Case Studies
Jon & Carol
Retirement
Primary Goal
As a retirement planner, our goal is to help Jon and Coral know their options and getting a game plan together; a comfortable retirement without fear of running out.
Their Situation
Jon and Carol had started thinking about retirement a bit more.
They love their family and love their work. They're established in their careers. Their children are thriving, and having children of their own. They became grandparents a couple years ago.
Jon is a Co-founder at a rapidly growing software company that builds technology empowering entrepreneurs and small businesses.
He's fired up to go to work each day and doesn't plan to ever really retire, but he'd like to know that he could stop or take it easier if he wanted to.
Carol is a Director at a large home insurance company. She's been there for a long time. The hours are demanding, and with the arrival of the grandchildren, she's been thinking to redirect some energy to help out with her daughter and the grandchildren more.
Savings-wise, they've done a good job. They've been responsible even as their income has grown over the years and have taken up some more luxurious habits. They made sure to still save a good amount each year.
Things are going well and they feel at ease with their finances.
But with Jon turning 60 this year, and grandchildren in the picture, thoughts and questions about retirement come a bit more to mind these days. They wonder what their options are and what's best to do.
The Approach
Jon and Carol didn't know where to begin.
Their bank advisor had made some general comments, but it didn't give them the clarity they were looking for.
They spent time researching online and learned a few things, but it also opened up many more questions. They were beginning to feel overwhelmed.
In the end, Jon and Carol decided to hire us as their financial planner.
We knew we'd need to focus on a few things to give Jon and Carol the answers, clarity and confidence they wanted. So we did the following:
The Results
Carol decided she could dial back at work or move to a lower-stress job with less pay to spend more time with family -- and they'd still be ok.
They discovered a few tweaks would significantly improve their investment portfolio performance because of tax savings.
And that by being smart about when to draw money from which account, they could increase their retirement income significantly over their lifespan.
They got their Pension options, CPP elections and OAS structured and designed to to squeeze the most out of the potential benefits.
They increased their charitable giving, because by implementing a new strategy, it generated more tax credits and cost the same on an after-tax basis.
They were confident that all options were explored and have a wise plan in place.
