I had the privilege of preserving a 97-year-old man’s legacy this week and thought I would share with you a “feel good” moment.

My associate Ghizlane, who I refer to her as “G” organized a zoom meeting so that I could meet with 2 of the 3 children representing power of attorney privileges for their 97-year-old father.

A few months ago our client sold his primary residence and moved into a CHSLD facility. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the longevity of their father’s assets and income requirements which was put into question after the children realized the jaw dropping monthly expense with long term care facilities.

Sadly, our client was diagnosed with #Dementia but not before he contracted the corona virus. I think we can all agree that 2020 has not been a fan favorite year especially for this family who in March, found themselves dealing with the pandemic much differently than most of us. Against all odds, the 97-year-old man conquered the virus and today shows no signs of slowing down according to one of the three children.

Once the proceeds of the sale hit the bank, the power of attorneys had one concerning question. “What do we now do with the money?” The most common consideration was to leave the money in a bank account and draw funds whenever needed. Sounds pretty simple, right?

In turns out that napkin planning, which is no planning at all would be less effective compared to a well thought-out plan.

Look, I understand it’s tough to imagine that someone who is 97 years old and needs $60,000 per year to live would in fact, have any options to consider. Naturally, we viewed the situation differently.

Between the base plan and our proposed plan, Mr. Client was projected to save $7,802 in personal income taxes over the next 8 years. If Mr. Client live past age 105, the anticipated #shortfall was projected to be $88,802 which naturally would become the children’s responsibility. Instead our proposal projected a shortfall of $39,104 plus an increase of 30% in probability of success.

Since we had no idea if Mr. Client would actually live to 105, we discovered 2 valuable “what-if” scenarios worth the consideration. Either deal with the shortfall in the moment or create a savings plan 8 years ahead of schedule. The savings requirement divided among 3 children and spread over 8 years was much easier to digest compared to raising the funds without any notice.

Should Mr. Client pass away before age 105, the funds side aside could now be used for personal use. In other words, a crisis had not only been discovered and avoided, an opportunity to achieve other goals or needs could now be fulfilled.

Since we had no idea if Mr. Client would actually live to 105, we discovered 2 valuable “what-if” scenarios worth the consideration. Either deal with the shortfall in the moment or create a savings plan 8 years ahead of schedule.

As we continued to review different scenarios, we concluded that Mr. Client could partially qualify for the Guaranteed Income Supplement resulting in an increase to his OAS pension by $130 per month.

What is this week’s takeaway?

When clients have a specific “want or need” we plan it together. When clients question if they will have sufficient savings to generate the required income for retirement, we run #projections, review a cash flow analysis and many “what-if” scenarios.

Our approach is unique and does not involve hiding behind numbers to make clients feel better about their finances. Instead, we have developed and refined a #discovery process that combines the numbers with the right flow of open ended questions.

Ultimately, we are guiding our clients to learn more about themselves and to help them remain confident during all their personal life transition moments.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Talk soon,

Michael