Client Success Stories

Name: Michael & Jenna

ADHD Type: Michael is predominantly inattentive, and Jenna is combined type.

Occupation: Equity-compensated tech director and film consultant.

Age: 40 & 38

Primary Goals:

• Get the financial house in order
• Invest for retirement
• Fund children's education
• Find a way to keep their vacation home
• Reduce taxes

The Situation

Michael has been incredibly successful in his career at a large tech company and has been promoted to a director role.

His total compensation between stock, salary, and bonus is $400,000. His wife, Jenna, is a film consultant who usually makes $200,000 annually.

Despite all his career success, Michael has little to show for it and feels frustrated, confused, and ashamed. His work has always driven him, but finances are an area he has always avoided examining. Jenna has become slightly concerned about their financial situation's stress on Michael and their relationship.

Michael has three children, aged  7, 9, and 11. He has a vacation property in South Carolina that he uses for a few weeks in the summer.

He has about $800,000 in his pre-tax 401k. Outside of that, he has no investments. They send their children to an elite private school in Chicago.

Despite their income, they have accumulated some credit card debt, totaling about $35,000, and they need clarification about how this has happened. 

Michael knows he will need professional support to handle his financial life. He reaches out to us to help. 

He feels as though he needs an understanding of his big financial picture. He wants to not only get a handle on understanding his current situation but also wants to work with someone who can help him make strategic decisions to optimize his finances and get on a solid path.

The Approach

Michael and Jenna searched for a financial planner who worked with people with ADHD and had the experience and credentials that made him feel comfortable. 

He didn't want to try and sort this out himself. He knows the value a professional can provide and that accountability will enable success. 

How we Helped

We spent as much time as needed with Michael and Jenna gathering their financial documents and storing and organizing them in a secure online portal.

We then spent much time uncovering Michaels and Jenna's values and figuring out what they want their future to look like beyond just feeling less overwhelmed about money. 

Once we understood what Michael and Jenna were after, we developed a comprehensive financial plan to help them achieve the goals we came up with together. The plan consisted of the following:

• A cash flow analysis illustrating where they were overspending and why they were cash-flow negative despite their income
• A cash flow plan/budget that takes into account funding for all of their goals
• Mega backdoor Roth contributions to build tax-free assets and reduce future tax liability
• Implemented an investment strategy aligned with their goals 
• Opened a solo 401k for Jenna with plans to max it out
• Plan to rent out vacation home to offset mortgage and maintenance costs
• Identified cash flow leaks and plugged them, such as canceling unused subscriptions and services
• Opened 529 and taxable brokerage accounts to fund children's education
• Delivered debt consolidation and payoff plan to take care of the credit card debt
• Referred Michael and Emma to our insurance partner to acquire needed additional life insurance
• Developed a plan to help diversify and optimize Michael's equity compensation 

The Results

Michael and Jenna now feel the peace of mind and calmness that comes with knowing they are on a financial path designed just for them that will help them achieve their goals.

They both notice how their relationship has improved, and their new frugal and wealth-building mindset is helping them feel more confident in everyday life. 

They now have a weekly family check-in to the budgeting app we provided so they can stay on track. 

Note: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual DeWitt Capital client. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or a certain level of results or satisfaction if DeWitt Capital is engaged in providing investment advisory services.

Name: Kelsey

ADHD Type: Combined Type

Occupation: Attorney 

Age: 33

Primary Goals:

• Eliminate high-interest debt
• Learn about and begin investing
• Increase credit score
• Build an emergency fund
• Improve money mindset

The Situation

Kelsey is one year into her new position as an attorney at a medium-sized law firm. Her income has increased dramatically to $200,000 before bonuses, but so has her stress due to the long hours. After a year of this increased income, she realized she had not progressed with her finances. 

She managed to increase her credit card debt, now at $25,000. Most of her credit card debt has come from impulsive spending and a bad habit of constantly ordering takeout. She was diagnosed with ADHD two years ago and has realized how much her ADHD impacts her ability to juggle her career and her finances.

She also feels very behind when it comes to saving and investing. She has no investments, and her new employer does not offer a retirement plan. 

Kelsey is starting to feel like something has to change and decides to do something about it. She does not want to wake up in 20 years and have nothing to show for her hard work. 

The Approach

Kelsey was curious if any financial advisors focused on working with people with ADHD. She feels most comfortable working with someone who understands the struggle. Fortunately, she stumbled across DeWitt Capital Management. 

