Calm, Cool and Empowered

Writing a will, dealing with beneficiaries and securing a Power of Attorney can be baffling for those facing decisions about their legacy, family health and finances. Thanks to a partnership with Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation, financial consultant Tanya Lyn Werk has empowered hundreds of Langley residents to take care of themselves and their families through a series of complimentary educational seminars.

Hosted by LCHHF, the sessions include topics such as Power of Attorney, Executorship & Estate Settlement, Writing a Will: A Walkthrough, Women and Money and The Angry Beneficiary, which deals with family conflicts.

“Many of these sessions were standing-room only,” says Tanya Lyn. As an advisor who shares her expertise on wealth management, investments and more, she’s seeing a growing interest in legacy matters. People are living longer, so now their adult children are taking care of them, while the rise of dementia in the aging population brings up complex issues surrounding financial matters. In one-on-one consultations, she’s acted as an intermediary, providing a cool head in the middle of family conflicts over wills and financial power over aging parents. It can get thorny.

“Emotions can get high sometimes,” she says.

Tanya Lyn’s experience as a financial counselor helps her bring the temperature down and empower families and individuals with the right information to talk to a lawyer if needed.

The Women and Money sessions bring in women and their adult daughters, who share financial lives and futures vastly different from men due to the wage gap and social circumstances, such as work pauses for childcare and often eldercare.

Discussions on estates and executorships often appeal to men, she says, and Power of Attorney seminars are more likely to attract couples.

Participants leave the sessions with a checklist of all the documents and data they need to pursue their goals. They may be better prepared to deal with internal family conflicts, or they leave the session more organized and confident in the future.

“I love to see people come out because the more organized a community is, the happier a community is.”