Client Profile

Meet David and Sarah Mitchell

A 50-year-old architect, David, and his wife Sarah, a 48-year-old physician, who recently inherited $2 million following the passing of Sarah's mother. With existing assets of $1.8 million between their retirement accounts and home equity, they found themselves suddenly with nearly $4 million in wealth. While financially successful in their own careers, they felt overwhelmed by the responsibility of honoring Sarah's mother's legacy while making smart decisions for their family's future.

The Challenge

The Mitchells came to Willow Creek Wealth Management via a referral from their estate attorney, facing complex decisions about their newfound wealth:

• Emotional Decision-Making: Sarah was struggling to make financial decisions while still grieving the loss of her mom. She wanted to ensure she properly honored her mother's memory through thoughtful stewardship of the inheritance
• Tax Implications: Understanding the immediate and long-term tax consequences of various inheritance components, including her mother's IRA, investment accounts, and the family home in Marin County
• Family Dynamics: Balancing their desire to help their three children with college expenses while ensuring they didn't compromise their own financial security
• Investment Integration: Determining how to incorporate inherited investments into their existing portfolio without disrupting their long-term strategy or creating unnecessary tax events
• Estate Planning Gaps: Realizing their own estate plan was outdated and inadequate for their new level of wealth and family goals

The Mitchells recognized the need for expert guidance to navigate these life-changing events with confidence.

Our expert team guided the Mitchells through our comprehensive wealth planning process, providing both financial expertise and emotional support:

Inheritance Strategy & Tax Planning

We analyzed each component of the inheritance to create a tax-efficient plan, including managing the inherited IRA, optimizing the step-up in basis on investment accounts, and evaluating options for the Marin property.

Values-Based Family Planning

We created a structured plan for college funding that included 529 plans, teaching financial responsibility to their children, and preserving family values alongside financial assets.

Investment Coordination

We seamlessly integrated inherited assets with their existing portfolio, rebalancing to maintain appropriate risk levels while minimizing taxes, harvesting losses to offset gains from inherited positions, and creating a diversification strategy that reduced concentration risk.

Comprehensive Estate Planning

We worked with their attorney to update their estate plan, establishing trusts to protect assets and minimize estate taxes, creating charitable giving strategies that reflected Sarah's mother's values as well as their own, and ensuring their increased wealth would transfer efficiently to future generations.