New And Future Retirees

New and Future Retirees

Happy senior couple on a Ferris wheel

Bringing Peace of Mind to Retirement

Clients in their 60s were nearing retirement after successful careers. As long-time investors, they had amassed several million dollars and were preparing for the next chapter in their lives.

The clients designed their financial system around their steady and significant annual pay. They had a simple approach—they spent their salaries and saved the husband’s annual bonus. This approach gave them security and comfort. They gradually built their wealth and didn’t worry much about financial market volatility because it never affected their lifestyle. However, the thought of retiring and being dependent solely upon distributions from their portfolio caused a sudden emotional shift. They worried that investment risk would feel very different in retirement, and they were filled with questions:

From which accounts should we draw to maximize our annual cash flow and minimize the tax impact?
How will our plan change during a major stock market decline?
Do we have some extra money to give to the kids now, when they need it, rather than later in an inheritance?

Changing Perception of Risk

Balancing risk and return sounds straightforward, but life transitions and emotional responses can make investing and financial planning far more complex. Here’s how we helped:

Real Conversations: We created a space for the clients to discuss their goals and fears. The wife expressed needing to maintain her financial independence, which she had always done from her salary. The husband talked about how not earning money would leave him with a personal void. He wondered if working part time would help ease this anxiety. Their plan had to be sufficiently thoughtful to address these complex issues.
Smart Planning: We crafted a tax-efficient and sustainable cash flow plan to meet their lifestyle needs, with buffers built-in for big-ticket items and life’s inevitable surprises. We took advantage of relatively low taxable income years between retirement and their early 70s to build assets in a Roth IRA, which will create future tax-free distributions.

We have found that our collaborative process, with significant involvement from our clients as co-creators, builds their investment knowledge and confidence in their retirement plan.

Contact us to hear more about securing our services.

Portrait of middle aged couple hugging while standing together in kitchen at home