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Retirement Success Stories

The following three scenarios highlight actual Olympic clients and a variety of beneficial planning solutions they’ve received from our firm. For privacy and confidentiality reasons, photographs shown are not of the actual clients.

Client Profile

 

  • Married couple, early 60s
  • Retired from technology and manufacturing
  • Invested net worth (not counting home equity) $1.7 million
  • Initial spending goal: $7,000 per month

This client was referred to Olympic Wealth Management in early 2011. The husband had decided to resign from a large defense industry employer and begin work as an independent contractor making much higher pay. The wife was working with a Seattle-area mechanical contracting firm.

Using Envestnet MoneyGuide®, the industry’s leading financial planning software, Eric created a detailed ‘retirement income roadmap’ for the client. First, a number of spending goals were identified (all adjusted annually for taxes and inflation) including:

  • $7,000 monthly income
  • Sale of their primary residence and building a new ‘dream home’
  • Estimated health care costs over & above Medicare
  • Purchase of life insurance for husband
  • Purchase of long-term care insurance for wife
  • Replace the wife’s vehicle
  • Continue funding husband’s hobby of building and flying custom-built aircraft

Next, the client’s Social Security benefits were modeled into the projections.

Finally, the client’s savings/investment assets were entered including company 401(k), possible surplus proceeds from selling the primary residence, and brokerage accounts which had been established through Olympic at Charles Schwab. (Note: A state-of-the-art integration exists between Schwab and MoneyGuide®. Each time a client’s retirement projections are updated, MoneyGuide automatically uploads current investment plan values from the Schwab accounts into the projections.) This helps produce accurate/realistic outcomes, on-demand, any time.

Over the years, the projections were updated and reviewed periodically. In each planning session with Eric, the driving question was: Will our accumulated savings plus Social Security be sufficient to fund all of our spending goals, assuming the second life ends at age 90?

The answer is yes. Based on the detailed projections made possible using MoneyGuide, this client retired in January of 2020 and plans to celebrate with a long-awaited tropical vacation (flying commercial.)

Client Profile

 

  • Married couple, late 50s/early 60s
  • Retired retail executive
  • Invested net worth (not counting home equity) $2.1 million
  • Initial spending goal: $8,000 per month

Referred to us in 2015, the husband was beginning to experience burnout in his high-stress executive position. In addition, his wife is a cancer survivor with a heightened awareness of living life to its fullest. After working decades in their careers–and fully funding college education for all three of their children–this couple was envisioning the rest/relaxation of retirement and enjoying the money they’ve diligently saved.

Using Envestnet MoneyGuide®, the industry’s leading financial planning software, Eric created a retirement income ‘roadmap.’ First, a number of spending goals were identified (all adjusted annually for taxes and inflation) including:

  • $8,000 monthly income
  • Estimated health care costs over & above Medicare
  • Yearly vacation/travel budget
  • Eventual relocation to Palm Springs
  • Golf club membership
  • New luxury sedan

Next, the client’s Social Security benefits were accounted for.

Finally, all client investment assets were entered including company 401(k), employer stock, and brokerage accounts which had been consolidated at Olympic. (Note: A state-of-the-art integration exists between Charles Schwab and MoneyGuide®. Each time a client’s retirement projections are updated, MoneyGuide automatically uploads current investment plan values from the Schwab accounts into the projections.) This helps produce accurate/realistic outcomes, on-demand, any time.

At this point, the question for the client became: Will our accumulated savings plus Social Security be sufficient to fund all of our spending goals, assuming the second life ends at age 90?

The answer is yes. Based on the detailed projections made possible using MoneyGuide, this client retired summer of 2020.

Client Profile

 

  • Married coiuple, early 60s
  • Retired Boeing executive
  • Invested net worth (not counting home equity) $3.8 million
  • Initial spending goal: $12,000 per month

We initially met these clients in 2014 at a seminar Eric presented for Boeing executives. The husband’s entire career had been spent with Boeing. The wife worked hard for many years as a homemaker. Together they successfully raised three children and remained disciplined in their saving.

Again, Eric applied his expertise using the MoneyGuide® planning software to build and solidify the client’s retirement income plan. Their financial goals (adjusted annually for taxes and inflation) include:

  • $12,000 monthly income
  • Medical and dental expenses not covered by Medicare
  • Yearly travel budget
  • Wedding for a daughter
  • College funding for grandchildren
  • Charitable giving

At this point the client’s income sources were incorporated in the mix. These include Social Security and a pension benefit which is paid to retired Boeing executives on a monthly basis.

Then all investment/savings assets were added. There are three aspects which are unique in the development and nature of this client’s investment plan:

  1. About a year prior to retiring–and once the husband had reached age 59.5–the couple decided to ‘roll over’ his Boeing 401(k) balance to a Rollover IRA account at Schwab. This is known as an ‘Age 59.5 Withdrawal’ provision. It allows active employees aged 59.5 and older to roll money out of their employer’s retirement plan on a tax-deferred basis while maintaining their eligibility to continue contributing and receiving employer matching contributions;
  2. Upon the husband’s retirement in Spring 2018, the couple also decided to take Boeing’s primary pension plan benefit (the Pension Value Plan, or PVP) in a single lump-sum vs. monthly payments. The decision on what form of pension benefit to elect–lump sum or monthly annuity–is a crucial decision point that is best reached using robust, subscription-based planning software like MoneyGuide.
  3. The couple gives regularly to charity. Over the years, they had acquired a substantial number of shares in Boeing common stock outside their retirement accounts and had seen the value of those shares grow significantly. Rather than sell shares and donate the cash proceeds (which would result in capital gain tax liability), Eric instead advised them to donate actual shares of the appreciated stock. This results in the client being able to claim the full market value of the donated shares as a charitable contribution, and it allows the charity to sell the appreciated shares/utilize the proceeds without incurring tax consequences.

Once all of the preceding data points had been entered and considered, the question for the client became: Will our accumulated savings plus Social Security and the executive pension be sufficient to fund all of our spending goals, assuming the second life ends at age 90?

The answer is yes. Based on the detailed projections made possible using MoneyGuide, the husband retired from Boeing in Spring 2018. The couple has been enjoying retired life ever since.

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