By Jill Nagy
In the crowded world of financial planners and related professionals, Mary Stokes is carving a niche for her company, Wealth Solutions. She assists people, particularly women, in the process of a divorce to get back on their financial feet.
As a certified divorce financial planner, “sometimes I’m the first person people contact to see if they can afford a divorce,” she said.
Others seek her advice when they suddenly realize what a huge impact a divorce can have on their financial situation.
“Most women I see are, unfortunately, not used to handling the finances of a household,” she said. With Stokes, they discuss budgeting, planning for retirement and sometimes basic money management.
Stokes added divorce-related services to her practice about four years ago, she said, and it now comprises about a quarter of her practice. Clients are referred to her by psychologists and counselors and, very often, by mediators.
“A mediator can’t give advice or direction, but is just there to guide the process,” she explained. “Attorneys, for some reason, are not as likely to refer.”
While the divorce practice is relatively new, Stokes has provided similar services to newly widowed clients, mainly women, and finds the needs of the two groups to be similar. “Both have suffered a loss and gone through a real emotional trauma and are forced, often for the first time, to manage their finances,” she said.
Originally, Stokes was trained as a nurse.
“I was a nurse looking for a change,” she recalled. “This opportunity came up and it looked like something I could do.”
That was 30 years ago. She worked for a large insurance company and other employers before striking out on her own eight years ago.
“I enjoy working with people, helping them to set goals, reach for those goals, and seeing them accomplish them,” she said. Her practice is “very client-oriented” and, in that way, not all that different from nursing.
Over the years, she has studied and earned several certifications: certified financial planner, chartered financial consultant, and certified divorce financial planner.
“I am on track to be where I want to be,” she said. “I expect to continue where I am and grow the divorce part of my business.”
Stokes also provides investment services, to both men and women, including the happily married. She is affiliated with Securities America, a broker-dealer in Omaha, Neb., and places clients’ investment orders through that company.
Fees for her services are “very different for every person,” she said. “Some people meet with me for four hours and they are done. Others have been with me for three years and they’re still not finished.”
Stokes lives in Clifton Park. Her office is in Albany at 292 Washington Ave. Extension. Her phone number is 690-0518. Her website is mary.stokes@securitiesamerica.com.
Photo Courtesy of Wealth Solutions