How we Helped

We started with Kelsey by helping her get her financial information organized in a secure digital vault. We helped her link her accounts to our secure financial planning software and learn about her current situation and the stories that came with them. Kelsey commented that merely getting everything organized was a huge relief!

From there, we spent much time going through exercises to help Kelsey and us begin to understand her deep-held values and priorities in life. We learned that freedom and independence were her top values, and she realized that her behavior did not align with her values!

We administered two financial psychology assessments and reviewed the results with her. Through the review, we learned that some memories from Kelsey's childhood have contributed to her current financial issues. 

Once Kelsey truly understood in vivid detail what her goals were and how they supported her goal of financial independence, we were able to begin to analyze and develop a financial plan for her that would be in alignment with her dreams.

We first examined her cash flow using our budgeting software, pinpointed the problem areas, and identified areas where she could reduce spending.

We taught her how to use the budgeting app and helped her implement a reverse budget cash flow structure that helped automate her money going where it needed to go each month. 

In her case, we wanted to focus on one thing at a time. We started by building a small emergency fund. 

We then moved to focus on tackling her debt. 

The plan's primary focus was building an initial emergency fund to create some cushion. We then focused on paying off debt. We checked in with her regularly as she learned to budget and live within the structure we set up for her. 

Once the debt is paid off, we will be able to focus on implementing more of her financial plan, including:

• Opening a Roth IRA and IRA to implement a backdoor Roth IRA strategy. Because she expects her income to be dramatically higher in the future, it makes sense to build tax-free assets now so she won't have to pay taxes on them later at a higher rate.
• Opening a taxable brokerage account to begin investing in a tax-efficient manner and potentially improve returns
• Regular meetings where we teach Kelsey about investing 
• Automatic savings to her emergency fund until it is fully funded
• Savings strategy to pre-save for known upcoming significant expenses
• Instructions for a weekly financial check-in with herself
• Strategies on how to reduce the impulse to spend
• Referred her to our insurance partner to acquire needed disability insurance

The Results

Kelsey now feels like she has made a complete 180 from when she first engaged us. She feels she is on a steady path toward financial independence and no longer feels out of control.

Her impulse spending has improved, and she finds herself exercising self-restraint more often. 

In fact, she has commented that she feels like she is getting her much-needed dopamine hits from saving and adding to her investment accounts and watching them grow. 

Note: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual DeWitt Capital client. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or a certain level of results or satisfaction if DeWitt Capital is engaged in providing investment advisory services.

Name: Sophia and Ben

ADHD Type: Sophia is combined type and Ben is hyperactive

Occupation: Physician &  surgical device sales manager

Age: 41 & 40

Primary Goals:

• Consolidate investment accounts
• Reduce taxes
• Invest smarter
• Make sure all risks and financial gaps are covered
• Education planning
• Yearly family vacation
• Estate planning guidance
• Reduce financial overwhelm

The Situation

Sophia and Ben represent the rare ADHD couple in that their ADHD has not expressed itself in impulsive spending. But that doesn't mean their ADHD has not played a part in the financial stress they feel. They are both hyperfocused on their careers, and when they get home, they are exhausted and only have time to spend with their two kids. 

This means that other parts of their financial life have been neglected. They are very aware of this, and it has created some guilt and embarrassment that they have been procrastinating on getting essential things in place, such as life insurance and basic estate planning.

They also know that leaving multiple old 401ks hanging in no-man's land could be more efficient. It also makes them feel scattered. They hear from their colleagues about all these tax strategies they are doing and feel left out and need help figuring out where to start.

The Approach

It dawns on them that maybe a financial professional out there will understand ADHD and not make them feel even more guilty but also have the education and skills to help them execute all these strategies their friends are doing. 

They search the internet and find DeWitt Capital Management, an investment advisor who embraces working with ADHDers. They schedule an initial discovery call to see how they can help. 

How we Helped

We initially got to know Sophia and Ben, helped them gather every financial document we needed, and helped them link their accounts to their secure financial planning portal. 

Once we had them organized and we had everything we needed to grasp their current financial situation and trajectory, we focused on learning more about what makes them tick.

We did some exercises to help them feel and understand more deeply what is important to them. To their surprise, they discovered their extreme work ethic might come from their deeply held value of creating a better life for their kids. Sophia and Ben grew up in poor households and knew they didn't want that for their children. 

When we began to run some numbers, we could let them know with confidence that, from an assets perspective, they were in good shape and may even be able to retire relatively early. This helped them to relax and begin to think differently. 

