Case Studies

Life Post-Military

The Challenge: A seasoned veteran, after 20 years of service, was separating from the military. He and his wife have four children and desire to return to their home state for civilian careers in business and accounting. They had never owned a home and had questions about leveraging their military benefits for a smooth transition. Sifting through complex online information and pensions and benefits is overwhelming, so they turned to us with the following questions:

• How can they position themselves to transition back into the workforce?
• What kind of courses of action should they be taking now?
• What steps do they need to take to reach their end goal of moving to a desired location in Missouri, and seeking very specific careers in business and accounting? To buying a home?
• How do they make the most of their military experience?

The Solution: We helped the couple navigate the complex world of military benefits, simplifying information and personalizing it to their specific situation. Key areas of focus included: understanding military pension, selecting a Survivor Benefit Plan option that best suited their needs, and creating a financial roadmap for their desired lifestyle, which included budgeting for housing, education, and retirement savings.

The Results: Empowered with clear financial guidance, they were able to make informed decisions about transitioning to civilian life. With proactive planning, they can leverage their military benefits and build a secure financial future. Most importantly, they were able to ease the emotional burden of navigating their significant life change.

Professional Working Family

The Challenge: A young couple, raised middle-class with college educations, are financially responsible savers. However, their cautious approach, rooted in their upbringing, limited their understanding of their true financial potential. They wanted to know if they afford the little luxuries and the large ones, like:

• Can we afford the avocado toast?
• Can we take that big vacation?
• How can we prepare to help our aging parents?

The Solution: Through financial planning, we showed the couple the full picture of their financial health, enabling them to confidently spend without guilt. We guided them through marriage, merging finances, student loan repayment, and navigating benefit changes with increased income. We helped them set realistic expectations and equipped them with the tools to make informed decisions about their future.

The Results: The happy couple now enjoy a balanced approach to spending, understanding their true financial capabilities. They’re prepared for future milestones like parenthood, which they’ve recently just experienced.

The Aging Family Member – Taking Care of Mom & Dad

The Challenge: A dual-income family with kids came to us recently to help manage their financial plan, investments and insurance. They were also worried about their aging parents; the wife’s father had received an early-onset dementia diagnosis. The couple worried about the financial burden of taking care of her parents, while the father worried that once he was no longer capable to manage their finances, his wife lacked the needed experience. Their sleep suffered due to financial anxiety.

The Solution: The father empowered us to take over their financial management and coach his wife through our financial planning process. We walked her through everything from cash flow to pension benefits, and guided her in making tough decisions, like selling properties that were financial burdens and paying off back taxes. We also helped them identify opportunities to leverage existing insurance for benefits their agent had missed.

The Results: Once the victim of sleepless nights, the mom’s stress significantly decreased and she was able to rest easy. The father, too, felt relief with a clear financial plan. In turn, the young couple were relieved of the stress of navigating the complex issues her parents faced.