I shook my head and hesitated.
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine. Well, not fine but that’s life, isn’t it?”
Phillip nodded. “And now you have this inheritance from your late husband and are looking for ways to invest it for your own future, is that correct?”
“That is correct, Phillip. I haven’t brought my documents with me. They’re all tied up with lawyers and whatnot, but I should be getting a lump sum payout soon and I am just so confused on what to do. I read books and articles, and one says to invest in real estate, the other says put everything in stocks and let it ride out, another says bonds, a fourth says precious metals. I’m just so overwhelmed. I never had much money before Michael, and we were together for five years before we married. Throughout our whole relationship he handled the money stuff and told me I never had to worry about it.” I pushed out a breath to display how over my head I felt.
Phillip, placed his pen down and clasped his hands in front of him. “Mrs. Pritchard, it’s great you’re doing research and trying to get a handle on the best ways to invest. The trouble with all of these financial books and articles is they don’t personalize their information. Each person needs a plan to meet their own financial goals. You may want to have children in the future or to remarry and protect your investments from a future divorce, or a kid’s college fund or your own retirement. These are all things that need to be considered and that can change over time. What I do with my clients is I consider their individual cases and make the right investments for them, based on their goals. That is not something any personal finance book, made to be read by millions of people can do. Now, exactly how much do you think you will be getting?”
“Uh, I’m not certain but I recall Michael said he had about ten million in total assets.”
Phillip nodded.
“And did you two have a prenup?”
I shook my head.
“And how many children did Michael have?”
“Two. One each from his previous marriages.”
“Okay, with that said, and assuming he has no other children coming out of the woodwork, you may be looking at, at least three to three point five million coming your way. Now, with the way I have my clients invest, you could double that amount inside of a year’s time.”
My eyes bulged. “Double?”
Phillip gave me a serious look, nodding his head. “Absolutely. And the way the market is going, you might be able to do better than that.”
“Really? Is it risky?”
“Well,” he began, holding out his arms, “there is certainly risk in every investment, but I am very cautious to protect my clients. And I am always working to look out for your best interests. You will receive financial status reports every month on how your investments are doing. Let me show you how they look. I have a sample from last month’s investment portfolios.”
Over the next thirty minutes, Phillip Morris showed me financial portfolio after portfolio of the different funds he managed. He claimed, due to my age, he would place me in an aggressive stock fund but again, I needn’t worry about risk since he often hedged his bets. When I questioned how, he gave some convoluted answer as to how he researched stocks price to earnings ratio and through his connections was able to get information on how a company performed. Phillip was a fast talker, and to someone who was as clueless as I’d tried to make myself appear to be as Mrs. Pritchard, he sounded like the real deal. However, as Destiny McDonald, I knew he was full of shit. And that pissed me off.
“Thank you for your time, Phillip.”
“You’re absolutely welcome, Mrs. Pritchard,” he returned, shaking my hand and walking me to the front lobby.
“Please, I think we’re past that. You’re going to be investing my money. You can call me Jesse.”
“Well, Jesse, it’s been a pleasure and I look forward to doing business with you. As soon as you hear from your attorney in California don’t forget to give my office a call and we will get started right away on investing your money.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
I pushed past the double doors of his office and out into the elevator bank of the building, frowning. Phillip Morris was full of shit. I knew it but I also knew I’d have a hell of a time proving it.
Chapter Eighteen
Tyler
“Do you always get enough food to feed an entire football team?” I questioned, staring down at the mountain of food Tyler had purchased that was spread all over my dining room table. This was our third date in a row, spent at my home, and he’d always ordered a ton of food.
He gave a one shoulder shrug before tossing the bags the food had come in on my granite countertop. “Figured I’d order more than necessary just in case you skipped lunch again today.”
I groaned and lifted my head to the sky. “One day I skip lunch and every day since you order an entire restaurant. You’re so over the top.” I lifted my head to see him standing directly over me. My body warmed instantly. I was starting to get used to my body’s physical reactions to just being in his presence.
“It was only one time you told me about, but I’m sure you’ve skipped lunch more than once. You won’t be doing that as long as I’m around.”
