DEM Case Study

People often ask us what exactly we do. Let me illustrate with an example:

Ken was referred to DEM by one of our existing clients. Several years earlier, he had started a small manufacturing company that was generating over $22MM in annual revenue. But it was clear from our very first meeting that he was completely burnt out.

He began our meeting by relating the following story: "Last year we acquired our largest competitor which had been owned by a great guy in his mid 60s. He was an incredibly hard working Irish guy who never took a day off in his life. Every time we spoke he told me that his goal was to eventually sell his company and travel with his beautiful wife of forty years to see Dublin with his very own eyes. Coincidentally, I ran into his wife last month. When I congratulated her on the sale of the company, she told me through tears that husband died of a heart attack three weeks after the closing."

"I am in my early 50s, my father died at age 60, and Ken's story made me realize that life is way too short. I want you guys to help me prepare my company for sale, find a buyer, structure the transaction, and put a plan together that will allow my wife and I to do all of the things I have been too busy to do while running my company. You come very highly recommended by a trusted friend, but can you accomplish this for me?"

We assured him that we could. At our next meeting, we spent two hours with Ken and his wife Gail discussing nothing but their vision for retirement. They both enjoyed talking about where they wanted to live, how they would spend their days, and all of the things that they wanted to see and do. This meeting provided us with their Destination. The following week we met again to take a detailed inventory of all of their assets, liabilities, income, expenses, estate plans, etc. This meeting provided us with their Origination.

After our second meeting, we immediately set to work on quantifying their goals and developing a Plan to address their business succession planning, tax planning, estate planning, investments, insurance, family matters, healthcare, etc. This Comprehensive Wealth Management Plan outlined exactly how we would navigate them from their Origination to their Destination.

We reviewed the Plan in detail with Ken and Gail then spent the next eighteen months implementing its various components. Today they are both happier and more fulfilled than they have ever been. Ken does some part time consulting work via email, they enjoy their beach house in Florida during the winter months, ski and hike in the summer while living in their Colorado condominium, visit their children and grandchildren, and travel to all of the places they always wanted to go. They are debt-free, worry-free, and their investment portfolio is structured to provide them with a perpetually rising income stream that they cannot possibly outlive. Our disciplined approach has provided them with the peace of mind that comes from having achieved financial independence.

This is what we do.

Ken and Gail are not actual clients but have similar stories to many of the families that have entrusted their futures to us. They are used for illustrative purposes only.

Copyright © 2011-2024. All rights reserved. Powered by Pepper Glen.