Back in January, Addie forwarded a client email to me, “Can we set up a 30-minute call to go through stuff? We have some big life news -- we're moving to California within the next 4-6 weeks.”
Apparently, this client’s spouse (who I’ll refer to as Client #1) received an awesome job offer for a huge tech company so they decided to pack up their family and head out West. I was thrilled for both of them and immediately jumped into financial advisor mode. We’ve gone through many transitions like this over the years so I started working through my mental checklist:
What’s Client #1’s new salary? What about other compensation? Will they receive a hiring bonus or company stock? And will there be “strings attached?”
What benefits will Client #1 be receiving and do I have immediate enrollment action items for them?
What about Client #2’s job? Is it possible to keep this position and move to Silicon Valley? And should we expect any changes?
What about our day to day financial impacts? California’s an expensive state, so what can we do to plan appropriately for the higher cost of living?
Will this impact our longer-term financial plan? Up until this point our goals were based under the assumption of staying in Chicago, so will this require any changes to our plan?
The next week the clients and I hopped on a call together. During this call, we discussed our immediate action items and came up with our plan. We also made a list of things that we’ll want to assess once they’ve moved and have settled in. I also reminded them that my team and I here if they need ANYTHING during this transition.
Lastly, the clients had a question of their own “can we still work together after we move?” I gave an enthusiastic YES! As our clients have become more mobile we’ve worked hard to adapt our process to work with clients outside of Chicago. The one thing that is certain is that life is uncertain, so I’m happy to stick with clients as they reach their possibilities. I love seeing our clients live their lives. Helping clients through these types of transitions is one of the best parts of my job. If you’d like a second opinion on your 2019 transition, give us a shout.
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All Securities Offered Through The Investment Center, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services Provided Through IC Advisory Services, Inc. – An SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Jessica Merino is a registered representative of The Investment Center, Inc. Merino Wealth Management is not affiliated with The Investment Center, Inc. or IC Advisory Services, Inc.