Preparing for retirement can be exciting, but it can also be heavy on the details. At Full Spectrum Financial Group, we care about our clients and how they approach retirement. Our goal is to help them structure their retirement accounts to take full advantage of their wealth. 

Here’s a case study that explains how we gave a particular client some clarity and direction in funding and enjoying her retirement. 

Meet Angela 

Angela Collins¹ was a 55-year-old single woman when we first met her in 2010. Her parents having immigrated from Italy, Angela settled in the greater New York City area and led a fruitful career with the Bronx Zoo, taking on several responsibilities. After later moving to Sarasota, FL (which is where she became a client), Angela worked with the United Way, helping the charitable organization raise funds. In 2010 her plan was to retire within 5 to 10 years. 

Angela approached Full Spectrum with a few defined goals. With both professional and personal experience with charities, she was inspired to benefit others while also optimizing her investments. 

 The Full Spectrum team established a full financial plan for Angela’s eventual retirement, addressing estate planning, investment strategies, and risk management. We focused on two specific areas: Angela’s family home and her beneficiaries. 

The Family Home 

Angela and her sister were inheritors of the Collins family home in New York City. Over 80 years old, the house was originally purchased for under $100,000, but its value had increased to well over $2,000,000. 

Selling the home would create considerable capital gains liability for Angela and her sister. They would earn $1,000,000 each, but over 30% of the sale funds would have gone to pay local, state, and federal taxes. 

That’s where Angela’s charitable spirit came into play. She wanted the United Way to benefit from the sale of the family home, so Full Spectrum helped her establish a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT). 

Angela’s share of the home was put in the trust, and after the house was sold, the funds were invested. In retirement, Angela continues to receive distributions from the CRUT, and upon her passing, the remainder of the trust will be donated to the United Way.  

Sharing the Estate 

Angela also wanted her sister and a close friend to share in her estate. Since she’d set up the CRUT to donate the home to the United Way, much of her estate was tied up in the trust instead of free to pass to her sister and friend. 

 We addressed this obstacle with a permanent life insurance policy, which gave Angela’s sister and friend part of her legacy in the case of Angela’s premature death. If she lived longer, the fund would grow in cash value which Angela could spend in retirement. The policy helped Angela meet her twin objectives of helping her cause and setting her loved ones up for the future. 

Along with those two objectives, Full Spectrum helped Angela with the following: 

• Prevention from risk in case of an extended healthcare event 

• Cash-flow planning 

• Investment management, including the CRUT 

• Lining up an attorney to create documents for estate planning 

Today, Angela is 69 years old and has been retired for five years. She tells us she enjoys retirement, experiencing financial stability and a full, rewarding life.