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Simplification and Global Allocation of Investments

Background

A 49 year-old corporate attorney with two children was married to a teacher and had a $500,000 house and $2 million in eight different investment accounts. She had a 401k with her current employer, two 401k’s with previous employers, an IRA for herself and her husband, three taxable accounts with three different advisors, and a $500,000 whole life insurance contract. Her husband was the beneficiary of all her retirement plans and life insurance, and the children were named after him.

Client’s Objectives

  1. Make sure her husband and children would be ok if she passed away prematurely.
  2. In the event of both her and her husband’s passing, leave all assets to the children in trust with her sister as the trustee.
  3. Protect her assets due to the liability she had through her company.
  4. Simplify her investments and make sure she was on track to retire at age 60.

Solution

  1. Use financial modeling to determine how much money her family would need in the event of her premature death, and how much she would need to save each year in order to retire at age 60.
  2. Purchase term life insurance for the benefit of her husband and children.
  3. Consolidate the three taxable accounts into one. Consider rolling over one or both of the old 401k plans into her existing 401k plan or IRA.
  4. Establish estate documents that create a trust (or trusts) for her children at their deaths. Name her sister as the initial trustee and others as successor trustees.
  5. Globally allocate all investment assets earmarked for retirement, which could include the 401k, IRA’s, taxable account, and a portion of the whole life cash value.
  6. Review the overall plan annually to ensure she stays on track.
CASE STUDY FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. NOT AN ACTUAL CLIENT.

CLIENT CASE STUDIES