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Life After Death

A death in the family is always emotionally demanding, but it can have lasting effects on a family’s finances. Jannis Briggs Milhouse of Columbia, South Carolina, knows this firsthand. For the past six years, the 45-year-old widow and mother of three has relied heavily on her late husband’s survivor benefits.

House Rich, Cash Poor

“As a family we were making great income and we took the money and invested in properties not thinking about the possibility that both of us could get laid off,” she reflects. Barrett says when her ex-husband was laid off in 2007 and then she lost her job in 2008, the couple had a lot available in credit, but not enough cash savings at the time, with only between $1,000 to $2,000 in savings. Barrett says: “We were swimming in debt and the tenants were not paying their rent. It was a domino effect from there.”

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