Clients
Marty and Sandy Retire as Marty says ‘Goodbye’ to Chevron
When Marty had a belt buckle made in 1981 that read “Retire by March 31, 2006,” he wasn’t joking. After working for Chevron for thirty years, Marty and his wife Sandy decided it was time to start living their lives the way they have always wanted. Marty and Sandy were referred to Financial Celebrations from Attorney At Law Brian S. “We wanted to arrange our investments with someone that had references that we could trust,” explained Marty.
Like so many retirees before them, Marty and Sandy were faced with several decisions to make that would have an impact on how to invest the majority of their life savings. Marty and Sandy were dealing with the question of whether to pay off their home mortgage or not, what changes to their income taxes would be involved when they retire, and how much should they withdraw from their investments over time among many others.
Marty and Sandy began putting their financial team together by meeting with Financial Celebrations, their mortgage lender, and their CPA to get more educated. Marty and Sandy were highly motivated. “My father retired at 55 and passed away at 57, so we were determined to be financially secure at an early age as well as enjoy it along the way,” added Sandy. Marty and Sandy started saving early and often. “We had discretionary savings that we would spend, but we never touched our savings that was set aside for our retirement,” explained Marty. The big question for us was “how do we maintain a similar lifestyle that we currently enjoy without working any longer?”
“The Financial Celebrations Team really took the time to educate us about various types of risk involved with investing so that we could make more informed decisions with our money. As it turned out, I didn’t need more money or another promotion from Chevron. Sandy and I had enough to live on the way we wanted to live already. I feel like this is the first time in my life that I can do what I want to do,” Marty Beamed. Marty and Sandy appreciated the team of Betsy Rogers and Laurie Rosenthal for their efforts in organizing the various forms for their new accounts which made the transition into retirement easier.
What advice do Marty and Sandy have for others thinking of retirement? “Be very careful about having too much of your retirement money in an employer’s stock. Diversify your savings no matter how much you might think you know about the employer stock. When we saw what happened to the employees at Enron, we were determined no to let that happen to us,” concluded Marty and Sandy.
We Aren’t Retiring from Life – Just our Jobs
We had the great privilege of helping one of our clients achieve the dream we all dream of – retiring from work and starting a new life filled with many hopes and dreams. Not only were we able to help Steve Eichner and Marlene King retire – we were able to give them the great news that they could possibly retire five years early! What an exciting time this has been. Through the financial planning process and securing their new home mortgage we have been fortunate to see what was once a dream for them has become their reality.
Now that Steve and Marlene are settled in their new home in Oregon we had an opportunity to visit with them about their experience and their thought process leading up to their big move.
They shared with us they felt it was time for them to sell their existing home in Vacaville because the home prices were appreciating so quickly and they knew the market would eventually slow down. Since the equity in their home played a significant role in their financial plan they felt it was important to act fast.
Initially, they met with us to analyze some financial scenarios and they realized they could retire in Vacaville, however due to their house payment and cost of living it would require them to tighten their belt a little. They went on to realize they could actually have more disposable income as retirees in Oregon versus Steve continuing to work in Vacaville. This revelation made the decision that much easier.
Steve and Marlene said some of the biggest challenges they faced were, not knowing if they could find a house in their price range so their financial budget would work and the idea of walking away from a 25 year career was a bit unnerving for Steve.
Marlene shared that she felt most confident that their plan of retiring early and obtaining the financing they desired was the day their Vacaville home went into escrow for their asking price.
“The first seven days I had all these fears,” she shared. Steve went on to add that he felt most confident when Financial Celebrations helped with the Mortgage Loan Services and the Eichner-King’s local realtor, Rusty Simmons handled the sale of their Vacaville home. “We wanted to take our team with us to Oregon to help us up there. It’s quite scary working with people you don’t have a relationship with. It left us feeling very vulnerable, unlike the feeling of being cared for which is how we feel working with Financial Celebrations.”
Steve and Marlene’s advice to others is, “be not afraid” and “avoid silly debt.” Steve encourages people to “live conservatively today so that you’ll be positioned to take advantage of opportunities down the road.” They add, “Once you make up your mind to do something – then go for it and don’t be afraid to act fast.” “Get clear on what is driving you and really evaluate how important is working another five years if you don’t have your health or you aren’t able to enjoy your loved ones? This is the American dream to retire at 50 with my health and with Marlene by my side!” Steve joyfully shares.
Note: (i) Profiles from a brokerage client may not be representative of the experience of other clients; (ii) the profile is not indicative of future performance or success; (iii) it is not a paid testimonial. These profiles are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a recommendation of a particular product.