I recently flew to Boston to meet with
a couple who were referred to us by the husband's brother for whom we had completed
a comprehensive financial review. I will
call them John and Judy, although these are not their real names to protect
their privacy. John was a non-profit and
foundation consultant whose business was significantly down due to some health
issues he has had and Judy works for a software technology company. They had two grown sons. John is 60 and Judy 59. Judy was also having some health issues due
to her stress from work and working long hours.
They, like many of the people we initially meet, were not confident that
they could reduce their current savings so that Judy could perhaps work less,
or work a day or two from home, and still be able to have enough to retire in a
few years. They were very diligent
savers and had saved quite a bit in assets which were spread across many
disparate accounts with no real portfolio management plan. We ran various scenarios using Monte Carlo
software simulation and worked through a budgeting process with them, which gave
them more confidence that they could spend a little more now, reduce their
stress level, live a little and still be able to retire and live comfortably in
a few years. They were so thrilled with
our process that as John's brother did, Judy wanted us to go through the same
process with her mother, which we are currently doing!
There are obviously many assumptions
and factors that go into this type of analysis and nothing is guaranteed in
financial projections and hypothetical analysis, however, we have found in our
over seventeen years of experience helping clients like John and Judy achieve
their financial goals that it is the process and exercise of compiling all the
data, thinking about and writing down your goals, putting a plan in place to
achieve those goals and then regularly reviewing this plan to determine if you
are on track and if not what needs to change, that provides clients like John
and Judy with the most value!
Admittedly, there have been times,
albeit thankfully very few, in my experience over my seventeen year career as a
financial planner that I question whether we really do provide value to our
clients and it is times such as meeting with clients like John and Judy, going
through our analysis and facilitating a discussion between them about very
sensitive and difficult issues, which they would probably not have done on
their own, that remind me why I got into this business and why I stay in
it!! WE CAN AND DO MAKE A SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLES LIVES!
I cannot explain the feeling of
extreme satisfaction and happiness that I felt personally as I was leaving John
and Judy's home knowing that we had really helped them in a significant way,
during a difficult time, however, it is one that I will never forget and look
to duplicate each and every day!
White House Financial & Settlement Consulting helps families live easier and less stressful lives through the proper management of their financial resources. We do this by acting as our clients’ trusted advisor providing a personal touch customized to the client’s needs! Please visit our web site at www.whitehousellc.com for more information!
White House Financial & Settlement Consulting helps families live easier and less stressful lives through the proper management of their financial resources. We do this by acting as our clients’ trusted advisor providing a personal touch customized to the client’s needs! Please visit our web site at www.whitehousellc.com for more information!
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not be representative of the experience of other clients; and are not indicative
of future performance or success.