I had a client graduating from a dermatology fellowship in OH and moving to CA for her attending physician job, so her income was going from roughly $60k in a low income tax state to $300k+ in a high tax state as a single tax filer. We converted all pre-tax retirement savings including employer matches to Roth while an OH resident in her last year that did not include any income at her higher paying attending physician job. She now has a very large amount of tax-free dollars invested in equity index funds to start her career.
Many factors are considered when crafting financial portfolios. Significant life events such as changing jobs, having children, getting married or divorced, illness, or death can and often do change a person's financial goals. These events don't always necessitate changes to a client's portfolio, but they do prompt a discussion about their impact on the financial plan. Money and significant life events can both be highly emotional. When they intersect, we work with our clients to pause, carefully evaluate, and discuss the impact on their financial plan before making any irreversible decisions. Here are a few scenarios and conversations we have had: • A client received an unexpected inheritance and wanted the inherited money to be invested more aggressively for the benefit of their children. This life event changed the overall portfolio from a 60% equity and 40% fixed income allocation to an 80% equity and 20% fixed income allocation. • A client worked for a company that went public resulting in a conversation about diversification. The client had to decide if they wanted to sell any of the newly public stock and how it should be reinvested. While the overall portfolio allocation did not change in this case, the client’s exposure to the newly public company and their underlying asset classes did. • A client became ill and needed additional distributions for their monthly expenses. This resulted in the portfolio becoming more conservative as they were no longer comfortable with the equity/risk exposure that their current portfolio had.
I worked with a client named Sarah, who ran a wellness-focused lifestyle blog with a strong affiliate marketing strategy for health products. After becoming a new mother, her priorities shifted, prompting a pivot in her investment strategy. We adapted her content to appeal more to new parents, introducing products and services aligned with motherhood, helping her maintain growth in affiliate earnings while resonating with her evolving audience.