Edge Alliance: Case Study

Simplifying Wealth Management for a Busy Upper-Middle-Class Family
A proactive planning and implementation partnership designed to support a busy family in organizing their finances. Our Edge Alliance plan starts at $150/month and provides comprehensive planning paired with hands-on execution support.
Client Profile
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A dual-income couple: a public school administrator and a marketing manager faced the challenge of juggling demanding careers, raising two children, and planning for a second home. With significant responsibilities and limited time for managing their personal finances, they joined our Edge Alliance plan.

Scope of Engagement

This family was looking for simplicity and control over their finances. Their main objectives included:

  • establishing organized cash flow
  • enhancing benefits and insurance
  • coordinating investments
  • reducing their tax burden
  • building a plan for their childrens' futures

Implementation Support Provided

Cash Strategy & Liquidity Planning

We conducted a thorough review of their bank account structure, emergency reserves, and upcoming financial objectives. 

Our next steps included:

  • Designing a segmented cash management strategy, tied to clear savings milestones
  • Identifying and recommending a high-yield savings platform for surplus cash
  • Automating contributions toward vacation, home purchase, and education funds

By structuring their savings efforts this way, we set them on a path where their idle balances could begin to work harder and their decision-making around spending, saving, and investing became more transparent. 

Benefits Optimization

To strengthen the family's foundation, we evaluated both clients' employer benefits in detail.

We guided them to:

  • Transition to an HSA-compatible health plan for more tax efficiency
  • Maximize both HSA and Dependent Care FSA contributions for current needs
  • Coordinate retirement plan deferrals across 403(b) and 401(k) accounts, leveraging catch-up contributions where available

Through these strategic adjustments, more of their resources were positioned to support daily expenses and longer-term retirement security.

Insurance Strategy 

A comprehensive insurance audit allowed us to spot and address key protection gaps.

Action steps included:

  • Replacing outdated life insurance with new term policies tailored to their evolving financial responsibilities
  • Adding long-term disability protection for the high-earning spouse
  • Removing duplicate policies and optimizing for cost-effectiveness

These steps helped optimize their coverage and align premiums with their true needs and stage of life. 

Investment Coordination

By consolidating investment accounts and customizing allocations, we enabled the family to:

  • Remove overlapping or redundant investment holdings, reducing overall fees
  • Adjust asset mix to match their various time horizons and risk preferences

These efforts targeted both lower investment costs and improved portfolio diversification.

Tax & Estate Planning

With an eye towards both present and future tax impact, we facilitated:
  • Coordination of backdoor Roth IRA contributions to enhance tax-advantaged growth
  • Fine-tuning their use of the Dependent Care FSA
  • Connecting them with a CPA to anchor their long-term tax strategy
  • Referred them to an attorney for comprehensive will and healthcare directive preparation, along with beneficiary updates
As a result, their tax & estate planning became more integrated with their charitable and family goals. 

Why Edge Alliance? 

Sterling Edge's Alliance Planning Subscription is organized for people who value practical progress as much as professional advice. Our approach pairs thoughtful planning with hands-on execution across cash management, benefits, insurance, taxes, and estate strategies. Rather than leaving clients with recommendations, we help ensure plans come to life through deliberate, actionable steps so clients don't just plan better, they live better. 

 

 

Disclosure: This testimonial may not be representative of the experience of other customers. The testimonial is no guarantee of future performance or success.