Retiree Case Study

Jill was a divorced 68-year-old registered nurse.  She had worked the graveyard shift at her hospital for over 20 years.  While she saved diligently for retirement, she never seemed to have the time to really look at the possibility of retirement.  In fact, she didn’t believe she could retire.  If she did retire, what would she do with her free time?  Her identity was her career and many of her friends were her co-workers.  However, years of working bedside had taken the toll on her body, and more specifically, her back.  She knew she couldn’t do this much longer.

Jill was introduced to Oakwood Wealth Partners through one of her younger co-workers who had already retired from the hospital.  

Jill had an initial conversation with a planner from OWP to learn more about the process.  She felt this was a good call to make sure she was comfortable with the group and felt that her interest was at the forefront.  She had some bad experience with past advisors who were interested in selling a product and then she lost contact with them.  

Based on that initial conversation, Jill came to the Irvine office for the data gathering meeting.  During the meeting, goals were set.

In addition to gathering social security statements, outstanding mortgage, invested retirement plan assets, we were able to have honest conversations about retirement.  She wanted us to Illustrate what retirement would look like at age 70.  Where would the income come from, what if we had an emergency, what if there was a health care event, does she have excess money to possibly help with her only son purchasing a home, can she help with college funding for her brand-new granddaughter, and will there be any assets to leave for her family when she passes?  She is also considering moving closer to her son and granddaughter in Arizona.  She wanted to know if that was possible.

Through our analysis, OWP was able to help Jill:

1. Not only could she retire at age 70, but she could also retire NOW.  So, her question became not if she can retire, but when does she want to retire?  
2. Introduced Jill to someone that can help find the right Medicare supplemental insurance to keep her current doctors.
3. Introduced her to an estate planning attorney to help her set up not only a living trust and protect her assets, but a power of attorney to help her make decisions if something were to make it impossible to do this.
4. Came up with a plan on how to move to Arizona when she is ready.  
5. Helped her to secure a long-term care insurance policy.  This was especially important to her since she was a single lady living on her own.  

The Oakwood Wealth Partners team worked with Jill to establish and support her goals.  Her goals were obviously not just to retire, but to plan for what happens after retirement.  She continued to learn and grow through the process.

This case study is for illustrative and educational purposes only