Rebecca and Sam's Story
The Facts:
Rebecca and Sam married later in life and are now in their early 60s, nearing retirement in Boulder, Colorado. They have a blended family with five adult children in their 30s. Sam’s son has special needs and still lives with them. They have six grandchildren — all under 18 — and are looking forward to spending more time with them in retirement.
They’ve both spent years building their nest egg, but it may not be enough. Private health insurance before Medicare eligibility is expensive. They’re nervous about long-term care costs a decade or more out. Their goals include caring for Sam’s son, traveling, and funding their grandchildren’s college education. Can they accomplish all of it?
Rebecca wants to claim Social Security as early as possible. Sam would prefer to wait to maximize his benefit, but worries he won’t be around long enough to come out ahead. Sam also has a pension with survivor benefit options attached, and they’re questioning whether converting IRA and 401(k) funds to Roths now makes sense despite their current tax bracket.
They’d prefer not to sell their home since Sam’s son may need to remain there, and they’re considering transferring it to a trust. But if long-term care is a realistic concern, how do they keep the house, fund care, and still execute Rebecca’s estate plan goals? She wants to make sure all five children are cared for, especially given the blended family dynamics, and has concerns about what might happen if Sam remarries if she passes first.
The Problem:
Rebecca and Sam are asking the right questions, but retirement planning at this stage involves an incredibly complex set of financial and wealth management variables that affect long-term projections. Every couple has unique facts. There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It requires a comprehensive analysis and a rigorously drafted retirement plan to understand how every decision impacts the others.
The Solution:
Peak Asset Management deploys a robust, all-encompassing approach to retirement planning for pre-retirees. We take the time to fully understand and prioritize your goals, so the strategies we implement are designed to maximize your financial planning decisions. We model projected tax brackets and effective tax rates, evaluate Social Security timing strategies and pension decisions, and calculate whether Roth conversions make sense now or in the future. We are active portfolio managers, adjusting asset allocations as needed — with financial planning and investment management fully integrated, the left hand always knows what the right hand is doing.
College planning for grandchildren will be addressed as well. Variables such as savings and growth rates, inflation on differing tuition rates, scholarship opportunities, and available student aid and loans will be important for modeling purposes at the outset, and for revisiting as graduation dates come into focus.
We provide long-term care cost scenarios and illustrations, and consider the role your home could play in funding such care, including selling or utilizing reverse mortgage options to maintain sufficient liquidity while protecting other goals.
Peak furnishes a full estate plan review, delivering observations and solutions tailored to client specifics and objectives. Evaluating legacy plans require an analysis of the base structure and other more complex components, such as trust planning, tax exposure, and philanthropic planning options. Because we understand how complex solutions work in concert, we can recommend them with confidence, and will work directly with a client’s outside attorney to implement them.
Our focus is to make sure your objectives are achieved. Allow Peak Asset Management to partner with you on this complex journey. We are active portfolio managers, adjusting asset allocations as needed. With financial planning and investment management fully integrated, the left hand always knows what the right hand is doing.
DISCLOSURE
Investment Advisory Services are being offered through Peak Asset Management, LLC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Any content included in this presentation developed from third party resources is believed to be accurate information. The opinions and recommendations expressed, and financial planning material provided, are for general information purposes, and they should never be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Investing involves risks, and investment decisions should be based on your own goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk.
This financial planning presentation is intended to facilitate a discussion concerning estate, business and financial planning goals, objectives and needs, and to provide you with general information regarding your planning options. Peak Asset Management (Peak) cannot provide legal, accounting or tax advice and any statements made by a partner, officer, advisor, employee or agent of Peak, including any legal and/or tax information, is not intended to be nor should it be interpreted as legal or tax advice, or an opinion. Such services must be provided by your outside attorney and/or CPA or tax professional. Please consult with these outside professionals accordingly.
The above case study is a hypothetical example provided for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an actual client. Any similarities to real persons or situations are purely coincidental. This example is intended to demonstrate the types of financial planning services Peak Asset Management may provide and should not be considered representative of the experience of any specific client or a guarantee of future results.
