A Life Well Planned - Episode 6: Securing the Future

In the final episode of "A Life Well Planned," we revisit the lives of Josh and Megan, now in their 70s, enjoying their well-deserved retirement with their children, Charlotte and Rory, who are now in their 40s. The episode delves into the joys and challenges of retirement, family dynamics, and the importance of meticulous financial planning.

As the family gathers for a year-end meeting to discuss their philanthropic endeavours through the family foundation, they reminisce about their journey, from Megan’s and Josh's unexpected inheritance in 2000 to the growth of their coffee business and their commitment to giving back to the community. Along the way, their trusted Raymond James financial advisor, Andy, has been their guiding light, ensuring their financial security and success.

The conversation takes a poignant turn as Megan and Josh discuss estate planning, power of attorney, healthcare directives, and the Letter of Wishes. They also address the possibility of divorce in their children's marriages and how to protect their assets for future generations.

In this heartfelt and informative episode, the importance of comprehensive financial planning, strong family bonds, and the enduring legacy of the family's philanthropy is explored. Listeners will gain valuable insights into estate planning, charitable giving, and the significance of securing a prosperous future for themselves and their loved ones.

Join us for the final installment of "A Life Well Planned," where we celebrate the culmination of a lifetime of smart and savvy financial planning and reflect on the enduring power of family and philanthropy. Listen on your preferred podcast platform and discover the secrets to securing your own bright future.

  

 

Transcript

Opening music --

Narrator: Looking to pass down some of your hard earned wealth? Just beginning to invest and looking to provide the best possible life for you and your family, but don’t know where to start? Are you looking to create a road map to your retirement? Then you’re in the right place. Welcome to “A Life Well Planned,” the Raymond James podcast that follows a family just like yours as they plan out a smart and savvy financial path to a prosperous future.

Music Transition --

Narrator: It was once the year 2000 and newly weds Josh and Megan had received an unexpected inheritance from Megan’s grandmother Rose. It gave them a solid financial foundation on which they were able to buy a home, start a business, send their children to top universities, and give back to their community and the world through philanthropic giving. What started as one coffee shop on a quiet corner in Vancouver has transformed into a renowned brand with stores throughout Canada and bean distribution spreading around the world. Leading them along the way has been their trusted Raymond James financial advisor Andy. Andy has grown with the couple and has also achieved many different certifications and was able to grow his skills and become their portfolio manager. Andy is now trusted to safely manage all aspects of the couple’s portfolio, and has built a team from the next generation to take over his clients when he retires. Megan and Josh’s daughter Charlotte has bought and is running the business. She also runs the company’s philanthropy arm and has done amazing work supporting women led businesses. And after a brief separation in Megan and Josh’s marriage, they are happily back together and just settling into retirement. The year is now 2045. In many ways the world is entirely different than the one now, but in other ways just the same. People still work hard, and plan ahead to secure the freedom of wealth for themselves and their children... Let’s see how Megan and Josh are enjoying retirement...

Music Transition --

INT. Josh and Megan’s home

We hear the sounds of Josh and Megan (now 70s) laughing and having a good time with Charlotte and Rory (now 40s).

Josh: Do you remember after your grandmother’s funeral I threw that chicken out and your father was so upset with me?

Megan: Oh my God. I really thought he might kill you.

Charlotte: Always been a clean freak, dad.

Josh: Well, thank you. I take that as a compliment.

A baby cries --

Charlotte: Shhh, Rosie, it’s okay. Daddy will be back soon... Hopefully. (to Rory) She’s just hungry, right Rory? There’s not like, something wrong, right?

Rory: For the thousandth time yes, she is just a hungry baby. A happy, hungry baby.

Charlotte: She’s just been a little cranky lately with all the traveling.

Josh: You were in Tokyo? I can never keep track anymore.

Charlotte: Hai. That means yes in Japanese, Rory.

Rory: Yes, thank you.

