Our Clients

Divorced stay-at-home spouse

Celeste was a stay-at-home spouse for her entire marriage, which lasted 34 years. Her husband earned over $1M for much of that time, so the couple accumulated significant assets. However, Celeste wasn’t actively involved in managing their income or even paying day-to-day household bills. Now that the couple has divorced, she isn’t quite sure how to begin making sense of her new financial reality. How much can she budget for living expenses each month? Will her divorce settlement allow her to maintain her pre-divorce lifestyle now and still be financially secure in later years? What types of insurance and investments should she be considering?

Five Years From Retirement

Bill and Susan are five years from retirement – at least they think they are. They’d like to know how they are tracking and make sure their estate planning documents accurately reflect their wishes. Besides ensuring that their nest egg is sufficient, Bill and Susan need advice on structuring all assets in order to maximize their retirement savings and figure out the best time to take Social Security. Do they need to adjust their planned retirement date? Is long-term care insurance right for them? They want to spend the last penny the day they die, and consider anything left for the kids as a bonus.

Business Owner

Travis is a business owner. He thinks frequently about succession plans for his company, given that his children haven’t yet decided whether they will want to take over the family business when Travis is ready to retire. He’s also concerned about making sure he takes every legally available tax deduction – why give Uncle Sam more of his company’s earnings than he has to? The business, along with a few real estate investments, represents most of his personal balance sheet. Travis and his wife aren’t sure if they need to see a financial advisor or not, but they do know they need to make an estate plan.

Attorney

Melissa, 28, and Michael, 30, are both attorneys. They’ve been married for 5 years and earn a combined income of $300K, with $300K in outstanding student loan debt. They are thinking about starting a family and trying to decide if and when it makes financial sense for them to purchase a home. However, they want to keep some cash available to invest in a business venture if the right opportunity comes along. The group benefits through their respective jobs are great, but Melissa and Michael could use some help deciding which options are most appropriate and mesh with their overall financial goals.

On Track for Retirement

Robert, age 52, is a married Executive VP at a Fortune 500 company who would like to retire in the next 10 years. With a household income of $700K, he and his wife want to find out whether or not they are on track for retirement within that time frame and make sure they are taking advantage of every available tax break. He is looking for investment advice and answers to financial questions:

- Should he exercise his stock options?
- How much should they be saving for retirement, and in what savings vehicle?
- Are the college savings they’ve amassed enough to fully fund their kids’ education?
- If they need to pay for care for an aging parent, will they still be able to retire or will they need to keep working?

Same-Sex Partners

Nancy and Sarah have been together for over 20 years. Nancy travels internationally for her high-paying job, while her partner takes care of the home and their beloved dogs. They’re quite comfortable, financially speaking, but Nancy worries about what would happen to Sarah if Nancy were to die unexpectedly. Her company pension doesn’t cover same-sex partners, so Sarah would have no income until she claimed Social Security. Nancy wants to know how to structure her savings, investments and insurance to fully protect Sarah’s financial future. Are her current assets titled properly? Would an irrevocable trust or an annuity be helpful? What’s the right amount of insurance coverage for each partner?

Recently Retired

Recently retired, James and Linda are considering speaking to an advisor to help better manage their assets during retirement and make sure their existing estate plan matches the documents they currently have. They are taking the required minimum distributions out of their IRAs and need to make sure they do not outlive their money. In the event of an unexpected illness or injury, they do not want to worry about how they will pay for any long-term health expenses. Once they are comfortable knowing their own needs are met, they would like to begin a legacy plan for their children and grandchildren.