Background

Susan is a corporate executive and is looking ahead to retirement. She has been through a big life transition, as she’s recently divorced and reached a support arrangement with her ex-spouse. Her parenting responsibilities are not quite over, as she’s supporting an adult child through graduate school.

Discovery

Susan is at the peak of her earnings and has amassed substantial wealth, including share units in her employer’s company. She has $150,000 in salary + annual bonus, and has $850,000 in portfolio assets. Through a focused discovery conversation, we learned that Susan’s big questions are about how she can meet her own goals as well as the financial obligations she has to others.

• She wonders, should she change her goals – is she going to have to retire later than she’s hoping?
• Would saving more help her reach her goal of retiring before age 65?