We then developed a financial plan for them that addressed the pressing needs and had recommendations to help them significantly improve their current financial situation. The project included the following:

• We opened up Roth IRAs for each of them and IRAs for each of them and coordinated the consolidation of all eight of their 401ks from previous employers
• We showed them how our investment framework has the potential to improve long-term returns significantly
• We illustrated how they were paying over 2% AUM fees on their 401ks in costs. In their case, this was over 20k per year! 
• We illustrated how with our framework, not only could improved returns be possible, but they would be getting a 50% discount on fees versus the 401ks.
• We presented a plan for yearly, methodical Roth conversions to have all IRA assets tax-free. This way, their children would receive an inheritance without a large tax bill attached. 
• Educated and implemented a mega backdoor Roth for Ben
• Presented their options for estate planning; a less expensive online process or working closely with an attorney in person. We included a list of topics we wanted them to bring up to their attorney, whichever they decided.
• We referred them to our insurance partner to acquire much-needed life and disability insurance.
• We showed them how they could comfortably afford a $10,000 yearly vacation and helped them automate savings each year.

The Results

Sophia and Ben felt incredibly relieved that they had finally taken care of business and protected themselves and their family.

They enjoy working with an advisor who has ADHD, as it makes them feel comfortable and understood throughout the process. 

Sophia and Ben are excited about the future and look forward to their upcoming guilt-free vacation to explore Europe. 

Note: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual DeWitt Capital client. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or a certain level of results or satisfaction if DeWitt Capital is engaged in providing investment advisory services.

Name: Jennifer

ADHD Type: Inattentive

Occupation: Therapist, owns her own private practice

Age: 28

Primary Goals:

• Streamline personal and business finances
• Learn to stick to a budget
• Improve her credit score
• Buy a home
• Learn about investing and start a retirement plan
• Improve relationship with money and reduce money anxiety
• Develop a wealth and growth-oriented mindset
  
  

The Situation

Jessica has decided to break off and start her private therapy practice. She works in a niche area of psychology and believes she has a compelling business opportunity. We agree! 

She is off to a great start but is starting to feel the financial overwhelm of running her own business. She wants to work with patients and not always feel stressed about her finances. 

Her financial stress leads her to compound her issues through impulsive spending, a habit she often feels powerless to control when the urge hits. She is in a lot more credit card debt than she would like.

She knows if she had someone to guide her, teach her, and hold her hand through setting up better systems, sticking to a budget, and starting to invest, she could breathe, feel in control, and focus on the most important things. In her case, that means focusing on building her business and being the best therapist she can be for her clients. 

The Approach

Jennifer has some fears about exposing her money concerns to a financial planner. She knows they probably won't judge her, but she hesitates to share the hole she has dug for herself with anyone, let alone a pro. She has not even told anyone in her family. Out of curiosity, she searched if any planners specialized in working with adults with ADHD. That is how she found us!

How we Helped

We were incredibly grateful that Jennifer reached out to us. She found us easy to talk to, warm, and understanding of her ADHD-fueled worries. After she signed on to be a client, we spent two hours with her over Zoom, helping her gather and link all her documents and accounts to her planning portal. We got to know her a lot better during this. She felt great having everything organized and could feel how this would help her keep clear lines between her business and her finances. 

Once we were done getting organized, we reviewed exercises to uncover Jessica's values, goals, and priorities. By the end, Jessica had a clear picture in her mind of what she wanted life to look like in the future, and we were able to build a plan that was aligned with it. 

Her plan included the following:

• A  cash flow analysis of her finances as well as her business finances
• We opened up a solo-401k for her and, in coordination with her accountant, helped her make contributions each year
• We helped her choose a business credit card that fits with her business and maximized rewards
• We helped her switch to HSA eligible health plan
• We reviewed money psychology assessments with her and taught strategies to reduce impulsive spending
• We set up an automated savings plan for her to begin saving for a down payment for a home
• We delivered her a debt payoff plan that included consolidation to a lower interest rate
•  We created a customized budget for her and helped her develop rules for paying herself more consistently to minimize the effect of variable income.

The Results

Jessica is now feeling great about the trajectory of her financial life. 

She has the mental space to focus on business and enjoy herself more. 

She is very excited about the future and looks forward to continued accountability from her financial planner.

Note: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual DeWitt Capital client. No portion of the content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience the same or a certain level of results or satisfaction if DeWitt Capital is engaged in providing investment advisory services.