Planning for Financial Freedom in Retirement
"Instilling confidence in your ability to live out your retirement dreams."
What We Heard
A couple came to our team hoping for reassurance and professional insights into whether they were financially prepared to retire. They had spent their working years building successful careers and were hoping to reap the benefits of their efforts with fulfilling retirement years.
To help our team gain a comprehensive understanding of their financial situation we asked that they share their current investment portfolios which were scattered among a variety of financial institutions. We learned they had duplicative investments, multiple layers of fees, no tax efficiency, no one quarterbacking the portfolio potpourri and – most importantly – no Financial Plan.
How We Helped
Our first course of action was to develop a customized Financial Plan for the couple – a living document to lay the groundwork for their financial situation. To do this, we met with them to discuss their family dynamics, values and their goals for this next stage of their lives. From this conversation we were able to develop a Financial Plan where we:
- Input the assets that needed to be utilized to achieve their goals.
- Ran investment scenarios based on a variety of market results.
- Created asset allocation percentages based on their risk profile and growth predictions for their expenses.
- Initiated changes to their investment portfolios to dramatically reduce their fees and eliminate redundant investments.
Through the financial planning process, we heard that the couple’s goal was to remain physically active in retirement so we helped them realize that living in a retirement community with a variety of activities would better suit them than living in a remote cabin in the woods. Today, the couple owns a second home in a club in Idaho and the two are enjoying their golden years and living with confidence that their Financial Plan has been successfully structured so they can thrive in retirement.
Transferring Wealth While Sharing Values
"Helping you leave a lasting legacy."
What We Heard
For decades, a senior couple had put a vast amount of time and effort into building both familial wealth and values. The pair had earned a significant amount of money throughout their working years and had saved and invested wisely so they had substantial investment portfolios. From a tax perspective, it made sense for the couple to gift their investments and wealth to both their adult kids and college-aged grandkids; however, they were concerned that the amount of money being gifted would create adverse results for the kids. The couple valued hard work and didn’t want their heirs to lose ambition due to the gifts they would receive.
How We Helped
Our team provided the grandparents with our Love Letter, a document that asks them to list the unique values they would like to pass down their family tree, along with contact information for their full team of financial and health experts as well as passwords for their online life. Next, we scheduled a meeting with the three generations of the family to allow an opportunity for the grandparents to share the story behind their success. We asked the couple to describe the values that helped shape them into the people they are today and their desire to pass these values to their offspring.
Our next step was to hold Investment Workshops with each of the grandchildren where we introduced concepts like compound interest, investing fundamentals, budgeting and managing debt – and even invited the grandfather to speak about his biggest financial failure and success. In these workshops, we also encouraged the grandchildren to ask their own parents about some of their best and worst financial decisions. Together, we successfully had all three generations discussing money in a constructive way.
Finally, we worked directly with the grandparents to establish a Donor Advised Fund. This fund was created to help them accomplish their philanthropic goals, optimize gifting to their family, and emphasize the importance of philanthropy to future generations.
Today, the grandparents are optimistic about how the next generations of their family are handling their inheritances and are confident that they will continue to be good stewards of their multigenerational wealth and legacy.
Providing Solace Through Challenging Times
"Advocating for your success through all seasons of life."
What We Heard
After 30 years of marriage, a mother of two came to us in the midst of her divorce proceedings. In our initial meeting with her, she disclosed to us that her children had recently left for college and that in her years prior as a young mom she had moved on from her professional career to dedicate herself as a full-time caretaker of her children. She also informed us that her husband had various successful entrepreneurial ventures throughout their marriage and that some of these resulted in a slew of publicly traded securities.
Due to the couple’s decision to part ways, she knew that she needed to become educated about her family’s complex financial picture as well as understand the nuances of publicly held stock options. Our team also recognized the emotional impact she was facing as an individual going through a divorce.
How We Helped
We knew that our main goal was to help our client maintain her current lifestyle after her divorce. To accomplish this, we developed a Financial Plan that helped her organize her assets and set personal goals for this new chapter of life. From there, we worked closely with her divorce attorney and accountant to help ensure the division of assets was equitable.
Once the divorce was finalized and the assets were distributed we helped our client diversify the concentrated stock she received (which was not paying income) in a tax-efficient manner. We then reinvested the proceeds into a high-quality mix of equities and bonds, with a focus on total return: long-term appreciation plus income. In doing this, her portfolio generated more than enough income to support her lifestyle, reduce her concentration risk, and accomplish her goal of passing down generational wealth to her children.
To help our client meet her philanthropic objectives, our team also assisted her in creating a Donor Advised Fund. We reviewed her Tax Return and discussed how she can contribute a portion of the appreciated stock to her Donor Advised Fund while taking advantage of a tax deduction. Finally, we analyzed her Estate Plan to ensure her assets would flow efficiently through her estate, trusts and probate to the appropriate family members and charities. Today, our client happily spends her time enjoying life while fulfilling her philanthropic goals and visiting her children.