"Are We There Yet?"

Paul & Sarah were nearly there, or so they thought.

Trouble is, they didn’t know where ‘there’ was!

One night, Paul, a Senior IT Manager for a major company, began to think… and out of nowhere came the thought “How much longer do I have to do this?”  Increasing pressure, tighter regulations, continued testing, and regular cutbacks – it was no longer the same. The fun had gone. And now, aged 54, he was thinking ‘WHY am I still doing this?’   

Sarah, 53, wasn’t having much fun in her long-time position as a corporate Sales Manager, either.  Truth-be-told, she’d already “quit” – she just hadn’t figured out when she was actually leaving. 

 What Paul and Sarah really wanted to do was have their own small consultancy company.

That’s what they wanted – to be able to paddle their own canoe at their own pace.

They’d both built up substantial 401(k)’s.  They had a few old Rollover IRA’s, Roth IRA’s, a couple of variable annuities, and a handful of joint investment accounts.  Cash value life insurance too.  Oh, they’d nearly paid off their mortgage, too.

But what did it all mean? As they put it, they had all this “stuff” but they had no idea if it was really getting them where they wanted to go.  Were they ‘there’ yet? They needed help. So they turned to WealthBuilders to help make sense of it all.

We helped Paul and Sarah get a fix on what they wanted, and when they wanted it – the sort of lifestyle they would like to enjoy. Travel?  Not so much, they’d done that!  Now their interest was in dialing back - consultancy work, buying themselves some freedom and pursuing hobbies. 

So, we gathered their information and crunched their numbers. We found they had actually already arrived, provided they tweaked a few small things - the main one being “rightsizing” their house within the next 10 years. In other words, they could immediately give up their current work, provided they got a minimal level of contract work right out of the chute, which they were pretty sure they could.

With the stress of having to work now taken off the table, Paul and Sarah actually decided to stay the course for another 15 months, taking the time to lay the groundwork for their new small consultancy company.

Having taken the plunge, Paul and Sarah continue to work with us as we continue to manage their investments and monitor their financial plan.

Are you ‘there’ yet? 

Let’s find out.

*This is a hypothetical situation based on real-life examples.  Names and circumstances have been changed.  The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.  To determine which investments or strategies may be appropriate for you, consult your financial advisor prior to investing.  Your results will vary.