Death of a Great Client, a Great Person, and a Great Friend

This past Tuesday morning I received a call from the wife of a great friend, great person, and a great client informing me that her husband had passed away over the weekend from natural causes. He was 44!

To maintain their privacy I’ll refer to them as Jim and Beth.

Over the past few months I had been working with Jim and Beth on an asset optimization and retirement income plan. During this time I realized that not only were they approaching retirement with one foot on the gas pedal but had one on the brake as well. Not only that, they were severely under insured! Let me explain;

Jim and Beth have a mortgage of $312,000, two car loans totaling $72,000, unsecured debt totaling $23,500 and two children ages 8 and 12 in private schools. Beth is a stay at home mom.

The only insurance policy Jim had in effect was through his employer for a total of $100,000. Once the death benefit on this policy is received, it will payoff Beth’s Car and the unsecured debt. Beth will sell Jim’s car and most likely will do so at a slight loss.

This leaves the question of what to do with the house that is mortgaged at $312,000 as well as the future of their children as there is now no income to pay the mortgage or the private school tuition.

Had Jim taken my advice and at the very least purchased the life insurance policy I was recommending, Beth would have received the $100,000 from Jim’s employer but would have had an additional $500,000 as well, tax free! This additional coverage would have cost Jim as little as $48.00 a month!

I would have loved to seen them purchase this policy and at the very least covered their outstanding obligations but now Beth may be forced to sell the house and go back to work. In this economy and housing market, I would not want to be in that position for any reason.

Luckily, there may be enough equity in the home and Jim’s 401k to keep the children in private school once the home is sold and the 401k liquidated but then the question becomes, where do they live?

There were other ideas that I was working on with Jim and Beth that would have secured their children’s college education as well as providing a tax free income retirement plan for Jim and Beth. All of this could have been accomplished without increasing their current annual retirement contributions one penny!

I share this story not as a sales pitch but one of concern and care for you, my family and friends to ensure that you don’t end up in the same situation. Many of you know me for my mortgage services but may be unaware that those services are only about 25% of what I really have to offer my clients.

I am licensed in 27 states to implement asset optimization strategies, tax deferred and tax free retirement income plans, long term care, 401k Rollovers, stretch IRA’s, college savings plans, Term life insurance coverage, Annuities and more.

While many of you have seen your retirement accounts lose 30 to 60% over the last 2 years, not one of my clients lost a penny! Everything that I implement in an asset optimization plan revolves around Safety of Principle, Liquidity, and a Favorable Rate of Return (where your gains are locked).

Please read and follow my blog at http://jmichaelnash.blogspot.com to stay informed of the latest case designs that are being implemented and how they relate to you. If you know of any of your friends or family that could benefit from talking with me, I would be more than honored that you have referred them to me.

I may be reached at jmichaelnash@yahoo.com or at 512.731.8818

Make it a great day by protecting yourself and loved ones,

J. Michael Nash
Financial Strategist