stewarding an inheritance
Disclosure: The below client experience story is considered an “Endorsement” by the SEC and is intended to provide a narrated example of the services and solutions provided by Goodwin Investment Advisory to its clients. The endorsement is provided by an actual client of Goodwin Investment Advisory. The storylines illustrate real-life scenarios and challenges that our clients face and how we can serve as your investment and planning guide. Our firm does not compensate our clients for endorsements, nor do we believe there are any reportable conflicts of interest between the client and the firm with this endorsement.
1. Josh and Christy Paige (fictitious names) are a young couple in their 30s with 3 young elementary age children. They inherited an amount of $750,000 given to them by Josh’s Grandmother. Previously, they were using a family recommended advisor to manage their money, and through building a relationship with one of the advisors at our firm started to learn different options to invest their money. They were unaware of the concept of diversification and began to become educated in other methods and strategies than the way their money was previously being managed. After they learned about the concept of diversification and that it wasn’t beneficial to have all of their money invested in one area they decided to change course. They didn’t know what they were missing until a GIA advisor took time to explain the investment process.
Josh and Christy were particularly worried about how to best manage their inheritance which was primarily in a few individual stocks. They didn’t know whether to buy or sell, or invest in something. What was most important to them was learning how to pass down the money to their kids in a way that would allow them to create good money habits for their futures.
2. Josh and Christy knew they wanted to grow their wealth. They also knew they wanted help with everyday money decisions like whether they should sell their home and purchase a new home and they wanted help getting them to the place where they could do that. Not only that, but they wanted ongoing help with other decisions like, “Should we buy a jeep?” “Should we invest in rental properties?” The second most important thing to them was to have someone they could trust to bounce financial decisions off of.
3. They realized that investing their inheritance well would greatly affect the legacy they could pass down to their sons and family tree. Prior to receiving the inheritance they both made wise and frugal financial decisions. Because figuring out how to best invest such a large sum of money can be daunting to handle alone and their desire to honor Josh’s grandmother’s legacy which touches both financial and emotional issues, we asked them to prioritize what was most important to them and what were they were most concerned about. We walked them through a diversified investment strategy, educating them on not having all of their money in one place. Based on their financial situation and stage of life we recommended they pay off their debt, invest in a diversified portfolio, pay off their house mortgage and invest in real estate. We shared the benefits of intentionally building a real estate income stream. We explained to Josh and Christy how these decisions were aligned with both their short and long-term expectations and goals.
4. To help them fulfill their legacy plan to pass on their wealth to their three sons, we helped them create accounts for each of their boys with the ability to match their kids as they save and plan for the future. Now, they are mortgage free and they were able to purchase their new jeep with cash.
They are currently in the process of deciding whether or not to partner with friends and invest in residential short term properties at the beach as part of their retirement plan. GIA will continue to advise them on this decision and any financial decisions now and in the future.
5. Listening to Josh and Chrisy’s needs, we were able to help them make some adjustments to their inheritance in a way that suited their specific circumstances and future goals. Others in their position may have been more comfortable putting money in CDs or other cash equivalents, but Josh wanted to know that his money would generate enough income for their children’s future as well.
