Our client story

John and Cindy

John (49) is a successful engineer working for Intel Corporation and Cindy (47) is an executive at a smaller tech firm. On top of their very busy careers, they also have three children.

John and Cindy came to us after working with a financial advisor at a local brand name Wall Street firm.  While they really liked the gentleman who helped them, they had grown increasingly frustrated with the service provided.  First, they had taken big losses during the financial crisis and it was only after the event that the advisor suggested a less risky investment approach.  Then, he also didn’t provide much in the way of other help for college funding and estate planning, leaving them having to deal with it themselves.

They were referred to Watts Gwilliam by one of John’s co-workers.   Their main goal at this time was doing more with the concentrated Intel stock position that John had accrued over his years with the company.  Their advisor didn’t have any input, but John’s associate had explained how Watts Gwilliam used an OPTIC program to help him generate monthly income from that stock.

John and Cindy signed up for our free, no-obligation consultation to see if we could help them achieve their goals.  After talking, they decided to come on board with Watts Gwilliam.

The Strategy

Our first step with this couple was to create a comprehensive financial plan covering their entire financial picture.  Until that was clear, it didn’t make sense to talk about what strategies were most appropriate.

So we worked with them over the course of a few meetings and built a plan.  The plan included priorities such as having them both retire by age 60, which was their hope. They also wanted to fully fund college expenses for their three kids.

Once the plan was complete, we reviewed it with them in person and went over it so they understood the plan, its implications, and our suggested action plan.

Part of the plan was to use our OPTIC program to begin generating monthly income from John’s large Intel stock position.  This involved regular writing of covered calls, which is a conservative option strategy.

Once this was in place, we began working through the other aspects of their financial life:  estate planning, college planning, and retirement planning.  We helped them put together a plan to retire at their target ages.  That plan included a social security strategy to allow them to maximize that income source, plus the creation of a buckets strategy as a way to manage their expenses, regardless of what was happening in the stock market.

We also restructured their other stock holdings, which were invested quite aggressively.  With both of them employed in technology, their tech-heavy investments could put them even more at risk should a downturn that impacted technology occur.  So we allocated some of their investments into other sectors, and also into private equity and other alternative assets that tended to move independently of stocks and bonds.

End Result:  Financial Confidence

Our work together enabled John and Cindy to both retire with confidence that their future lifestyle was well planned.  They are now retired, enjoying their freedom and both spending time on new projects and philanthropic efforts.

The OPTIC program continues to help them generate regular, conservative income from the remainder of John’s Intel stock position.  We also recently helped them analyze the purchase of a second home and helped them locate the best mortgage rate for their needs.  We continue to meet with the couple often and have recently begun helping their kids establish Roth IRAs.