Joe & Mary Dawson
MID-CAREER BUSINESS OWNERS GROWING THEIR BUSINESS
Here’s What Happened
Mary was the family’s head of finances until her company’s growth demanded more of her time and energy. Joe and Mary used to prefer the multi-broker strategy to “not have all their eggs in one basket”. After time, they found it overwhelming to meet with each broker, manage and track all of the investments.
Additionally, the Dawsons' felt they didn't have an overall family plan for how to optimize their finances.
Joe was interested in working with someone who would discuss more than the performance of stocks and bonds. He had an interest in owning real estate for a different income source.
Mary found it frustrating to coordinate tax decisions between his family, their financial advisor and CPA. He felt there were missed opportunities in the past because neither his CPA nor financial advisor were proactively communicating throughout the year to find tax savings or discuss the impact of business opportunities.
FIRST
BUT
What We Did to Help
The Dawson’s turned to East Pointe Wealth Advisors for the full-suite of services they knew they needed help with financial planning, investment management and CPA collaboration. While their other brokers could invest their money, they had additional needs with tax planning and real estate advisory services.
I worked with Joe and Mary to identify and evaluate different real estate opportunities to complement their overall net worth.
In addition, I implemented the following strategies:
Built proactive tax planning strategies for each calendar year: in an effort to minimize tax liabilities and plan for possible "big tax" years.
Consolidated investment portfolios: resulting in an efficient and simplified investment strategy to achieve the Dawsons' short- and long-term financial goals, lower investment fees and improve tax efficiency.
Reviewed current company benefits and retirement plans: for both Joe and Mary to ensure the maximization of their collective benefits and avoid paying for duplicate benefits.
Repositioned assets to meet short-term family goals: including house renovation and anniversary trip.
Met with vetted real estate professionals: to identify commercial and residential real estate opportunities for income producing properties.
How the Dawsons' Benefitted From Our Help
Joe and Mary developed a written plan for their future: This document has an accurate snapshot of their finances and clearly-written action items for their future. This plan identifies how they will pay for the kids’ college tuition, invest in opportunities outside of stocks and bonds, stay on track for retirement, and identify opportunities to grow their net worth.
Efficiently utilize employee benefits: On our recommendation, they maximized Joe’s 401(k) plan and allowed Mary’s company to avoid the expenses of offering 401(k) plan to employees. Mary’s company was able to use the savings to make a critical hire to expand the company.
Reduced investment costs: The Dawsons identified and eliminated duplicate portfolio holdings, lowered costs and increased tax efficiency across the different portfolios;
Introduced real estate investment opportunities: I analyzed and recommended multiple real estate opportunities that fit the Dawsons' long-term goals of owning stable income properties. These investments diversified them away from their concentrated holdings in industrial commercial properties.