insurance or even, what do they call it, living benefits with life insurance, something that you have access to before you pass away. So that when you have those situations that arise that cause a potential financial hardship for health reasons, you have something to rely on. Although looking at most of us in our 50s, or so, we're focusing so much on college for kids and those kinds of things. And a lot of times in my divorces, one spouse, frequently the wife will be more concerned with making sure the kids college is paid for, as opposed to retirement. And I'm like, "Well, let's take a time out." They can always get loans for college, but you're not going to be able to borrow money for retirement.

Lisa Marquis [00:25:04]:
So we need to make sure. And let's keep the focus on these benefits, the retirement type benefits, to make sure you're okay. I frequently use the analogy of when you're on an airplane and they say the oxygen mask comes down, "Put the mask on yourself first." I use that all the time because I think women in particular, I don't care how old our kids are, there's this need to feel like we have to protect them, or help them, or whatever. And sometimes I have to be the bad guy and say, "I know you love your children, but right now your priority needs to be you because if you don't take care of you, then you are going to be relying on them down the road." And so if they wait too long, those options just, even if they still are there, they are outside of their financial reach to be able to provide that protection for them.

Kelly Augspurger [00:25:53]:
Yeah, and I think when we're talking about extended care planning, if we're starting in our 50s, there's different components to this. So yes, financially what are we going to use to be able to pay for future care needs? That's something to consider, which is why we look to insurance. We look at long-term care insurance, but other aspects, too. And I think, Lisa, that's stuff we've already talked about, which is talking to your family, or talking to your friends, whoever is going to be in charge of essentially making decisions when you need care, who are your potential caregivers and care managers. Figuring that out sooner than later. And where you want to receive care? Do you want to age in place at home? Would you consider assisted living? CCRC? What kind of place? And then have you actually visited these places?

Lisa Marquis [00:26:40]:
Right.

Kelly Augspurger [00:26:40]:
And obviously those places can change over the next couple of decades, but at least starting to think about some of these things. So for me, it's really, there's 3 components to a care plan. It's who: the caregivers, the care managers. It's where: geographically, where do I think I'm going to be? And then even more refined home, community, facility. And then 3: how am I going to pay for that? And so that's obviously where the insurance comes in. So if we can start having these conversations with people in their 50s, even in their 40s, Lisa, they don't necessarily have to pull the trigger and have all of these figured out at that point, but you're planting seeds and we're talking to people and families about this because in the end, their family is just going to be better off, and so will they if they have had these discussions and they figured out this is what we want to happen and this is how we're going to do it, this is how we will implement the care plan. So, yeah, I appreciate you saying, "Starting in your 50s," because I think so many people, they would say 60s, or when I retire. And to me, that's just too late. We miss out on so many really great planning opportunities if we delay this until we are retired.

Kelly Augspurger [00:27:47]:
So, yeah, I'm right there with you, Lisa, on that. Now just kind of taking some action here. If someone is listening knows that they may be aging solo, what do you think are the top, maybe 2 or 3 steps that they should take right now to protect their future care and independence?

Lisa Marquis [00:28:01]:
Well, first of all, bolster your social network. Reconnect with old friends, connect with new friends. You need to enlarge your social circle because that human connection, it reaps so many benefits just emotionally and even physically from a health standpoint. So that would be number one, is to build that social network and just the benefit of not feeling alone has such an immeasurable impact on people as they're aging.

Kelly Augspurger [00:28:29]:
Yeah.

Lisa Marquis [00:28:30]:
Second thing I would say is get educated about your finances, especially if somebody else has been handling them, because you don't know what you don't know. And education is power. So sit down with that financial advisor, understand what you have, and then third, work with that financial advisor to develop a budget so that you know what you have to work with. You made a reference to this. It's, "What are those housing options going to be? What does moving possibly to be closer to one of your children look like in that situation?" You may be trading one set of issues for another, but explore those options and look at what the cost would be of each of those options, so you know realistically what you can do. I mean, it's great to have grand ideas of, "I want to do this when I retire and that when I retire."

Lisa Marquis [00:29:16]:
But if you don't know what your basic financial picture is, you're going to be shooting blind and possibly creating an even worse financial situation for yourself.

Kelly Augspurger [00:29:26]:
Great tips, Lisa. Let's move on to the lightning round. This is going to be really quick, kind of fun, something new I've been doing. I'm just going to kind of give you 3 different kind of sentences, Lisa, and then I want you to finish them. So kind of like first thing that comes to mind. Not a long answer, just something kind of brief. But the first one is, "When it comes to aging alone, most people underestimate..."

Lisa Marquis [00:29:48]:
How many people they need to have as part of their social network.

Kelly Augspurger [00:29:52]:
Great. Next, "The biggest planning mistake solo agers make is..."

Lisa Marquis [00:29:56]:
Delaying the making of a plan.

Kelly Augspurger [00:30:00]:
Ooh, good one. And then finally, "The one step someone should take this year to protect their future care is..."

Lisa Marquis [00:30:06]:
Meet with your financial advisor, or get one if you don't have one, and educate yourself on the current status of your financial situation.

Kelly Augspurger [00:30:14]:
So good, Lisa. And this is why care planning matters so much, because life doesn't go as planned. And so having these conversations, meeting with professionals, talking to your family, or close friends, really important. Lisa, any final advice on how people can plan for care to live well? I know we've talked about a lot today and we've already touched on some gold nuggets, but anything else?

Lisa Marquis [00:30:35]:
I mean, I'm going to go back and sound like a broken record, but it really is about research and education. What are your options, or what are your goals? What are your desires in terms of how you want to live in your silver years? Where you want to do that? And then I want to end with this, and that is: if you find yourself facing the prospect of becoming a solo ager as a result of a silver divorce. I strongly encourage people to consider the collaborative divorce process in doing that because then you can get a full team together to help make sure those decisions are being made that have the best opportunity for fulfilling both your and your spouse's needs going forward. And it also maintains privacy, so hopefully nobody needs that, but if they do, I think it is a much better option for particularly those people who are facing it in the silver divorce arena.

Kelly Augspurger [00:31:25]:
Great insights, Lisa. And then finally, where can people find more information about you and how you help people?

Lisa Marquis [00:31:31]:
My direct dial at work, which I'm happy to give out, is 214-880-1835. I am in Plano, Texas, and my email is Lmarquis@qslwm.com.

Kelly Augspurger [00:31:45]:
Perfect. And, Lisa, do you only work with people who are in Texas, or can you work in other states as well?

Lisa Marquis [00:31:51]:
Only in Texas. As a matter of fact, we even narrow it down to certain counties because Texas is a big state, as you can imagine.

Kelly Augspurger [00:31:58]:
Huge, yeah, massive. It's like its own country. It's so big.

Lisa Marquis [00:32:03]:
It can get kind of tenuous getting out there. So yeah, so only in Texas, but I have a lot of contacts in other states. So I love connecting people and helping people get the services that they need.

Kelly Augspurger [00:32:13]:
Fantastic. Well, Lisa, thank you so much for your time and your expertise today. Really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.

Lisa Marquis [00:32:20]:
Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate the opportunity.