Resources and Guides

At WH Cornerstone, we’re here to lend a helping hand. Utilize our assortment of worksheets, checklists, videos, and more to keep yourself on track, financially and otherwise.
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Curve Ball Life Planning™

You might feel your financial future is uncertain. That’s why we created Curve Ball Life Planning™: to empower widows to live life from a position of knowledge and power, rather than fear and ignorance. 

Curve Ball Life Planning™ PREPARE

Being prepared is not admitting that something bad or fatal is going to happen. Use our Curve Ball Life Planning™ PREPARE workbook to help organize your financial and personal life.

Workbook   •   
Life Planning

Curve Ball Life Planning™ REBUILD

Our Curve Ball Life Planning™ REBUILD workbook is here to help you gather critical financial and personal information and rebuild your life in the wake of losing your spouse or partner.

Workbook   •   
Life Planning

The After Death checklist

The death of a loved one is an emotional time. Our After Death checklist is here to help you navigate the critical days, weeks, and months that follow. 


Checklist   •   
Life Planning

Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, where we share community gatherings, useful and relevant information, recommended reading, and helpful resources for widows and widow supporters.

Widow Resources guide

Our widow resources guide provides numerous resources, including organizations, books, and Facebook groups, that can help you navigate the grief of losing a loved one. 

Guide   •   Widow  

Gifts of Preparedness

Preparing for the unthinkable before it happens is one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones. That’s why we have compiled a list of resources that will make having these hard conversations easier.

Resources   •   
Life Planning   

Curve Ball Life Planning™ process

What happens when life throws you a curve ball? Learn more about our process that has helped empower many widows with their financial future.

One-sheet   •   Widow 

Books and Guides

We’re committed to helping you stay informed, whether that means understanding Medicare or explaining the ins and outs of inherited IRAs. Read our books and guides below.

Inheriting Your Spouse’s IRA

Written by WH Cornerstone Co-Founder, Bill Harris, RMA®, CFP®,  Inheriting Your Spouse’s IRA is a planning guide navigating estate tax and legal maze associated with the IRA universe.

Book   •   Widow  •   Retirement

Rise Up: A Widow’s Journal

This journal captures the thoughts and feelings that might be swirling around in the head and heart of a widow. It is thoughtfully organized into 10 chapters that guide along various stages of widowhood.

Journal   •   Widow  •   Retirement

Holiday Support for a Loved One

Here are a few things you should try hard not to do, along with a few things you should do instead to support a widow during the holiday season.

Guide   •   Widow

Understanding Windfall Elimination Provision

Is your Social Security at risk of Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP)? Our guide will help you understand if you’re among the vulenerable.

Guide   •   Widow
Social Security

28 documents you need

Gather these 28 documents in one spot for your heirs so they avoid any frustration and financial pain during a time of loss.

Guide   •   Widow

Understanding Medicare

This guide provides you with a clear explanation of the initial decisions you need to make when choosing the right Medicare coverage for you.

Guide   •   Medicare

Understanding Government Pension Offset

Government Pension Offset (GPO) is a little-known retirement game-changer that can wreak havoc with your best-laid plans. Our guide will help you understand everything you need to know about GPO. 

Guide   •   Widow  •   
Social Security

The Ultimate Guide to Donor-Advised Funds

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) seem to have come out of nowhere, yet they’ve been around since the mid-1930s. Our guide will help you understand everything you need to know, including how DAFs work and 5 investment considerations.

Guide   •   Donor-Advised Funds

Click the button below to learn more about Bill’s book, Inheriting Your Spouse’s IRA. 

Schedule a Meeting

Now that you know a little bit about who we are and what we do, consider scheduling a meeting. Our discovery session is a no-pressure way for us to get to know each other. 
Paula Harris headshot

Paula Harris

As WH Cornerstone’s co-founder, Paula Harris is part financial advisor and part dream architect who takes great pride in helping her clients, particularly mid-life widowed women, obtain financial peace of mind while they get back on their feet, rise up and navigate their path forward.

Bill Harris, CFP®, RMA®

As a Certified Financial Planner™ Practitioner, a Retirement Management Advisor®, an Ed Slott Elite IRA Advisor and past President of the Financial Planning Association (FPA of Massachusetts), Bill’s knowledge and expertise optimizes our client’s financial resources to help them achieve their dreams.

Bill Harris headshot

Videos and Webinars

Our educational videos and webinars are put together with the intention to provide insightful and factual information in a straightforward way. 

What to say at a wake of funeral

In this Cornerstone Quick Clip, Paula Harris discusses how to appropriately give your condolences when attending a funeral or wake. 

Video   •   Widow

Understanding Massachusetts income tax rules and your IRA

Bill Harris talks you through the fact that Massachusetts is one of two states that does not allow you to deduct your IRA contribution on your state taxes.

Video   •   Life Planning

Embracing your inner matriarch

this webinar is an exploration of what it means to be a matriarch, and the rich rewards of finding your own brand of personal leadership in your family.

Webinar   •   
Matriarch

Qualified Charitable Distributions

In this Cornerstone quick clip, Bill Harris discusses the tax benefits of Qualified Charitable Distributions

Video   •   
Taxes

The importance of beneficiary forms

Are your beneficiary forms in order? Bill Harris discusses why it’s important to update and review them annually. 

Video   •   
Life Planning

What widows need to know about Social Security

Marcia Mantell, Social Security expert, and WH Cornerstone discuss a variety of Social Security situations that are unique to widows.

Webinar   •   Widow  •
Social Security   

Uncovering Social Security secrets

No matter your life’s journey, whether you’re married, divorced, widowed, or single – watch this presentation to take some of the mystery out of the complex yet critical income source of Social Security. 

Webinar   •   Widow  •   Social Security

To view more of our informative videos and webinars, click the button below. 

Our Process

Lots of people can manage your portfolio, but can they also help you create a “return on your life”? We serve as your financial coach to advise, implement, and continually manage all the moving parts in your life and make sure your assets are working for you.

Future Focus Quest™

We’re not just financial planners, we’re dream architects. Our five step process provides you with a comprehensive process to identifying and capturing your unique goals and dreams. 

One-sheet   •   Financial Planning

Second Act Retirement Coaching

The ultimate goal of your money is to live your best life possible in your second-act. Together, we can help you achieve that. Learn more about our Second Act Retirement coaching service.

One-sheet  •   
Retirement

Future Advantage Questionnaire™

What gets you excited? What is getting in your way of moving forward? The questions on our Future Advantage Questionnaire™ can help you understand where you are and where you want to be. 

Questionnaire   •   
Financial Planning

Money Management Approach

We believe money matters. As a Registered Advisory (RIA) firm, we’re beholden to no one but you. Discover what’s included in every one of our money management relationships.

One-sheet   •   
Money Management

Assessments

Evaluate where you stand by taking our Return on Life™ assessment. Make sure your money is working for you to give you the ultimate return.
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Return on Life Assessment™

Is your money offering you the best life possible? Using the exclusive Return on Life™ index, you can recalibrate how you’re managing your wealth to give you the ultimate return. See where you stand.

Assessment   •   
Life Planning

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our popular monthly newsletter, where we share WH Cornerstone news, useful and relevant information, recommended reading, and our latest blog posts posts.
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