James and Rachel Case Study
The Client and Their Challenges
James, 36 and Rachel, 34 are married with two kids under the ages of five. James is an electrician and Jane is a nurse, making a combined annual salary of $123,000. They are starting to think about retirement and wanting to save for their children’s college. They each have a 401K and are contributing 6% annually but have concerns about their lack of knowledge of 401Ks. Along with their desires to start saving for their children’s college, they would like to make improvements to their home, but they do not see room in their budget to do both.
The Solution
- Our first step was gathering all necessary information about James and Rachel’s current and future expenses and using our planning software to outline a roadmap to align their goals.
- We explored the details of each 401k and determined both James and Rachel can take advantage of the Self-Directed Brokerage Account.
- Finally, used our risk analysis software that calculated James and Rachel’s risk tolerance as a number and allowed us the ability to compare the risk they were currently taking vs what they were truly comfortable with.
The Results
Once James and Rachel laid out their current expenses and came to an agreement on their long-term goals, it was easy for them to realize an unnecessary expense in their budget. With the extra room in their budget, they were able to make a seamless transition into saving for their children’s college in a 529 plan, reducing their tax burden and making it easier for them to save for their home improvements in increments.
We were able to increase their annual contributions to their 401Ks from 6% to 10% and exploring our 401K options gave James and Rachel access to strategies that were tailored better to their individual risk. Having the guidance of our knowledgeable team, James and Rachel were confident in their plan of action to meet their goals.