Margaret Halloran — married forty-one years to the man who "handled the money," and suddenly the survivor of a household built for two.
Age
68
Came to us
2021 · together
Under care
$2.1M
Folio
Vol. V
· The arrival
They came in together in 2021, and the folio was written so either of them could read it alone — neither knew which one would need that. Tom died in March 2024. The first signature of her widowhood was the first-year rule: nothing irreversible for twelve months — no house decision, no large gifts, no product pitches, however kindly they arrive. Grief makes a poor signature. The record carried what she couldn’t.
· The plan, composed
·The first-year rule, signed: every irreversible decision deferred twelve months — and every deferral recorded as a decision, with its revisit date.
·The survivor mechanics run in order: Social Security survivor election, pension option confirmed, insurance proceeds parked in insured cash until the plan says otherwise.
·Every account retitled, every basis stepped up and documented, every beneficiary rewritten around her intentions — not his defaults.
·The widow’s-penalty map: single-filer brackets arrive the year after loss, so Roth conversions were composed for the low-income window before it closed.
· The portfolio, composed ·Allocation · not performance
On arrival
As composed
Equities · 44%Fixed income · 42%Cash · 14%
BAFAOS · PORTFOLIO COMPOSERSPECIMEN
RISK · CAPACITY
42/44
COMPOSED · IN RANGE
SLEEVES · AS COMPOSED
Equities44%
Fixed income42%
Cash14%
· COMPOSED AGAINST THE PLAN · SIGNED BEFORE IT TRADES ·· EVERY CHANGE A LEDGER LINE ·
· Inside the portal · this household, signed in
· Specimen · illustrative only ·
BAFAOS · CLIENT PORTALSPECIMEN · FICTIONAL · AUG MMXXVI
The plan,holding.
SURVIVOR BENEFIT
ELECTED · APR 2024
FIRST-YEAR RULE
HELD · 12 OF 12
CONVERSION WINDOW
YEAR 2 OF 2
The kitchen-table review stands — first Tuesday of the season.
2021Written for two, readable by one.The folio composed so either spouse could run the household alone. The chapter neither wanted was written anyway.
2024March.Tom’s death recorded; the first-year rule signed the same week. The plan went quiet on purpose.
2024The survivor mechanics.Survivor benefit elected, pension option confirmed, proceeds parked — each step run in order, each on the record.
2025Her name, everywhere.Retitled, stepped up, re-designated — the estate’s paperwork brought current in one audited pass.
2026Folio Vol. V bound.The first volume in her name alone — and the conversion window used before the brackets narrowed.
· The watching
Household health score · desk-initiated
80
STEADY
→
69 ▾
THE DIP
→
82 ▴
RECOVERED
One day, between meetings —
We noticed two statement cycles went unopened in the autumn after Tom died — in the record, grief looks like silence.
The answer A call the same week, not a form letter — and the winter review moved to her kitchen table.
It surfaced at a desk reading — as Engagement, one line in the record. That is BAFAos at work: when the advisor identifies a material change, the affected chapter is reopened for review.
The score is desk-initiated — recomputed when your advisor runs the review, not by an autonomous schedule; its verification lives in the Claims Register.
The plan for widowhood was written while it was still theirs. That is why hers held.
· Example households · fictional composites, illustrative only · not clients · allocations shown for illustration — no investment performance shown or implied · options strategies, where shown, carry their own risks and costs ·
