CASE STUDY: Small Business Owner

The husband and wife owners of a small business were initially referred to Boardwalk for assistance with their personal accounts within the company 401(k) plan. After a series of discovery meetings, Boardwalk executed on many significant financial planning opportunities:

• Helped the clients sever their relationship with the existing 401(k) investment advisor and select a new menu of investment options for the plan, saving the clients (annually) about the same as what they paid in Boardwalk fees while also creating significant savings for their employees in the plan.
• Brought in an actuary to design a defined benefit plan, allowing the clients to contribute approximately 40% of their net income through retirement plan contributions and deferring taxation of that income (the tax would have been approximately 50%) so it could grow tax-free inside the retirement plan until later withdrawn and taxed at much lower expected tax rates.
• Structured Boardwalk fees such that they were almost entirely tax deductible through the business.
• Encouraged and assisted with an update to the family’s trust document to enhance its asset protection characteristics while also improving upon important financial controls over the assets within.
• Provided annual retirement projection scenarios that armed the clients with the information they needed to plan ahead, adjust spending, and feel comfortable about beginning to transition out of their business and into retirement.
• Helped the husband shift from company-provided health insurance to the Medicare policy that made the most sense for him.
• Recommended the optimal Social Security claiming strategy for the husband and wife’s specific ages, life expectancy, and projected benefits.