Meet PRIYA & ARJUN
IT CONSULTANCY BUSINESS OWNERS
From ENTERPRISE Success to Financial Freedom: A Tech Professional’s Journey
At 55, Priya has spent years building a successful IT business with annual revenue ranging between $350,000 and $550,000.
She is now at a crossroads as she considers a potential sale. Along with her partner, Arjun, she wants to understand how the transition from business owner to retiree will impact their lifestyle.
Their main objective is to bring together their personal assets and business structure into one clear picture. They needs to know exactly what their financial security will look like once the business is sold.
​
To help them plan for this next chapter, we are analyzing three distinct scenarios. These projections are tailored to their future goals, including:
​
-
Increasing her travel budget to explore new destinations.
-
Moving into a different home or undertaking major renovations.
-
Providing significant financial support to her children.​​
To protect the privacy of our clients, representative stock photography has been used
QUESTIONS from
PRIYA & ARJUN
-
Is my current setup working? Do I have the right investments, and is my current strategy cost-effective, or are fees eating too much of my returns?
-
When can I officially retire? Based on my goals, how much can I sustainably spend each year without running out of money?
-
How should I handle my cash and corporate assets? Where should I allocate my large chunk of cash, and how is investing through my corporation different from investing personally?
-
How do I protect my family and legacy? What is the best strategy for tax minimization, risk management, and simplifying my estate so my kids won't face unnecessary complexity later?
PERSONAL ASSETS
The PLAN
1. CASH FLOW
We started by creating a full cash flow model to show Priya and Arjun exactly where their money was going. By integrating her business and personal life into one view, we identified a significant "win": her current investment advisor was charging fees that were far too high.
We reviewed lower-cost options in the market, and by switching to a more efficient provider, Priya saw an immediate increase in her projected retirement success rate.
2. SPENDING
A central part of our planning process is determining where your money is actually going; not just today, but years into the future.
By creating a detailed cash flow model, we can visualize the "lifecycle" of your wealth.
​
This level of detail allows us to move beyond simple estimates and specifically account for the big life moments you’re planning for, such as:
​
-
Home Transformations: Budgeting for major renovations or a move to a new property.
-
Family Legacy: Planning the timing and impact of significant gifts to help your children get started.
-
Lifestyle Shifts: Factoring in periods of increased travel or new hobbies as you transition out of your business.
3. NET WORTH
Based on our analysis, we observed a typical wealth pattern where net worth grows steadily until retirement and then is gradually drawn down to fund lifestyle needs.
​
However, the initial data showed that the planned spending was slightly higher than what we would consider ideal. This specific scenario utilized a "straight-line" investment return approach; while it showed a reasonable margin of safety, the overall success rate was not high enough to meet our standards for long-term security.
To address this, we developed two additional financial projection scenarios. These provided a clear view of the specific lifestyle and spending adjustments required to strengthen their margin of safety and improve the probability of success. Furthermore, we provided a technical roadmap for their income, including:
​
-
Optimal Timing: A clear recommendation on when to begin CPP and OAS.
-
Strategic Drawdowns: A step-by-step plan for withdrawing assets from both the corporation and RRSPs to ensure the most tax-efficient outcome.
4. SUCESS RATE
Our planning software runs a variety of simulations to determine their plan's success rate and establish a comfortable margin of safety. We generally aim for a success rate between 60% and 80%, as this range indicates a healthy margin of safety.
Because life rarely follows a straight line, achieving this often involves testing multiple scenarios and making adjustments to ensure your plan remains resilient under various market conditions.
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
Our analysis and recommendations focused on four key pillars to ensure a successful transition:
​
-
Sustainable Spending & Stress Testing: We provided a clear, data-backed figure for what they can sustainably spend each year. This isn't just a guess; we stress-tested the results against various market conditions to provide a definitive opinion on their "margin of safety."
-
Strategic Asset Allocation: Beyond general investment advice, we showed them exactly how to allocate their cash to maximize its effectiveness within the big picture of their total net worth.
-
Corporate vs. Personal Investing: We conducted a thorough review of the technical differences between investing inside their corporation versus personally, ensuring their structure is optimized for tax efficiency.
-
Risk Right-Sizing: We aligned their portfolio with their actual needs, ensuring they only take on as much risk as is strictly necessary to reach their specific goals.
​
The Fee Impact:
During our review, we discovered that her current investment advisor was charging excessive fees. By comparing these to other options in the market, she was able to switch to a lower-cost provider.
This simple change had a massive relative impact, immediately increasing her projected success rate and keeping more of her wealth working for her.
6. The DELIVERY
A financial plan is only as good as its implementation. Our process is designed to bridge the gap between "math" and "real life":
The Discovery Calls
Through a series of focused video consultations, we stress-tested Priya and Arjun’s goals by looking beyond their bank accounts to address real concerns like family protection and an analysis of their investment strategy.
The Projections
We ran three distinct scenarios using financial simulations to determine a sustainable spending level and a healthy margin of safety.
​
​
​
The Action Plan
We concluded Priya and Arjun's engagement with a written, step-by-step report that optimized their tax efficiency and transitioned them to a lower-cost investment model to improve their long-term success rate.
THE RESULT
From fragmented accounts to a clear retirement roadmaP.
We ran three distinct financial simulations to determine a sustainable spending level that ensures a healthy margin of safety for their future. This roadmap optimized their tax efficiency and transitioned them to a lower-cost investment model to improve their long-term success rate.
These scenarios provided the clarity needed to balance their lifestyle goals with the security of a resilient retirement plan.