Case Study: 10 Years from Retirement - Enjoy More 50s^TM

Bill and Jennifer are about to hit 55, are at the height of their careers, and their last child is just finishing college.

They can feel retirement finally closing in, and have been saving for quite some time now towards it.  While they have what they feel are pretty significant assets built up, they are not sure if they are on pace 10 years from now to be able to fund how they want to enjoy retirement for the long term.

This represents a hypothetical situation and does not involve any actual client of the firm.  It is for illustrative purposes only to show how The Enjoy More Blueprint process could be utilized, not to guarantee any results of any kind.

1. Meet & Share Goals

Bill and Jennifer had spoken to investment people through work plans, but never had a comprehensive look.

Their kids were just out of the house now and they could move their mindset to retirement.  You only retire once though, so they wanted to make sure they didn't make any mistakes.  Sitting at the intimate conference room table with a coffee in hand, they were happy to learn there was a process designed specifically for them to meet their comprehensive needs.  They jointly came up with the goals they had for their retirement future.

Shared Goals:

• Additional Travel Upon Retiring
  
• Clear Retirement Income Plan
• Have Flexibility to Adjust Over Time

2. Optimize Resources

With work plans at several old employers and ongoing contributions, it seemed like a lot saved, but was it enough?

They were maxing out their 401(k)s at the current employers, but still had amounts in old work plans. They had CDs in the bank, some stock from various stock options over the years, and some level of insurance through work. They wanted to better understand though what path they were on, and how account value numbers translated to actual income later on.

Realignment with Goals:

• Additional Traveling - Travel Account: Funds needed to satisfy those early retirement traveling goals were placed in a separate account, so they knew where these funds would come from.
  
• Retirement Income Bucket Strategy: Accounts were organized by tax-efficiency and time horizon, so they knew exactly where income would come first, second, and down the line.  Initial accounts were more conservative, while accounts further out could still be positioned for more growth.
• Created Flexibility: Guaranteed income from social security and pensions was paired with flexible investment income sources, so that they could increase income distributions, or take additional distributions as needed over time.

3. Realize Clarity

Seeing is believing - each part was clear on how it supported what was important to them.

Bill and Jennifer saw exactly what path they were on now for their retirement lifestyle goals, and how enjoying more in early retirement affected it.  They saw exactly where vacation funds would come, and the Retirement Income Bucket Strategy showed where retirement income would come from each step of the way.  They understood where their money was going, and the trade offs for doing so, allowing them to make intentional, educated decisions.  Best of all, they asked questions, and in real time were shown on the screen what would happen if they took those actions.

Clear Path to Goals:

• How to ensure retirement vacations were experienced
  
• How to set a clear Retirement Income strategy
• How to build financial flexibility for earlier retirement or additional vacations

4. Enjoy Living!

A clear plan puts you in control to enjoy life.

Bill and Jennifer now just needed to worry about determining their dream retirement vacations.  They knew what path they were on, and how they had flexibility built in and where, so they could adjust if something didn't go according to plan.  As life and goals inevitably changed, they had someone they could count on to make those adjustments with them.