A fresh look at how you'll get to retirement
Worried that the last year
made financial freedom
harder to reach?
Through open discussion + math,
our CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professionals help you:
- Clarify your retirement goals.
- Help you find meaning in all the numbers.
- Give you multiple options.
Case study 1: John and Samantha's* adult children are expensive
In the years leading up to their retirement, we worked with John and Samantha to balance tradeoffs between working longer—which meant richer retirement benefits from employers—and the desire to live, which to this couple meant taking extended trips while they were still full of energy. Social Security timing, consulting opportunities, and the needs of children and grandchildren all factored in to the equation. More than a year into their retirement journey, the couple still consults with us regularly as their situation evolves.
We identified what Dr. Thomas Stanley called "Economic Outpatient Care" in the form of financial support to adult children as the main threat to John and Samantha's retirement. The children and their families were living beyond their means and their parents had delayed drawing firm boundaries between needs and wants. The family developed an action plan to wean the children and grandchildren off support for monthly bills.
CASE STUDY 2: Pamela's tight budget
Pamela is the primary breadwinner in her family, and enjoys an in-demand career in the medical field. Within reason, she can scale her hours to her preferences. In Pamela's case we worked with her over a period of several years as she weighed her options, ultimately helping her navigate to a very part-time schedule and into the always-challenging life change of spending her savings. She isn't fully retired yet, so we touch base often as new challenges and concerns arise.
We identified the biggest threat to Pamela's retirement as a tight budget. She came to us later in life, so there is only so much more saving and lifestyle adjusting that can reasonably be done. Multiple times over the last few years we've combed through her expenses together, and we visit about home maintenance expenses that arise. As a result of our planning sessions, Pamela knows where her spending boundaries are, and her investments are positioned to serve short, medium, and long-term household needs.
CASE STUDY 3: Good young savers
Callie and Jordan are in their 40s and want to retire in their 50s. They have two children and make a good income, but with college looming, there is only so much to invest. We modeled their current retirement and investment account contributions and provided realistic projections of the income their current level of savings would provide if they retired at 55, 60, and 62.
How it works:
Right after you book an introductory call, you will describe your situation on a brief form so our initial conversation can be super-productive.
In the introductory call, we always aim to give you at least one takeaway that you can apply immediately—whether we establish a financial planning relationship or not.
If we agree we'd like to proceed with a planning or investment-management relationship, we schedule a follow up meeting either in-person or virtually to dive deeper into the details!
*Of course all names and certain details have been changed to protect privacy. All meetings with Corner Post Financial Planning are confidential.
The Team
John Berry and Beth Watson are CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professionals with a combined 30+ years in the financial services industry. They work with families and individuals who've worked hard for what they have and who want guidance on how to pursue their retirement goals in a financial responsible manner. Hannah Foster is our administrative assistant who has more than 8 years of experience working with Corner Post Financial Planning clients on operational needs such as money requests, estate settlement, and required minimum distributions.