Case Study: Individuals Nearing Retirement

Client Summary

Bill and Betty Jones have worked hard their entire lives. She is a high school teacher. He is a successful business owner. Neither Bill nor Betty had spent the time to analyze if or when they might be able to retire, leave an inheritance for their grown children  and set in place a plan to reach their goals and objectives. They both stated a desire to travel and spend more time with their new grandkids.

Both Bill and Betty stated that they were nervous about the stock markets. They could both see the inherent dangers of what Central Bankers were doing around the globe to prop up their countries in the short-term to the detriment of their longer term futures.

Bill also expressed concern over the unprecedented levels of market volatility. He was concerned about capital preservation as much as the growth of his capital at this stage of his life. He and Betty were both open to thinking differently about their planning and investment options.

Our Solution

A friend of Bill’s referred him to InTrust Advisors. After an initial Discovery Meeting and a subsequent Investment Planning Meeting with our investment advisors, Bill and Betty decided that InTrust Advisors could best help them to plan and move towards their retirement goals.

As part of the Investment Planning Meeting, our advisors quickly walked Bill and Betty through a set of cash flow forecasts that gave them peace of mind they would be able to retire in their mid-60s as desired and have the resources to travel and spend time with their grandkids. The advisor even outlined a plan for Bill to follow to develop and promote an eventual buyer from within his existing business, thereby allowing him to transition out over time.

Our advisor explained how their apprehension about the markets was valid and quite normal given the current Bearish Secular Cycle (see Why Now? video). They explained how certain strategies worked better in certain cycles. Finally, they outlined a recommendation that the client adopt InTrust’s actively managed strategies in their IRA accounts, while adopting a less active (and tax efficient) enhanced buy and hold strategy in their taxable investment account.

The advisor showed Bill and Betty that by adopting the more active investment strategies they could possibly significantly outperform the overall markets over a complete market cycle. These strategies were also significantly less volatile than the overall stock market and not highly correlated to its movements. Additionally, they felt comfortable that InTrust would protect their taxable assets against the ravages of a significant market decline since they had a define process and models for moving aside in bear markets.

Our advisor did not stop with cash flow and investment plans. He also made a number of recommendations with regard to their insurance, estate and tax planning. He promised them that he would help them address the latter items over the balance of the succeeding year by introducing them to the appropriate unrelated, third party experts to help them with these recommendations. He also assured them that he would help them manage this process.

Not only did Bill and Betty feel better about their situation, but they felt more comfortable that they were as prepared as possible for whatever happens in their lives, the markets and/or economy. They had true peace of mind!

Note – The aforementioned client is fictitious, any similarities to current or prospective clients is purely coincidental.