What Changed: Elisa’s Financial Life 1992 to 2010
Over the years Elisa had heard about financial planning, and even her sister, retired from accounting, had suggested she become a financial planner. This possibility arose because on her own initiative and research, she had demonstrated personal financial sophistication and expertise. It included saving to 529 college funds, rolling over a 401(K) account to an IRA, converting it to a Roth IRA, advantageously navigating tax rules to use Roth and IRAs to help with a 12% down-payment as a first time home buyer in the very expensive SF Bay Area. Further their retirement accounts had grown considerably with a passive and moderately aggressive allocation over the last 19 years – recovering from losses sustained during the Dot-com bust and the Great Recession – while her family of four lived on a moderately high 5 figure income, which only rose to 6 figures for a few years around the Great Recession when she worked full time.