Chris and Pam, a married couple, are both in the medical industry. Chris is a doctor and Pam is a nurse, both are in their mid-thirties. Together they have two children under the age of 6. As with many parents, they wish to plan for retirement and save for their children’s college funds. Also, they focus on having cash available for emergencies and paying off student loans. Chris and Pam also wanted the option to purchase a vacation home in the future that they could enjoy with their children.
When working with clients in situations such as Chris and Pam’s, we work together to identify and implement options such as:
- Fully funding work retirement plans, including annual review of allocations or rebalancing
- Consolidating old employer-sponsored retirement plans into IRAs
- Funding college for both children through a combination of a 529 plan and after-tax investments
- Reviewing and installing employer-provided Disability insurance
- Installing individual Disability insurance to supplement that which was available through employers
- Building and maintaining a cash reserve
- Identifying and implementing strategies for tax-free income in retirement
- Installing appropriate life insurance
- Allocating funds toward student loan reduction
This case study is hypothetical. It does not reflect a specific client or situation. An individual client’s circumstances and results will vary. This case study is presented only as an example and is not intended as investment advice.
Medical professionals have both physically and emotionally demanding schedules. Couple that with unpredictable leisure time due to on-call hours and non-urgent items like finances can take a back seat. In addition to the more traditional goals, medical professionals often have an added burden of paying down loans incurred during their extensive schooling. Those liabilities make figuring out how to move forward toward goals more complex.