Example Client Case Studies
Real client scenarios, used with permission.
Meet Jill.
Jill is a social worker in her mid 30’s who recently inherited just over $1 million. In the past Jill has been able to live on her salary without incurring debt, but also had very little savings. Jill wanted helped managing all the technical aspects of inheriting, as well as how to think about a charitable giving strategy.
As part of her plan, we:
- Spent 6 months navigating the probate process, and brought her inheritance from across five financial institutions to just one.
- Devised a tax smart plan for making required withdrawals from her Inherited IRA over the coming decade.
- Budgeted for a home purchase, including a 40% down payment that allowed her monthly mortgage to match her previous rent.
- Created a charitable giving plan to give away 1% of her wealth annually.
- Reviewed all of her insurance to make sure she had adequate coverage for her new financial situation.
- Decided on several time saving ways to spend money each month (laundry service, housecleaning) that helped lower day to day stress.
Meet Whitney & Rick
Whitney & Rick are in their early 30’s and have one child. Both are educators, and have collected multiple retirement accounts at different employers. They have a small inheritance, and are planning for another child in the coming years.
As part of their plan, we:
- Consolidated all their old retirement plans to one place.
- Developed a retirement projection for their age and goals.
- Created a low-cost, long-term investment strategy.
- Purchased life insurance to protect their family.
- Worked with an estate planning attorney to write a complete set of estate planning documents and ensure all of their beneficiaries are up to date.
- Applied for Teacher Loan Forgiveness for their student loans.
Meet Gerald & Vanessa
Vanessa & Gerald are in their early 40’s, with 7 and 4 year old sons. Vanessa is a Nurse Practitioner, and Gerald runs a legal aid non-profit. Gerald’s mother passed away, leaving Gerald an inheritance of $1.5 million. They wanted to make sure they use the inheritance wisely and consider tax ramifications of this unexpected influx.
As part of their plan, we:
- Planned for the purchase of a larger home that could accommodate Vanessa’s Dad living with them in the future.
- Created a new monthly budget that includes their new home, college savings plans for the boys, and a goal of being able to retire in their late 50’s if they desire.
- Consolidated Gerald’s mother’s various accounts and made a tax wise plan for distributions from each account over the coming decade.
- Increased their charitable giving to 5% of household income with a personalized charitable giving plan.
- Enrolled Gerald in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and ensured he is on track for his 6 figure student loans to be forgiven in 3 more years.
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