*Client Case Study: Small Business Owner with Big Questions
- Jonathan Harner, CFP®
- Jul 24
- 4 min read
Background…
Married, both in their early 40s. He owns and runs a small business. She works as a nurse. They have three kids—ages 8, 10, and 12.
His business has been slowly building over the past several years. Last year, it finally started to take off. He’s hired a couple employees, his income has jumped, and for the first time in a long time, they’re looking at their monthly finances and realizing there’s actually some margin.
Goals & Concerns…
They weren’t in crisis. They were doing well. But they were starting to feel the decision fatigue from too many options.
They wanted to:
Start saving for retirement more seriously
Save something for their kids’ college
Make sure they had enough cash on hand for business and family needs
Not getting clobbered by another surprise tax bill like they did last year
They were excited but a little overwhelmed. They had more cash flow than ever before but weren’t sure of the best way to allocate it between various financial goals. They didn’t want to just blow it all on nicer cars and bigger vacations. They were also a bit frustrated that their CPA hadn’t been more proactive around tax planning.
This was their situation when they came to us. So, we dug into the details and documents.
We created a financial snapshot to get a clear picture of their cash flow, savings, and overall financial health.
In doing so, we quickly found several opportunities…
Opportunity 1: Clarity on cash flow and where it’s actually going
The first thing we did was zoom in on the four key elements of cash flow: Savings rate. Burn rate. Debt rate. Tax rate.
What we found surprised them: the core cash flow metrics were pretty healthy. They weren’t overspending. They weren’t carrying much debt. And their savings rate was strong.
But nearly all of those monthly savings were piling into one place: their bank account. That wasn’t a bad instinct. They’d been building a buffer. But now, that bucket was full.
So, we helped them rebalance where their cash was flowing.
Instead of saving several thousand dollars a month into a single short-term account, we allocated it across:
Long-term retirement savings
Mid-term college savings for their three kids
A modest increase in paying down their mortgage principal (a goal they’d mentioned early on)
The biggest win? Their day-to-day lifestyle didn’t have to change at all. But now they were using their savings intentionally according to a plan.
Opportunity 2: Tax planning, not just tax prep
He’d been frustrated by a surprise tax bill the year before. So we looked at how they were paying themselves, how their business income was taxed, and how their savings accounts were structured.
Then we helped them set up a SIMPLE IRA plan through the business. This created retirement savings options not just for them, but for their employees. And over the next decade, this move alone would likely save them tens of thousands in taxes again without reducing their lifestyle by a single dollar.
That’s what proactive tax planning can do.
Opportunity 3: Risk protection and asset concentration
As part of our broader financial plan and review, we also looked at their overall net worth and how it was allocated.
And we noticed something: nearly all of their wealth was tied up in two places, their house and his business.
That meant two things:
If something happened to him, their entire financial foundation was at risk. So, we got him set up with the proper amount of disability insurance to protect the income that was building their wealth.
They needed more diversification. We used part of their rebalanced cash flow to start investing outside the business. Just consistent, balanced investments are designed to give them more flexibility in the future.
We also encouraged them to verify that their homeowner’s insurance was keeping pace with the actual value of their house. It had been several years since they checked. Fortunately, they were well covered but the peace of mind from knowing that was worth the time it took to check.
The Impact
They were over the moon to have a system in place to consistently evaluate and review their financial decisions.
They were surprised that they didn’t need to save more or change their lifestyle to make meaningful progress. They just needed to adjust where their dollars were going.
The biggest moment for them was seeing their blind spots for the first time, especially around insurance, that could have devasted their short-term and long-term finances. They didn’t even know how to be worried. Now, they were sleeping better at night.
They left our early planning sessions with a clear sense of direction, a huge weight lifted, and the confidence that they weren’t missing something big.
A hesitation I hear again and again to working with a financial planner is "why do I need a financial planner? I already know they are just going to tell me to spend less or save more.”
In this case, neither of those things happened.
We didn’t cut their budget. We didn’t increase their savings rate. We just reallocated what they were already doing—and helped them avoid unnecessary taxes and unrecognized risks.
That’s what real financial planning is. It’s not about working harder. It’s about making smarter decisions with what you already have.
*Disclaimer: This case study is a composite based on real-life client situations. Names and certain details have been changed to protect client privacy. The scenarios presented are intended for illustrative purposes only and do not represent specific clients or guarantees of outcomes.
