Welcome! I'm here to help your advisor understand your financial situation so your first meeting is as productive as possible. To start — can you tell me a bit about yourself and your family? What does your household look like, and what's keeping you busy these days?
Sure! My wife Sarah and I are both in our late 30s. We have two kids — Emma is 7 and Jake is 5. We both work full-time — I'm in software engineering and she's a product manager. We're doing well career-wise but feel like we should be more intentional about our finances.
That's a great position to be in — stable dual income with young kids is the perfect time to get intentional about planning. Let me ask about your financial picture: roughly what do you have in investable assets (retirement accounts, brokerage, savings — not counting your home), and how much are you able to save each month? Also, what accounts do you currently have open — 401(k)s, IRAs, brokerage, that kind of thing?
Between everything we probably have around $600-700K. We've got two 401(k)s through work, a Roth IRA I opened a few years ago, a brokerage account at Schwab, a savings account, an HSA, and a 529 for the kids. We save about $3-4K a month after all our expenses. We have a mortgage but no other real debt.
Excellent — you've built a really solid foundation. Seven accounts across tax-advantaged and taxable, no consumer debt, strong savings rate. Now let's talk about what you want this money to do for you. What are your top financial goals? Think about both the big long-term ones and anything coming up in the next few years.
Retirement is obviously the big one — we'd love to be done by 60 if possible. College for the kids is important too, we're thinking probably state school but want the option for private if they earn it. More immediately, we want to renovate our kitchen and bathrooms — probably $100K or so in the next couple years. Oh and I want to make sure our emergency fund is solid, we're at about $45K which feels close but not quite there.
Great set of goals — clear priorities with realistic timelines. That's four goals I'm noting: retirement by 60, college funding for both kids, home renovation in ~2 years, and topping up the emergency fund. Let me shift to risk: how would you describe your comfort with market ups and downs? If your portfolio dropped 20-25% in a bad year, would you stay the course or would that keep you up at night?
I'd stay the course. We went through 2022 and didn't panic-sell anything. I actually bought more in the dip. Sarah is a little more conservative but she trusts the process. We do care about ESG — we'd prefer to avoid tobacco and firearms companies if possible. We're not super rigid about it though.
That tells me a lot — you've been tested by real volatility and stayed disciplined, which is a strong signal. The ESG preferences are noted and very doable without sacrificing performance. Last area: what are you looking for in an advisor relationship? Our advisory groups typically do quarterly check-ins with clients and share a weekly market commentary newsletter. How does that sound, and is there anything specific you want from your advisor?
Quarterly meetings sound right — we'd prefer video calls since scheduling in-person is tough with the kids. We want someone who's proactive about tax stuff, especially coordinating with our CPA. Sarah and I both want to be in the meetings. And please, keep it visual and skip the heavy jargon — show us charts, not spreadsheets. We already have a CPA and an estate attorney so ideally everyone's on the same page.
Perfect — I've got everything I need to prepare your financial profile. Let me summarize: a growth-oriented mid-career couple with a strong savings foundation, clear goals spanning 1-22 years, proven comfort with market volatility, and a preference for collaborative, visual-first advisory relationships. Your advisor is going to love working with you. I'm generating your profile now — you'll be able to review everything on the next screen.
What was covered
Life Stage
Family, career, dependents
Finances
Assets, accounts, savings
Goals
Retirement, education, renovation
Risk
Tolerance, experience, preferences
Preferences
Communication, expectations
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