" Suddenly Single?" Williams Financial Services Group, Inc. has the answers for Widow's

"Suddenly Single" Services for Widow's

The Daily Oklahoman
Sunday, April, 6, 2003
Williams Financial Closes Widows' Information Gap
                                        By Laura Hinson                        
Six months ago, a series of unexpected events prompted Kathleen Williams, chief executive and owner of Williams Financial Services
Group Inc., to realize her business model needed to evolve.

The sudden deaths of three clients revealed a gaping need for financial information among the widows.

According to the National Center for Women and Aging, 50 percent of all women older than 65 are widows. The average age of
widowhood is 56 and women statistically outlive men by more than seven years.

To Williams, those figures indicated that a significant percentage of the population could find themselves in financial straits after their
husbands die.

"There is a large group of women that come from a more traditional generation that always left the finances up to their husbands," the
money manager said. "They rarely discussed financial matters with their husbands, always believing they were being taken care of.

"The problem is that these women do not really know what 'being taken care of' actually represents in dollars," she said. "Many of
them are taken by surprise and not prepared to deal with the finances, regardless of how much or how little they were left with. Many
of them have not even written a check."

A widow's daughter herself, Williams knew exactly what the ramifications of widowhood could represent. So she is offering her
services free to widows hoping to educate women in general about finances before they are caught unprepared.

Women such as Edwina Littlepage of Oklahoma City say they welcome sound financial advise.

Littlepage, 58, developed concerns about her financial well- being when her husband became seriously ill. She contacted a money
manager who advised her to open her own individual retirement account. Littlepage knew her husband had a 401(k) with his
company, but said "he was very private, and we did not discuss finances."

Littlepage's husband died in October 2002. "There were things I did not know that he had done, such as paying for our daughter's
college
education. While that was great, the point is that I did not know about it," Littlepage said.

Littlepage has since joined a neighborhood investment club and feels comfortable now dealing with her own finances and making good
investments.

"In my generation, we did not discuss money with our spouses," she said. "I highly encourage young couples to do this. Regardless of
who the breadwinner is, partners need to communicate."

Darline Bennett, 71, a widow from Guthrie, says she is concerned about being able to leave money for her children and grandchildren.

"My late husband and I worked so hard for so many years. I need the money to be invested properly so that it does not all go to taxes.
And as a senior, it is important for us to have some knowledge in order not to get cheated or taken advantage of," she said. "I do not
profess to know it all, but the more I do learn, the better my circumstances."

Helping women arm themselves with information about financial matters is exactly what Williams hopes to bring to those that find
themselves widowed or suddenly single. She will offer classes and seminars, aptly named "Suddenly Single," later this year to women
in Oklahoma.

She is planning the classes in conjunction with Bob Willis, a grief counselor for Hospice of Oklahoma County. Dates for the classes
have not yet been set, but classes will be at the hospice.

"We hope to offer a variety of information to those needing it and wanting it," Williams said.

"Practical information that will also include, home repair, auto maintenance, nutrition, etc. People are often unprepared and practical
information such as this is a service we can offer to our citizens of the community."

For more information, call Ms. Williams at 405-843-6855.