Corporate Executive Seeking Wealth Assessment & Retirement Planning
The Situation
Mr. Wilkerson, an executive with a large local corporation, is growing his net worth while being faced with a baffling range of compensation plans from his employer. In planning for his family’s long-term financial needs, he and his wife face many complex questions:
- How much to save each year to educate their children?
- How much to save each year for retirement?
- How much to save each year in his company retirement plan?
- Should he participate in the company stock purchase plan?
- Should he exercise some or all of his stock options? If so, when?
- How can he reduce his current tax liability?
- Have he and his wife optimally structured their wills?
- Do they have the right type of insurance coverages? Do they have enough insurance?
- How can they minimize estate taxes?
- Can they afford a second home?
- What kind of retirement lifestyle will they lead?
- How soon could he cut back his hours at work or even fully retire?
- How should they invest to increase the likelihood of accomplishing the goals above?
At the same time, his wife would like a new, bigger house to meet their growing family and social needs. Mr. Wilkerson senses that he is at a tipping point in financial planning. He believes that if good decisions are made now, he will be able to set the course for a favorable financial outlook for the lifecycle of his family.
The Issues
- Mr. Wilkerson has never comprehensively considered his financial situation, other than reviewing occasional broker statements.
- His will is outdated.
- He owns some insurance but isn’t confident his coverage is correct for his current life stage.
- He and his wife have broker-established, personal investment accounts and IRAs that haven’t performed well and remain heavily concentrated in equities.
- He cannot evaluate the wealth-building progress he’s making, if any, by reviewing monthly statements on each of his separate accounts.
- He is grateful for the compensation plans of his company, but wonders what he might be missing.
- He feels the need to have a coordinated portfolio strategy instead of the haphazard approach his broker has provided.
The Solution
- ICMC works with Mr. Wilkerson to examine every element of his financial world and develop a financial strategy for his family.
- Financial information on three levels (personal, retirement and corporate) are examined and organized.
- A complete financial dossier is assembled, and an action list suited to Mr. Wilkerson’s temperament and desire for action is presented with a timeline.
- Mr. Wilkerson is referred to professionals in the areas of tax, insurance, estate planning and real estate.
- His ICMC-led team of experts gives Mr. Wilkerson an up-to-date financial plan that enables him to confidently make lifestyle and retirement decisions.