Briefcase Study: Puzzle Pieces
“Barb hates this stuff.”
Roger has been the “long-term investments manager” in their marriage for many years, decades in fact. While his wife, Barb, has been masterfully managing the checkbook, credit cards, and other day-to-day financial matters for the duration of their marriage, she has never enjoyed sitting down to talk investments. As a result, getting on the same page financially has been a challenge for them as they approached retirement.
About a year ago, Roger convinced Barb to join him for a “retirement class thing” to learn more about that which Barb does not enjoy. She reluctantly agreed because she both knows how important this is, but she also loves Roger. So, they registered, jumped in the car, and sat attentively to hear how to put all of the pieces together to form a comprehensive retirement plan. Surprisingly, Barb became intrigued. It wasn’t the mechanics of income planning per se, nor was it the potential tax benefits of a long-term Roth conversion strategy. No, she was intrigued by the idea that they could finally see ALL the pieces at the same time in the same place!
See, Barb is an avid puzzler. There’s not a 1,000-piece puzzle she can’t complete. The process is relaxing for her, and the completed result is intoxicating. For Barb though, finances always felt like a jigsaw puzzle spread among several separate boxes, with no photo to demonstrate the completed picture, and even missing pieces to boot. To put it another way, retirement finances always seemed like an abstract puzzle that had no achievable result. This kept Barb from engaging with Roger; they both looked at the puzzle differently, and it was easier to simply “let him take care of it”.
Until now.
After attending the class and having three meetings with our team (Discovery, Evaluation, Plan Design), Barb saw it, finally. “Until now, I’ve never seen it all in one place. It makes sense now.” Up until that point, long-term financial planning was just a source of stress, and life offers plenty of other stresses to endure, so it was best to just focus on other things instead.
Are you like Barb?
Or are you a frustrated Roger, trying to endlessly convince your spouse or partner to get involved because “It’s important!”
Let us help you. Whether you’re Barb or Roger, enlisting the help of a third party to guide you through the process can result in enormous dividends and breakthroughs. The end result is a formal, comprehensive, all-in-on-place and all-under-one-roof plan that allows you to live your best life in and through retirement.
Don’t you want that?
And don’t you want that for your friends, coworkers, and family?
We’re here to serve, so just say the word. We all deserve to see the pieces fit together and the puzzle completed.
