Client Story: Planning for the Future with Confidence

Meet Susan and Bob Wilkinson: A journey toward financial clarity and Confidence.

When Susan and Bob first came to my office, they were like many of the couples I work with—hardworking, family-oriented, and starting to look at retirement not as a distant idea, but as the next chapter on the horizon.  

They had questions. Lots of them.

They’d both been saving diligently for years—Susan had a 403(b) from her teaching career, Robert a mix of IRAs and brokerage accounts from his engineering job. But as they looked ahead to their next phase of life, they began to feel overwhelmed. How much could they spend each year? Would healthcare derail their plans? Should they be helping their grandchildren with college? What about protecting their assets if one of them needed long-term care?

Susan told me, “We’ve worked hard. We just want to know we’re going to be okay.”

We started with the basics: getting a clear picture of their accounts, income sources, and monthly spending. Then we talked about what retirement really looked like for them—traveling to see their kids on the West Coast, keeping up their garden, and maybe even finally finishing that lake cottage they started years ago.

We mapped out a retirement income strategy that gave them clarity and control—factoring in Social Security, required minimum distributions, and a tax-efficient withdrawal plan. We ran scenarios for market downturns, unexpected medical costs, and even gifting strategies for their legacy goals.

But what really changed for Susan and Robert wasn’t just the spreadsheets or projections. It was their mindset. They went from feeling uncertain to feeling empowered.

Today, they still check in with me regularly—sometimes with questions, sometimes just to share a photo from their latest hiking trip. And that’s what I love most about the work I do: helping good people live the life they’ve worked so hard to build with confidence.

This is a hypothetical situation based on real life examples. Names and circumstances have been changed. The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which investments or strategies may be appropriate for you, consult your advisor prior to investing.