Megan: That’s huge, honey. Man, I would’ve loved to have been there.

Charlotte: As much as you love retirement I think you secretly wish you were back in the game.

Josh: She does!

Charlotte: I know. I do.

Josh: Every country we went to, she looked in every coffee shop, “The beans are burnt!” “Terrible customer service!” And in places with some serious coffee, too!

Megan: Okay, okay, guilty. I always knew I would miss it, but I do have to say, I really, truly love retirement. I love the freedom! I can go anywhere I want, do anything I want. I can pay it back to people who are less fortunate. And even though things are scary in the world, I know you guys will always be safe.

Charlotte: Awwww, thanks mom.

Josh: Okay, on that note it’s officially time for the Year End Family Meeting to officially present our chosen charities we’ll be giving to through the family foundation.

Megan: But first, let’s give thanks to Grandma Rose, who immigrated from Scotland and started a small grocery store. That grew --

Rory: Mom, we know the story.

Josh: Grandma Rose, the patron saint of coffee.

Megan: Which gave her panic attacks.

Josh: She loved tea though! And we sell lots of tea.

Charlotte: You guys really love that bit, huh?

The phone rings.

Josh: Oh hey, it’s Andy. Hey Andy, I’ve got your hologram in front of the whole family. We were just talking about who we’ll be giving to through the foundation.

Andy: Oh, that’s awesome! Hey everyone, great to see you all!

Josh: From the report you sent it looks like we’re giving away 10% of our total assets every year.

Andy: That’s so great!

Charlotte: Hey Andy, I’ve been meaning to tell you, Amara is amazing!

Rory: Yeah, she’s really saved me so much on taxes.

Josh: Well she learned from the best.

Andy: There is nothing that warms my heart more then hearing about my prodigy’s successes. She’s worked really hard, she deserves it. She’s got her CFP certification coming up soon too.

Charlotte: Yeah, that’s what she said! So cool!

Andy: Pretty soon I’ll be out of there, and then Amara, Deepa, and Steve will be running things.

Josh: Only after they pry you out of there.

Andy: Exactly. But hey, I just wanted to say hey and also that I’ve got your portfolio in. Would you like to pop by some time in the new year for a review?

Megan: We’d love to, Thursday the 5th, our normal time?

Andy: 11 am. Perfect.

Megan: And tell Allie and the kids we said happy new year!

Andy: You bet I will. Oh! And we’ll be at Coffee Cares Tuesday!

Josh: Oh, great!

Andy: Man, this event just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Megan: Yeah... It’s pretty surreal sometimes.

INT. Andy’s office

Andy: Happy new year! Come on in. Hey, I forgot to ask, how was the Mediterranean?

Charlotte: Amazing. How was Alaska?

Andy Hot. But we got some good hikes in with the grandkids. We even did 12 miles one day, not bad for an old fart like me.

Josh: Hey, I was looking at that tree outside, the one we planted all those years ago at that event?

Andy: It’s really grown, huh?

Josh: Oh man. I almost got choked up.

Megan: He’s so sentimental these days.

Andy: I mean. I look at a butterfly and practically start sobbing.

Josh: I’m really going to miss butterflies.

Andy: So why don’t we get into it. Everything’s looking good. :Everyone took a bit of a tumble with Dengue Fever, but you hung in there and have recovered nicely.

Josh: I hear there’s another variant going around.

Megan: I guess it’s time to get into estate planning. Trust, power of attorney, all that fun stuff.

Andy: Always thinking ahead. Not the most fun, you’re right, but so crucial and the good news is you’ve started early. But I still never got a signed will from your attorney, so maybe now we can do a refresh and talk about the estate plan.

Josh: One more estate plan refresh for old times sake. I’m certainly feeling older.

Andy: Let’s see, the usual documents are done. The will is updated, the company documents are in good working order. Succession plan is in place. Power of attorney... So Charlotte is currently the power of attorney, so she can act in your name in case anything ever happens.

