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CASE STUDY

James and Lisa

Cusp of Retirement

Age:

54 & 50

Primary Goal:

Get organized and make strategic decisions with their money to make sure their nest egg can support them if/when they choose to retire.

James and Lisa case study 1, lifepoint planning, financial planner

The Challenge:

James and Lisa are always on the go. They think that a "normal" retirement would be boring and they see themselves continuing to work in some capacity forever. Impacting lives is what drives them.

James is an executive engineer specializing in the design and development of medical facilities. Lisa is a physician that takes pride in knowing how important her work is. She feels energized by the ability to literally heal the people around her.

James and Lisa have built careers they love and care a lot about. As they've worked hard to excel in their respective professional roles, they've also worked hard in their financial lives.

In fact, they're the type of people that appear to be "all-set" with everything. They do a lot of things right:

They have good incomes, they continue to max out their retirement plans at work, they consistently contribute to other investment accounts, they have little-to-no debt, and they've always been smart about protecting themselves with the right types of insurance.

So what's the problem?

Well, James and Lisa have been checking all the boxes they know that they should be checking...but they're not sure if they're missing anything. They feel a lack of confidence that they're optimizing everything they're doing.

They have multiple accounts among different platforms with no real goal for their assets. They also have never worked with an advisor that prepared a written plan that is simple enough to understand and execute - yet sophisticated enough to ensure they meet their goals. They know they need to get organized, but they lack the time and expertise to go it alone.

They know they've done well with savings and investing, but they know that with something as important as their financial future, it's important to work with someone that is a specialist.

It's important to James and Lisa to know that retirement is possible in whatever capacity they desire, and they don't want financial limitations to be the reason they can't do what they want.

The Approach:

James and Lisa knew they needed advice, but didn't know where to begin. They're both smart and self-aware, which is one of the reasons they decided to reach out to a professional when they faced a feeling of uncertainty in their planning.

Plus, they're incredibly busy with careers and lives that keep them happy and engaged. They didn't want to get bogged down in trying to figure everything out on their own.

We knew we'd need to focus in on a few key things to give James and Lisa the answers, clarity, and confidence they wanted. We set out to:

  • Consolidate and optimize their 7 different investment accounts

  • Develop strategies to reduce their tax burden

  • Construct a retirement plan that allows them the flexibility to retire on their terms, without the fear of running out of money

  • Maximize their insurance policies and estate plan so that they could continue to impact lives positively even after they pass away

The Results:

When James and Lisa initially contacted us, they wanted to know whether or not they were on the right track to have the freedom to choose to live the life they wanted in retirement. They knew they'd done good things financially up to this point, but they wanted to do the best things.

 

After we began working together on their financial plan and investment strategy, we were able to:

 

  • Provide a tailored investment strategy backed by decades of academic research and empirical evidence

  • Reduce their investment fees significantly, improved their overall asset allocation, and created a systematic rebalancing strategy to use over time

  • Utilize a creative IRA funding strategy to create long-term tax efficiencies

  • Develop a plan with a high probability of success that they would never run out of money

We also gave James and Lisa access to industry-leading technology that provided them to see their plan in real time, giving them clarity around all aspects of their financial life. With the ability to understand and see everything at a glance, their situation started to feel simpler, and much more within their control.

James and Lisa now enjoy the peace of mind that comes from the clear plan they have around their money. They have more energy and mental bandwidth to dedicate toward the jobs they love so much, knowing they can retire when - and if - they want to.

 

WANT TO LEARN HOW WE CAN HELP YOU CLARIFY YOUR GOALS TO LIVE THE RETIREMENT YOU WANT?

The first step in our process is to schedule a 15-minute phone consultation. This is a chance for both of us to make sure your situation matches our expertise.

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