Balancing Career Success and Financial Planning: A Single Mom’s Story

Quick fun story that brings a smile to our faces and peace of mind to hers.

Heidi, 42, recently divorced.  Over the past two years, she went through an amicable divorce and now lives in a quaint town in an old German cottage.

Heidi and her ex completed the messy process of divvying everything up as evenly as possible and while doing so, had to sell Heidi’s sanctuary, their lake house with a breathtaking view (and a breathtaking 2.35% mortgage).

One of the things she revealed rather quickly to us was her desire to purchase another sanctuary (a new lake house) of her own.

Luckily for Heidi, she’s a rising career superstar and has all the attributes you’d want in someone to excel in the corporate environment:  Empathetic, a good listener, outgoing, dedicated.  This dream didn’t seem too far-fetched.

In fact, you could essentially cast her in a Hallmark Christmas movie.

However, life after divorce was moving fast, and overwhelming:

  • Two kids who will be driving and off to college soon
  • Needs updated estate planning documents
  • Now solely responsible for her retirement planning and has no idea how much she should be saving
  • A large percentage of her compensation comes as annual bonus
  • She has a 401k with her former employer and an IRA that doesn’t get the attention it deserves

She reached out to us and her exact words were: “I’m stressed and have a lot going on. I need some financial guidance.”

Heidi needed a plan as well as someone (or our team in this instance) to coordinate the financial puzzle hanging over her head so she could spend time doing what brought her pleasure and happiness: Being a great mom and a corporate superstar, and eventually retreating to her lake future lake house.

Collaboratively, we built a plan to take her finances from chaos to confidence and it all started with a nudge from a good friend to meet with us and a casual introductory conversation.

If you or someone you’re close to is a high-achieving professional that could use help aligning their finances and establishing a financial plan, please reach out to us, we’re accepting new clients and eager to help.

Cheers, Nic

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