Josh: I think we trust her. How about health care?

Andy: I was just going to say, we should talk about the Health Care Director. This is really important in case anything ever happens to you, if you’re incapacitated. Sometimes this gets skipped over by people. But it’s your health that really determines what your retirement looks like. Estate planning isn’t just assets, it’s about people.

Megan: Well, Rory’s the doctor.

Josh: I think I trust him too.

Andy: The other thing we should discuss is the Letter of Wishes.

Josh: Sounds magical.

Andy: It’s an outside letter to the will to the executor, explaining how you want your charitable wishes to be fulfilled, the ones that are sitting in the Donor Advised Fund. We know we want Charlotte to give us the annual instructions, but we haven’t added boundaries around them, so we’ll need to get that in writing in order to know where that money goes.

Megan: Okay we can do that. We’d also like to contribute more to the Grandma Rose fund.

Andy: We can definitely do that.

Josh: And that would also help reduce our taxable income too, right?

Andy: Up to 75% in any given tax year, and death at 100%. You know Josh, you really have come so far.

Josh: Only took me 50 years but I’ve finally got a handle on our finances.

Andy: So... here’s a potentially awkward situation that could come up. If one of your kids gets divorced, there’s a strong possibility their ex may have some claim on what you leave behind.

Josh: Dave...

Megan: Dave.

Andy: Are we comfortable with that?

Megan: ... We should talk about that.

Josh: You know, it’s not that we don’t like Dave it’s just...

Megan: Let’s think about it.

Andy: We should probably talk about a testamentary trust for Charlotte in that case to help protect her assets. Anything that’s left in the will goes only to her and her children. Technically Dave might be able to extract a portion of the income for the duration of their time together when her assets go into trust, but he can't touch the capital.

Megan: I think we should probably move forward with that then.

Josh: I agree. We would need to talk about this with both kids though to make sure Rory doesn’t think he’s being treated differently.

Andy: Absolutely. And we can also set one up for him, too.

Megan: That’s a good idea. Now your Senior Trust Advisor is Saanvi, right?

Megan: Yes, she’s terrific.

Andy: Yeah, I always recommend her. She has some great advice specifically around trust planning that can help to safeguard those assets for the kids. Overall though, you’re in good shape. You’ve literally planned this for almost your entire lives.

Josh: Gosh, where does the time go?

Megan: Hey, Andy. We wanted to show you a little sign of our appreciation for all the help over the years.

Andy: Oh, you guys didn’t have to... Oh, what a beautiful little tree!

Josh: There’s something under it.

Andy: “This certificate guarantees the planting of one thousand trees over the course of the next year all around the world.” You guys! You’re going to make me cry.

Josh: We really can’t thank you enough.

Andy: It’s been my pleasure.

Megan: And everyone you’ve introduced us to over the years, everyone has just been so sharp, so helpful.

Andy: It’s really a team effort, that’s what I love about this company. I’m just glad I’ve been able to provide some piece of mind, even when things got rocky.

Josh: Like when Rory convinced me to invest in crypto.

Andy: Remember when you came into my office all those years ago and you told me what success looked like to you?

Megan: I think it was something like, a happy family, a loving home, a successful business.

Josh: Well I think we can safely say we’ve achieved that.

Andy: I’m so proud to have helped. And hey, I might be passing things on to the younger folks, but I am still always just a phone call away.

Megan: Thanks, Andy. I’m sure we’ll be talking soon, but no matter what might happen I’m feeling good about where we’re leaving things.

Josh: Me too.

Andy Hey, that’s what I’m here for.

Music transition --

Narrator: Thank you so much for joining us for “A Life Well Planned!” We hope you enjoyed this podcast and were able to take something away to help plan the best future possible for you and your family. Be sure to like this podcast and share with your friends, and thank you again from all of us at Raymond James.

End

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