Financial Planning - December 2012

says Winnie Sun, managing director of Sun Group Wealth, an independent agency in Irvine, Calif.

Many of Sun’s clients work in the
press, movies and television. “I con-
sider a lot of these people business
owners,” says Sun, who entered finan-
cial planning after years of running her
own company, wrangling audiences
for live TV shows. “They go from proj-
ect to project. It’s really hard to plan
how much they will bring in with how
much they are spending.” Sun says she
helps her clients sock away six to nine
months of savings. She tells them, “It
doesn’t matter how good you are. You
can be the director of Shrek. You still
need liquidity between projects.”
Next, they must control their spend-
ing. Sun says her clients “are used to
being flown to Europe. They say they
need a tuxedo.” Sun tells them to
“spend like this is the year of your last
paycheck.” Trim every place you can,
she says. Looking at their accounts,
she’ll offer stern advice: Consider your
professional costs, such as your agent’s
cut. Then reconsider the niceties and
“get rid of doggie daycare.”
She insists they save for their chil-
dren’s education and invest for their
own future. But there are few long-
term solutions if the clients don’t save
now, Sun says.

Education can go a long way in keeping clients focused on the right priorities. Steven Cobb, the musician’s father who lives in Arizona, says he’s looking forward to training more artists about the importance of Schedule C forms, liability and health insurance, 401(k)s and IRAs through an online course this fall.

The single best piece of advice
planners can give entrepreneurs —
other than paying off their credit card
debt? “To make them aware of the
advantages of things offered in retire-
ment planning,” Cobb says. “At some
point, they are going to have to transi-
tion into a different lifestyle.”