How Simon Quick Helped a Retired Couple After the Sale of a Business
By: Kyle Ferrare, CFP®, CAIA
In this ongoing series, we are profiling several Simon Quick clients to reveal some of the financial and estate planning challenges faced by wealthy families and how we have been able to help them meet these challenges.
All names and identifying details have been changed, but otherwise, the case studies reflect real-life families and situations.
Meet Andrew and Patricia
Andrew and Patricia are retirees who currently live in Florida. In addition to their primary residence in the Sunshine State, they also own several homes in Illinois and spend summers in a vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard.
This is the second marriage for both of them and together they have four adult children and two grandchildren, with a third grandchild on the way.
During his career, Andrew was the CEO of a biotech company that has since been sold to a private equity firm. The couple lives an active retirement lifestyle, enjoying golf, boating, horseback riding and travelling together — or as they put it, “indulging on life.”
Their main financial goal is to be able to maintain their spending base in retirement so they can continue to enjoy their lifestyle. In addition, they want to transfer money to their children and grandchildren, the latter via 529 education savings plans.
Plans Become Outdated
After the sale of the biotech business to the PE firm, Andrew and Patricia saw their net worth increase to more than $25 million. They had previously worked with a financial advisor, a CPA and a trust and estates attorney, but upon our review much of the planning work had become outdated – especially in light of their financial windfall. The increase in their net worth added a layer of complexity to their financial lives, and so they selected Simon Quick in their search for a more sophisticated wealth management firm.
Since Andrew and Patricia had just received the proceeds from the sale of the business, they were set to incur a large tax bill that year. Because of this we recommended they make a commitment to an Opportunity Zone fund; which at the time allowed for tax payments on realized capital gains to be deferred for up to seven years. Secondly, the capital gains on the investment will be tax-exempt after a holding period of at least ten years. We also helped them set up and fund a Donor Advised Fund (DAF) with Fidelity, which enabled them to front-load a gift to help offset the capital gains they incurred that year.
Once we engaged with their new estate planning attorney, we quickly realized that their estate plan needed some important modifications. For starters, it didn’t reflect the new estate tax exemptions and rules. Also, their Florida Revocable Trust documents had been drafted by an attorney in Illinois and the entity ownership and titling of assets did not align with one another. We worked with their estate planning attorney to ensure that all of their documents were up to date and in line with their trust accounts.
Comprehensive Insurance Review
The next thing on our punch list was a comprehensive insurance review. It was immediately apparent that there were a lot of gaps and low coverage limits due to their increased net worth. For example, they only had $1 million worth of umbrella liability coverage — we were able to increase this to $10 million.
Also, several different insurance carriers were being used to provide coverage for their various properties. We consolidated these with one higher-end carrier, and while their out-of-pocket insurance costs have gone up, they have much stronger coverability and the policies have been streamlined. They have since experienced an auto claim and expressed how pleased they were with the carrier’s responsiveness and service.
Andrew and Patricia also own a horse farm in Florida, along with several horses. They were concerned about liability risks given that there’s a live-in caretaker on the farm who sometimes trains clients on the property. In addition, they had been classifying the horse farm as a business but were starting to run into hobby-loss issues. We recommended a CPA to them who has a specific equine focus.
Finally, we have started having conversations with each of their children about next-generation financial planning and intergenerational wealth transfer. This is an area of ongoing focus as Andrew and Patricia begin to share more details about their wealth with their children.
Setting Priorities and Taking Next Steps
We reviewed Andrew and Patricia’s entire financial picture at the outset of their relationship with us. We devised a game plan for each area of their financial life, but agreed to focus on the highest priorities first so that they wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. For example, with their estate plan updated, we are now focusing on asset titling next.
By focusing on different components of their financial plan one at a time, Andrew and Patricia have gotten a sense of organization, which has made it easier for them to focus on the big picture. They told us that by working together, we helped alleviate several areas that had given them great concern.
If you’d like to learn how we can help your family develop a financial and investment management plan, please contact us. You can call us at (973) 525-1000 or send an email to info@simonquickadvisors.com.
About Kyle Ferrare
Mr. Ferrare joined Simon Quick in 2011, and works directly with high net worth clients in developing and implementing their investment and financial planning goals. Based in Denver, CO, Mr. Ferrare also works with single family offices, endowments and foundations and regularly attends investment committee and board meetings. Prior to joining Simon Quick, Mr. Ferrare spent five years in the Private Client Advisor Practice at Deloitte Tax LLP. He provided tax advisory services to a variety of private clients including high net worth individuals, investment partnerships, corporate executives and owners of closely-held businesses. Mr. Ferrare graduated from Bryant University with a BS in Finance. He completed the Financial Planning Certificate Program at Fairleigh Dickinson University in December 2009 and became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner in November 2010. In April 2014, Mr. Ferrare became a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). To learn more about Kyle visit his LinkedIn.
DISCLAIMER
*Please Note: Limitations: The above is a hypothetical scenario-not involving an actual Simon Quick Advisors, LLC client. It illustrates the hypothetical experience of a fictitious client based on a scenario that an actual client might experience. The scenario is designed to help illustrate how Simon Quick might provide services to similarly situated clients. Keeping in mind that no two clients, situations, or experiences are exactly alike, the above should not be construed as an endorsement of Simon Quick by any of its past or current clients, nor any assurance that Simon Quick may be able to help any client achieve the same satisfactory results. To the contrary, there can be no assurance that a client or prospective client will experience a certain level of results or satisfaction if Simon Quick is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of our current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees continues to remain available upon request or at www.simonquickadvisors.com.