Client Case Studies
Married Couple With Kids
The Case
This young couple in their late 20's had just started a family and were excelling in their careers in the medical field. They knew they should be saving but didn't know how. As new parents they wanted to eventually plan for their children's college education as well as their retirement.
The Challenge
This couple had done a great job saving in different savings accounts, but they were spread out across several institutions, and they had no clue how their money was invested or what they were contributing each month. They were also in need of tax planning strategies.
The Approach
Right away our clients went through financial coaching. This was an important step to ensure our clients were on the same page early on in the planning process. This helped them get focused on the same goals for their plan (which prevented disagreements down the road) and a shared excitement for working on their plan together.
These clients instantly benefited from our online Level Up Planning Portal - which every client receives access to. They were able to see all of their accounts spread across different institutions and view them in 'real time'. In their Financial Plan they could see the benefit that making Roth IRA contributions had on their specific situation and how much was going to be required to send their kids to an in-state college vs an out of state Ivy League school. We also helped them optimize their retirement savings in their retirement plan at work to get the most of their employer match and how contributing to their HSA (Health Savings Account) would affect their situation. We also found they were in need of life insurance to help provide for their families in a 'worst case scenario' plan and recommended they work with an Estate Planning expert.
The Result
Our clients were amazed at how easy the Financial Planning process was. They not only left the process with a plan for the future goals but were able to consolidate their accounts. They felt a feeling of excitement with everything now simplified and organized in one place.
Couple Facing Career Change
The Case
This married couple in their 40's came to us wanting to make a career change which involved going back to school for the husband and moving across the country.
The Challenge
Trying to navigate the expenses of going back to college for one of them, selling a home in one state and evaluating the move across country to a new state was a lot for them to sort out on their own.
The Approach
We built a few plans for them. One showed them what their financial situation would look like if nothing changed. The other plan we were able to show the financial effects of cash flowing the cost of education while including the increased salary of the new career. These clients were also in need of tax planning as some of their jobs were performed as independent contractors. Although we could not file their taxes and give them tax advice, they benefited from knowing how taxes would affect their situation and how they could plan for this expense.
The Result
Our clients could look at their options from a "numbers only" standpoint once we presented them both plans. This helped by taking the emotion out of the equation for a few minutes and they were able to make this huge change knowing they had planned for it.
Newly Single Mom
The Case
A client in her mid 40's found us shortly after her husband passed away.
The Challenge
She was trying to tackle life being a single working mom with more debt than she even realized.
The Approach
Our client went through financial coaching (which is always a part of our financial planning process). We helped her create a budget which gave her freedom to spend money on items she was scared to before - because she had planned for it! She had us as an accountability partner which kept her saving and spending in check.
The Result
In less than 18 months our client found herself completely debt free (besides her mortgage) and was able to start saving for her emergency fund and retirement. This gave her great financial peace as she was ready to begin her next stage of life.
The Business Owners
The Case
Our clients in their late 50's came to us with the hopes to retire in the next 10 years.
The Challenge
Although the clients had done a great job running a successful business and taking care of the college education for their children - Life got in the way of prioritizing retirement.
The Approach
We approached their plan from a variety of angles - First, we evaluated different retirement plans and what would benefit them the most. Then we showed them how contributing different annual amounts between now and retirement would affect their situation. We also were able to illustrate the benefit of taking social security at age 70 to help supplement their retirement income.
We had them go through financial coaching to help put together an accurate budget. With that we were able to cut back on the budget for the next few years knowing that this would allow them to be able to put even more money aside.
The Result
Our clients were able to leave the planning process with a clear vision of what they needed to do to get to where they wanted to go! It gave them peace of mind knowing this clear path to the retirement they have always wanted.