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Meet Our Clients

We work with clients at different stages of their life and with different financial circumstances. Meet some of our typical clients to find out more about them and us.


Col (ret) Bull and Colleen Jones Photo

Col (ret) Bull and Colleen Jones

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Bull and Colleen became our clients* about 7 years ago. Bull was within one year of retirement from the military and they thought some financial guidance might be a good idea as they made the transition from a military family to becoming civilians again. Bull and Colleen signed up for our Financial Planning service. Over the years we’ve worked with Bull and Colleen on several issues.

Risk Management

Like a lot of military spouses, Colleen had limited career opportunities and was not employed when Bull retired. As Bull approached retirement, we helped them understand the plusses and minuses of the Survivor Benefit Program (SBP) and ultimately, they selected SBP even though Bull had heard gouge that SBP was a “rip-off”.

 Analysis of Job Offers

Bull had job offers from 3 different defense contractors. All offered different benefits packages and slightly different salaries. We analyzed the different offers, adjusted for tax differences, and gave Bull information in an apples-to-apples comparison of the offers.

Tax Planning

We helped Bull and Colleen avoid two errors common for retiring Senior Military Officers. Bull and Colleen had been contributing to Roth IRAs for most of their marriage. The contributions were set-up on autopilot. We pointed out to them that with Bull’s combined income (salary and military pension), their income was above the limit for Roth Contributions. We helped them avoid the pain of having to reverse those contributions. We also ran calculations to make sure that their tax withholding was correct. Many in Bull and Colleen’s scenario get rudely awakened to a large tax bill due when they file their tax return. We didn’t limit our advice to paying taxes though. We also helped them plan to minimize their future taxes.

Bull was planning on contributing to his Roth 401(k) to make sure he didn’t have to pay taxes on the withdrawals in retirement. We pointed out to Bull that while working in VA he would save on Federal and State taxes if he contributed to a pre-tax 401(k). Since Bull and Colleen are planning on moving to Florida in retirement, he’ll never have to pay state tax on those contributions and his Federal Taxes would have to increase by about 17% to erase that savings.

A Changing Life

When starting with us Bull and Colleen were planning on staying in Virginia and Bull would work in Business Development (BD) for a defense contractor until he reached age 65. When he retired from his second career, they would move to Florida. With Bull’s significant income, of which they were investing a large percentage, this goal was easily attainable. After about 5 years in his relatively high-stress BD career, Bull was ready to scale back a little bit. Bull had always thought that he might like to teach high school but wasn’t sure if he could and still meet their goals. We ran the scenario and determined that if Bull worked one more year in BD and worked as a teacher until 67, they could still live the lifestyle they wanted. Bull is now happily teaching Physics at a private school, and he’ll retire from teaching in 7 years. After that, they’re off to a happy retirement in Florida (they’ve already started living there part-time in the summer…which Bull now has off). They’re also thinking of moving to Florida permanently and finishing out Bull’s teaching career there.

*Not an actual client, but typical of the many clients we work with

Disclaimer
Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC website or incorporated herein, and C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC takes no responsibility therefore. All such information is provided solely for convenience, educational, and informational purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC . To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of the C.L. Sheldon & Company, LLC ’s current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request. DISCLAIMER OF TAX ADVICE: Any discussion contained herein cannot be considered to be tax advice. Actual tax advice would require a detailed and careful analysis of the facts and applicable law, which we expect would be time consuming and costly. We have not made and have not been asked to make that type of analysis in connection with any advice given in this blog post. As a result, we are required to advise you that any Federal tax advice rendered in this blog is not intended or written to be used and cannot be used for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by the IRS. In the event you would like us to perform the type of analysis that is necessary for us to provide an opinion, that does not require the above disclaimer, as always, please feel free to contact us.