CLEARWATER WEALTH PARTNERS
Client Meeting Transcript
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CLIENT: Chen Household (Sam & Alex Chen)
DATE: October 13, 2021
TIME: 2:00 PM
MEETING: 2021 Q4 Quarterly Review
LOCATION: Conference Room A, Clearwater Wealth Partners
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TRANSCRIPT
[0:00] Sarah Chen: Good afternoon. Portfolio is at $932,000 — you're approaching the
million-dollar mark. Markets are up roughly 19% year-to-date. The NLTK trim executed
cleanly. Home integration is progressing. I want to cover four things today: year-end
tax planning now that you're a homeowner, the fee amendment confirmation, 529
contributions, and a flag on a document I want to correct before December.
[0:04] Alex Chen: Let's do the document thing first — that kind of thing makes me
nervous.
[0:05] Sarah Chen: Happy to. When I was preparing the Q3 strategy deck for your
files, I noticed the footer still referenced 1.00% as the annual advisory fee. That's
the prior flat rate — the one we replaced with the tiered structure effective July
1st via DOC-FeeAmendment-2021-001. The deck footer is a stale template. Your billing
has been correct at 0.85% since July. I'm issuing a corrected strategy deck — just a
document correction, nothing substantive changes.
[0:08] Sam Chen: So we weren't overbilled?
[0:09] Sarah Chen: Correct. The billing system reflects the new fee schedule, not the
document template. You can verify on your quarterly fee statement — the dollar amount
should be consistent with 0.85% on your AUM. I'll have the corrected deck to you by
end of this week so the right version is in your primary folder.
[0:11] Alex Chen: Okay. Appreciated.
[0:12] Sarah Chen: On year-end taxes: this is your first year as a homeowner, and the
first year you'll likely itemize. Your mortgage interest for 2021 is approximately
$10,500 — partial year since you closed in Q3. Add SALT of $8,200 and modest
charitable giving, and your itemized total is probably $20,000 to $22,000. The
standard deduction is $25,100 for MFJ. You may be just below the itemizing threshold
for 2021. But 2022 will be a full year of mortgage interest — approximately $16,800 —
and that will almost certainly push you into itemizing territory permanently.
[0:16] Sam Chen: So this year we take the standard deduction?
[0:17] Sarah Chen: Likely, unless your CPA finds additional deductions we haven't
captured. I'll coordinate with him before December 31st to confirm. Either way, no

action needed from you — I just want to make sure you're not surprised.
[0:19] Alex Chen: The NLTK Q4 vest — when is that?
[0:20] Sarah Chen: December 1st. 625 shares, current NLTK price is $30. That's
another $18,750 of W-2 income. Same protocol — 450 sold, 175 held. I'll execute on
December 1st automatically per our standing protocol. Confirm that's still your
preference?
[0:22] Alex Chen: Yes — consistent with what we've been doing.
[0:23] Sarah Chen: Perfect. After December 1st, I'll confirm the allocation is still
within IPS bands. The big picture is that 2021 NLTK vests have generated substantial
W-2 income — roughly $55,000 across four quarters. Combined with salary, your AGI is
considerable. I want to make sure your withholding has been adequate throughout the
year. Any surprises on paychecks?
[0:25] Sam Chen: Not really. We haven't had to make separate payments.
[0:26] Sarah Chen: The supplemental withholding on each vest should have covered most
of the NLTK tax. I'll run the numbers before year-end to see if a small additional
payment is needed by January 15th. On 529 accounts: December contributions — $3,000
each to Maya and Eli — are on the calendar. Maya will be at approximately $17,000
by year-end, Eli at $16,500. Solid trajectory.
[0:28] Alex Chen: We're happy with how those are growing.
[0:29] Sarah Chen: Good. They'll grow faster as the balances get larger. Action
items: corrected strategy deck to you by Friday; coordinate with CPA on TY2021 filing
approach; NLTK Q4 vest execution December 1st; 529 contributions December; estimated
tax check in November.
[0:30] Meeting adjourned
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ACTION ITEMS
1. Issue corrected strategy deck (accurate 0.85% tiered fee) — by October 18
2. Coordinate with CPA on TY2021 itemizing vs. standard deduction analysis — by
November 30
3. Execute NLTK Q4 vest — sell 450 shares, hold 175 — December 1
4. 529 contributions $3,000 each (Maya and Eli) — December 2021
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CONFIDENTIAL — For client use only. Not for distribution.
