We help clients address important questions, such as...

Retirees

How do I replace my income?
How do I manage tax-advantaged withdrawals?
Do I need funds for long-term care?
What's my care plan?
What am I leaving to my heirs and how?
Can my heirs manage these assets on their own?
Should I start gifting today?

Inheritors of Wealth

How will this inheritance affect my finances?
How do these assets fit into my life?
Should I keep what I inherit or exchange it?
How should I use this gift?
How do I discuss this with my family?

Stifel does not provide legal or tax advice. You should consult with your legal and tax advisors regarding your particular situation.

Custom Wealth Advisory Group Case Studies

A Retired Couple’s Desire for Financial Flexibility

We have been working with a senior couple for decades, and while they are successful by any metric, every client faces choices between competing priorities. In this instance, our clients owned a primary residence in the Bay Area and a vacation home close to their children and grandchildren in Southern California. The combination of a comfortable lifestyle, increasing life expectancy, desire to travel, and the aspiration of providing their family with financial support resulted in an outsized challenge to their current investment portfolio – they simply didn’t have enough liquid assets to accomplish all of their competing goals.

After digging deeper into which goals were more and less discretionary, our clients agreed that selling their vacation home within the next five years, within a specific price range, may help insulate their lifestyle and additional goals from a future economic downturn. While our clients were logically on board with this plan, they were more emotionally reluctant than we previously understood at the outset. Once we realized their desire to maintain their vacation home, we developed and presented different options.

The clients were able to open a home equity line of credit (HELOC), ensuring they had access to liquidity and would not be forced to sell in a down market. We helped our clients own their vacation home for longer than originally planned, with added financial flexibility.

An Investor’s Reinvestment of Inherited Assets

For several years, we’ve worked with a friend and client who had the good fortune of inheriting residential property. This asset was located in a prime California zip code and had a sizeable valuation. Whether it’s a property, business, stock, or other asset that is inherited, these life events are an opportunity to confirm if the asset is a good fit for the inheritor’s own profile.

Our client had recently retired, and we had been focused on developing strategies designed to generate income. While real estate has the potential to be a great income generator, it requires constant management and money for upkeep. We analyzed each asset in the context of all available options. In this case, what is the growth and cash flow of the property compared to a portfolio comprised of dividend stocks, utility stocks, and fixed income investments? Which one may best suit our client’s lifestyle?

After presenting several different scenarios, we realized the client’s highest priority was to have an untethered lifestyle, i.e., the client did not want to be a landlord if alternatives provided equally attractive financial outcomes. Taking into account potential tax, growth, income, and cost assumptions of various investment vehicles, we came to the conclusion that selling the property and reinvesting the proceeds appropriately would provide more than enough cash flow and require virtually no management from the client.

We serve as your family’s “go-to” wealth management team – helping you craft a strategy specially designed to organize your financial lives. And our care goes beyond just your immediate family; we’ll be there as your kids start families, advance in their careers, and begin to visualize a life for themselves.