Richard and his wife Edith owned a small business together, which they had poured decades of their heart and soul into.

For most of their lives Richard & Edith had focused on their company. Twenty years ago, Richard had started the small business and Edith joined in as the company grew. Eventually they had over 50 employees and all the responsibilities that went with running a business. The company was a great success However, when the offer came in from a friendly group to buy the company for several million dollars it was simply too good of an offer to pass up.

Spending some quality time having fun and living life outside of their business sounded appealing so they worked out the details and sold their business. They had millions in the bank – way over the insurance limit – and that was when it hit them. They were very good at running a business but they only had one chance to correctly invest their life savings, and they needed to do it soon.

After talking with friends, their accountant, and attorney they arrived at Buttonwood Financial Group with what seemed like a simple request: Income for life, please!

After several meetings with Richard & Edith to make sure we understood the full picture, we discovered that they had done a great job of planning but not implementing. Many legal documents including trusts were written but the trusts were never funded. Powers of Attorney were in place for healthcare but not financial decisions.

From there, we went to work. We coordinated updates to their estate planning documents, opened and funded trust accounts, and promptly consolidated assets from over 20 different bank and investment accounts into four appropriate trust accounts. By consolidating accounts, we greatly simplified tax preparation and thus reduced their annual tax bill by more than 50%.

To eliminate concerns about big tax draws as quarterly estimated taxes came due, we met with their CPA and established a “tax account”. Then we set in motion a funding process so that funds to pay upcoming tax bills were automatically deposited into the tax account.

Last but not least, we mapped out an income strategy that would allow for growth of Richard and Edith’s assets while at the same time providing them a monthly income. Their lives were simplified, and bills and income streams that once needed almost daily review were virtually eliminated.