After Heidi Flammang became a widow at age 27, managing a $1 million insurance settlement proved just about as trying as coping with her grief.
Ms. Flammang -- whose husband, Bion, was killed in 1994 when the vintage plane he was traveling in crashed -- faced an onslaught of advisers, brokers and lawyers vying for her business.
She was also besieged by friends and relatives who either needed to borrow money or wanted her to invest in their business ventures.
Ms. Flammang would ultimately hire and fire two financial planners -- who she says earned her a return of less than 5% on her money while the market was enjoying double-digit yearly gains -- before deciding to go it alone in the spring of 1997.
Little did she know her misfortune would lead her to a new career. Ms. Flammang, who once sold pharmaceuticals, began taking classes on investing and pursued a financial planner certification. She expects to sit for the CFP exam in March.
"I have pretty much been through every mistake you can make with the money. But I lived to tell about it," says the longtime Denver resident, now 33.
Not only did she persevere, but she set out to help others avoid the same mistakes. A year ago Ms. Flammang founded the Maginot Group, which bills itself as an objective source of information and help on dealing with the financial aspects of "sudden wealth" from an inheritance or lump sum settlement.
Her firm, based in Denver, does not sell securities or manage money, but helps clients evaluate their financial health and goals, estate-planning needs and options for hiring professional help, such as whether to use a stockbroker or a financial planner.
It also provides them with an overview of stocks, bonds and other investment options and helps formulate a plan of action.
In many cases, it also helps clients interview and hire advisers. The company provides clients with references to seasoned planners, estate-planning lawyers, accountants and grief counselors.
Maginot's hourly rate for individual consulting is $150. It serves clients who have come into at least $500,000.
Liberating but overwhelming
"It's rewarding to be able to sit down and understand where these people are coming from," says Ms. Flammang. "There is a good sense of freedom because you have all this money and have all these choices, but it can be overwhelming."
The company, she says, has worked with about 30 people and is expanding into holding quarterly four-day retreats for those "venturing into the shark-infested waters of 'having money,'" according to one of its brochures.
Experts will speak on topics ranging from "common financial and emotional mistakes made in the first year" to asset protection through trusts. The first retreat will be held Feb. 24-27 in Vail, Colo.
Ms. Maginot says the company also plans to expand its current efforts to educate financial planners and estate-planning lawyers about how to work with grieving "suddenly wealthy" clients.
Eventually, the company will also serve those who have become rich through lottery winnings, initial public offerings or the sale of a business, she explains.
"It's critically important the work she is doing," says Susan Bradley, a financial planner and potential competitor of the Maginot Group
"When someone is grieving and they have financial decisions to make, that combination is just devastating."
Ms. Bradley, a first vice president of financial planning at the West Palm Beach, Fla., office of Raymond James Financial Inc., says she won't be taking on new clients as of the beginning of next year so she can focus on holding "financial literacy programs" for "sudden money recipients."
She already hosts financial seminars for children and women. Ms. Bradley also intends to begin training financial advisers to work with "sudden money clients." She will refer individuals seeking help to those advisers.
"People need a safe place where they don't feel like there is a second agenda," says Ms. Bradley, adding that she opted to step back from her role advising clients at Raymond James in order to remove any potential conflicts of interest.
"The more (objective resources) there are out there the better," she says, referring to the Maginot Group.
