What seasons of life do our clients find themselves in?
We help a small number of clients who have just completed college and are now in the "newly adulting" season of life. At this point, most are not yet thinking about working with a financial advisor. I think that the earlier we work with a client, the greater the chance for success; therefore, we love it when we are contacted by college graduates who are already serious about doing things right the first time.
The next season of life is often a career. We help clients in this stage with choosing employee benefits, accumulating wealth, and managing risk - among other things.
Some of our clients then move into the season in which they're raising a family. Life insurance and disability insurance might become important for the first time. College funding options for kiddos often become a consideration. It's important to control and manage debt in this season so that things don't get out of control.
Once the kids are raised (if there are kids) or sometime around our early 50s, we enter a season of "wondering". Wondering... what is the last half of my life going to look like? What's on my bucket list? How can I leave the world a better place? In this season, many clients are also starting to get involved in the finances and/or care of parents and can benefit greatly from the services of a good financial advisor as they make decisions with someone else's money.
And now the season we all look forward to... retirement! But that means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Like me, one might want to work until health doesn't allow it. Maybe we just want to slow down or cut back on hours. Some of our clients have expensive goals in this season such as travelling the world. Some clients get bored sitting on the couch with the spouse and look for a hobby job. You'll want to have the funding for all of these goals figured out before now. Careful consideration needs to be given to making resources last and managing healthcare costs in this season.
Lastly is our "slow down" season. Often, we spend a lot of time on hobbies, volunteering, or spending time with family. Unfortunately, it's realistic to assume that, as we slow down, we might not get to live alone in our house any longer. You'll want to have a good plan in place as this can be a very difficult time. You'll also want to understand how to distribute assets according to your wishes and as efficiently as possible upon your death.
At Seasons Wealth, we help serious investors navigate all of life's seasons.