Resources / Case Studies

Illustrative Planning Scenarios

Hypothetical scenarios that show how we approach complex wealth, tax, and planning decisions. These are illustrations only — they do not describe actual clients or results.

High Net Worth & Income Pre-Retirement Corporate Professional Real Estate Professional Business Owner Retiree DIY Families

Corporate Professional

Strategic Exit Planning: Managing RSUs, NQDC, and Multi-State Tax Liability

A corporate professional in his late 50s came to us after a promotion brought RSUs, performance equity, and an NQDC plan. Over half of his investable assets sat in company stock. We built a diversification plan with scheduled RSU liquidation, enrolled him in the NQDC with a deferral aligned to retirement, transitioned his 401(k) from Roth to traditional with planned post-retirement conversions, and partnered with his attorney on a revocable trust and gifting strategy. The illustration shows how a coordinated approach can reduce single-stock concentration, align deferrals with a target retirement date, and address estate documents in one plan. Outcomes vary and are not guaranteed.

Business Owner

Tax-Efficient Business Succession: A Manufacturing Company Exit

A founder in his early 60s needed a succession path with liquidity and tax efficiency. We coordinated a valuation and a sale to a key-employee group with his CPA and attorney, reallocated proceeds into a diversified income portfolio, established a defined benefit plan to accelerate savings in his final ownership years, and implemented a revocable trust with grandchildren-education gifting. The illustration shows how a business exit, portfolio reallocation, and estate documents can be sequenced together. Outcomes vary and are not guaranteed.

Real Estate Professional

Diversifying Real Estate Wealth: Liquidity & Entity Protection for Developers

A real estate professional in her early 50s was wealthy on paper but illiquid and over-concentrated in real estate. We mapped cash flow, debt, and goals, then gradually reallocated a portion of her real estate gains into a tax-efficient liquid portfolio, introduced a defined benefit plan, and worked with her attorney on an LLC structure, revocable trust, and umbrella liability. The illustration shows how illiquid, concentrated real estate wealth can be addressed alongside entity structure and liability coverage. Outcomes vary and are not guaranteed.

Pre-Retirement

Retiring in 10 Years: Tax-Efficient Income Planning

A couple in their early 50s with $2M in combined assets wanted to retire within a decade without giving up their lifestyle. We ran Monte Carlo projections, rebalanced to a retirement glidepath, designed a tax-efficient withdrawal sequence, modeled multiple Social Security claiming strategies, and built pre-Medicare healthcare costs into the plan. They came away with a clear, adaptive roadmap and renewed confidence.

Retiree

Solving the Retirement Income Puzzle: A Sustainable Withdrawal Strategy

A retiree in his late 60s with a pension, Social Security, and roughly $1.5M in retirement and brokerage accounts needed a coherent withdrawal, tax, and legacy plan. We restructured his portfolio for balance between income and growth, sequenced taxable/tax-deferred/Roth withdrawals to minimize taxes, built a healthcare reserve and Medicare supplement evaluation, and updated his will and trust with charitable IRA beneficiaries.

DIY

Scaling Beyond DIY: Portfolio Optimization & Tax-Loss Harvesting for Engineers

A 40-year-old engineer had built real wealth on her own but had become heavily concentrated in tech with no cohesive tax strategy. We preserved her hands-on involvement while layering on structured rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, intentional asset allocation, a charitable gifting strategy using appreciated securities, and a donor-advised fund — turning a smart strategy into a sustainable one.

Families

The Sandwich Generation Strategy: 529 Plans, Retirement, and Aging Parent Care

A two-income family of five with $300K of household income was juggling mortgage, college savings, retirement, and aging-parent support. We established 529s, optimized 401(k) and Roth IRA contributions, introduced a backdoor Roth strategy, restructured investments to match their time horizons, reviewed life and disability insurance, and built a family-care budget with long-term care insurance options. The illustration shows how competing goals — education funding, retirement saving, and parent care — can be sequenced within one plan. Outcomes vary and are not guaranteed.

High Net Worth & Income

Advanced Tax Mitigation & Estate Planning for $10M+ Net Worth Portfolios

A high-net-worth individual in his early 50s with a $10M net worth and concentrated single-stock, real estate, and private equity exposure needed a coordinated plan. We rebuilt his allocation with a global, tax-efficient core, introduced a GRAT and a family limited partnership to reduce estate tax exposure, and established a donor-advised fund for philanthropic giving. The illustration shows how allocation, gifting structures, and charitable vehicles can be coordinated. Any estate tax impact depends on individual facts, applicable law, and valuation, and is not guaranteed.

Important Disclosure — Hypothetical Illustrations

The scenarios on this page are hypothetical and are provided for illustrative and educational purposes only. They do not describe actual clients, actual accounts, or actual results. Ages, asset levels, and circumstances are composites created to demonstrate the types of planning issues Rigden Capital Strategies addresses. No client experienced these exact facts or outcomes.

These illustrations are not performance results and should not be interpreted as an indication of the results any client did achieve or is likely to achieve. They do not reflect the impact of advisory fees, taxes, transaction costs, market volatility, or changes in tax law, all of which would affect any actual outcome. Strategies described may not be suitable for every investor, and no strategy assures a profit or protects against loss.

Nothing on this page is personalized investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice. Rigden Capital Strategies does not provide legal or tax services; we coordinate with your independent attorney and CPA. Please consult your own professionals regarding your specific situation.

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