Financially Ever After Widowhood
Sep 1, 2026 · 46 min · 10 segments
How do you keep showing up for someone you love when grief has already started, and the bills, taxes, legal decisions, and everyday money stuff suddenly land on your shoulders too? Suzy McNamara…
Stacey FrancisHost
Suzy McNamaraGuest
At least feel like if something happened to my spouse tomorrow, how comfortable would I feel when it came to the finances? How much knowledge? You know, how much do I know about it? But we don't really know what life is going to throw at us.
Nothing is going to go very smoothly in your life if you feel like you're in a financial hole.
I mean, there's just an incredible amount of stress associated with that, you know, which most of us have felt at some point.
But, you know, if you feel like you're worried about money and then you also maybe you lost your spouse.
So just like we write a will, women are famous nesters, or at least I am, you know, like we like to prepare everything.
Welcome to Financially Ever After Widowhood, the podcast where we empower women to take control of their financial future after the loss of a spouse.
I'm your host, Stacey Francis, President and CEO of Francis Financial, an award-winning and nationally recognized financial advisory firm.
Today's conversation is about caregiving, grief, widowhood, and money, as well as the kind of strength no one ever asked for, but so many women are forced to find.
My guest is Susie McNamara, an author, speaker, and caregiving grief advocate, whose work explores the emotional reality of loving someone through loss.
In 2024, Susie lost her husband of 37 years after caring for him at home for five years through early onset Alzheimer's.
Those overlapping losses gave Susie a rare perspective on what it means to lose someone slowly, day by day, and then all at once.
In this episode, Susie and I talk about anticipatory grief, caregiver exhaustion and the loneliness so many widows feel.
We also talk about something that's not discussed enough, about what happens financially when the person who handles the money becomes ill, loses capacity or passes away.
Susie shares what it's like to suddenly realize that bills, taxes, credit, legal documents, And all the financial decisions now had to be handled by her.
Susie shares how she found the right people, how she asked the hard questions, and how slowly over time she built enough confidence to become successful.
This episode is tender, honest, and deeply useful for caregivers, widows, adult children, and anyone has thought, I don't know how I'm going to do this.
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At least feel like if something happened to my spouse tomorrow, how comfortable would I feel when it came to the finances? How much knowledge? You know, how much do I know about it? But we don't really know what life is going to throw at us.
Nothing is going to go very smoothly in your life if you feel like you're in a financial hole.
I mean, there's just an incredible amount of stress associated with that, you know, which most of us have felt at some point.
But, you know, if you feel like you're worried about money and then you also maybe you lost your spouse.
So just like we write a will, women are famous nesters, or at least I am, you know, like we like to prepare everything.
Welcome to Financially Ever After Widowhood, the podcast where we empower women to take control of their financial future after the loss of a spouse.
I'm your host, Stacey Francis, President and CEO of Francis Financial, an award-winning and nationally recognized financial advisory firm.
Today's conversation is about caregiving, grief, widowhood, and money, as well as the kind of strength no one ever asked for, but so many women are forced to find.
My guest is Susie McNamara, an author, speaker, and caregiving grief advocate, whose work explores the emotional reality of loving someone through loss.
In 2024, Susie lost her husband of 37 years after caring for him at home for five years through early onset Alzheimer's.
Those overlapping losses gave Susie a rare perspective on what it means to lose someone slowly, day by day, and then all at once.
In this episode, Susie and I talk about anticipatory grief, caregiver exhaustion and the loneliness so many widows feel.
We also talk about something that's not discussed enough, about what happens financially when the person who handles the money becomes ill, loses capacity or passes away.
Susie shares what it's like to suddenly realize that bills, taxes, credit, legal documents, And all the financial decisions now had to be handled by her.
Susie shares how she found the right people, how she asked the hard questions, and how slowly over time she built enough confidence to become successful.
This episode is tender, honest, and deeply useful for caregivers, widows, adult children, and anyone has thought, I don't know how I'm going to do this.