Meet Gaby. When we first started working together, she was 34 years old. She was engaged to her long-time boyfriend, but not yet married. She earned a high salary working as a lawyer for a private law firm. The long, stressful hours were starting to wear on her, though. She had more than $75,000 in her savings account, which she had planned to invest more than a year ago, but she felt stuck. And then she learned that her grandmother left her a $250,000 inheritance.
The value of financial planning has nothing to do with a specific deliverable or a certain number of meetings. Rather, the best financial planning process gives you the knowledge and confidence to actually take action. In partnership with Illumint, your family should be able to live the life you desire without unnecessary uncertainty.
When you have a significant amount of money in the bank, you're no longer just trying to make smart choices. You need to navigate tradeoffs that reflect your values.
How much of this money should you invest? How much should you keep in cash?
Your starting point: Stress & Uncertainty
Where will your inheritance make the biggest impact? Buying a house? Investing for retirement? Saving for college?
How can you improve your quality of life without feeling guilty? How can you honor the gift giver?
And should you act quickly? Or should you take more time to think, especially if you're grieving?
Your starting point: Stress & Uncertainty
Cash Flow
How much money Gaby needed to keep in the bank to support her short-term spending
Investments
Taxes
When Gaby should move money around, to minimize disruption to her current finances
Which savings and investment accounts Gaby has space to increase her contributions
Which investment allocation makes sense for Gaby's risk tolerance and timing for using the funds
The tax consequences of each potential option, including how to minimize short-term and long-term tax liabilities
Tradeoffs between current tax deductions and future tax-free growth
Investments
Cash Flow
Taxes
Gaby's progress started with a careful analysis and thoughtful strategy
1
Saved
cash for a few specific short-term uses in a high-yield bank account
2
3
4
5
Created
6
Automated
During our first 90 days together, Gaby made real progress
Paid
Opened
Invested
off the last remaining high-interest debt that she held
new investment accounts (and consolidated a few older ones)
some of her inheritance for both medium-term and long-term uses
new savings buckets (with timelines) to help her use her money sooner
ongoing contributions to her savings account and an investment account
(Month 1)
(Month 1)
(Month 1)
(Month 2)
(Month 3)
(Month 3)
Many people get stuck financially, and never really shake the status quo. Our work together ensures that you make the changes that you need & want for your life.
You're no longer putting off important decisions, and you feel confident about your financial path forward
your outcome: action & confidence
You understand why you moved your money to various accounts and what next steps may look like
You put your savings to work, but you also maintained flexibility and the option to make changes in the future
You're making the most of your savings in ways that are specific to your personality and the life you want to live
your outcome: action & confidence
Recent Questions From Millennial Women Who Became Clients
Yes, I manage client investments upon request. Some of my clients don't feel comfortable investing their savings on their own — they fear making a mistake or they hesitate when news headlines turn negative. I get it, and I'm happy to help however I can in these circumstances.
Do you manage investments for your clients?
We work frequently from a financial plan document that I craft for you. The document is purposefully kept to one page in length. (Most humans don’t look at a financial plan more than once if it's any longer.) We also monitor your savings rate in Google Sheets.
What deliverables do you provide as part of our work?
Reviews
"Thanks to Kevin's advising, I now feel more confident and knowledgeable making financial decisions for my family."
– Meg M.
(36)
"Kevin is calm, non-judgmental, and excellent at asking questions that help you drill down to core goals."
– Laura F.
