Mark is a 40-year-old single school administrator working for his local school district who is passionate about camping and hiking. Despite being a novice investor, Mark realized he needed to generate passive income and create a wealth plan to support his retirement and continue enjoying his passion. That's when Mark reached out to Wolfpack Wealth Management to help him achieve his financial goals.

Mark's primary retirement income source would be his school district pension. However, he was concerned that it might not be enough to support his lifestyle in retirement, especially being single. Additionally, he had opened a 403(b)-retirement account close to 10 years ago, but because he needed to have the foresight as to what funds to invest in, he left 100% of the assets allocated to cash. Unfortunately, due to this improper allocation, Mark's investments were losing value due to inflation.

To address Mark's financial situation, we educated him by providing as much guidance, especially since he was a novice investor, to help him understand how investments and finances will help him achieve his financial goals. We advised him to have three accounts: a bank account – for everyday spending, a savings account – for emergency use for one year or less, and a taxable investment account to help generate wealth and long-term goals. We would provide direct investment management for that taxable account since Mark did not want to manage the funds himself directly. Based on his risk tolerance, time horizon, income level & spending habits, we created an asset allocation strategy catered to him. This approach allowed Mark access to strategic investments in the stock market and generated passive income. As well as help generate future wealth and an additional bucket for his retirement.

Next, we provided proper asset allocation for Mark's 403(b) retirement account. Using the same variables as with the taxable investment account, we advised him on how to properly allocate his account based on the available funds (since there’s a limitation in retirement accounts); therefore, this asset allocation strategy is catered to him. This strategy helps to alleviate the missing growth in the beginning years. Thus, this helps ensure that Mark's retirement portfolio was diversified correctly to maximize returns.

Finally, we created a financial plan to help Mark keep track of his budget and retirement goals. This financial plan allowed Mark to focus on his work and passion for camping and hiking while ensuring he was on track to achieve his long-term financial objectives. His goal is to make his money work while he enjoys his work and his passion for hiking and camping.

Mark was delighted with our guidance and ability to help him learn some financial literacy along the way by teaching him simple concepts, as well as now having the ability to have access to allow him to generate passive income, create wealth, and save for retirement. In addition, mark learned that he could retire sooner rather than later by making some minor adjustments to his everyday spending to continue enjoying his passion for camping and hiking even into his retirement years.

In conclusion, novice investors like Mark can benefit from proficient financial advisors and access to wealth management services like the ones offered at Wolfpack Wealth Management. By developing a comprehensive financial plan that includes direct investment management, proper asset allocation, and a budget and retirement goals tracker, investors can achieve their financial goals and enjoy their passions well into retirement. We are proud to have provided a solution to clients like Mark to assist with a plan that could quickly be followed while allowing him to focus on his passion and career.