CLEARWATER WEALTH PARTNERS
Client Meeting Transcript
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CLIENT: Chen Household (Sam & Alex Chen)
DATE: March 11, 2026
TIME: 2:00 PM
MEETING: 2026 Q1 Quarterly Review
LOCATION: Conference Room A, Clearwater Wealth Partners
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TRANSCRIPT
[0:00] Sarah Chen: Welcome to 2026. Portfolio is at $1,487,000 — and I want to flag
that we are approximately $13,000 from the 0.70% fee tier boundary. At current market
trajectory, you'll cross $1.5 million before our June meeting. When it happens, I'll
send you an immediate notification with an updated fee calculation. It's a milestone
worth marking.
[0:04] Sam Chen: We'll keep an eye on the statements. Is there anything we need
to do when that happens?
[0:05] Sarah Chen: Nothing from your side — the billing system applies the tiered
rate automatically the day you cross the threshold. It's not retroactive; the 0.70%
rate applies only to dollars above $1.5 million, and only from the date you first
cross it. I'll include a worked example in the notification so it's completely clear.
[0:07] Alex Chen: The bucket strategy — quarterly maintenance check?
[0:08] Sarah Chen: Bucket 1 is at $74,300 — 5% of AUM, right on target. It earns
about 4.1% in the money market and short-duration bond funds. Bucket 2 is at $491,000
— 33% of AUM. Intermediate bonds have benefited from the rate stabilization this
year. Bucket 3 at $921,700 — 62%. Equities had a mixed January and February but are
roughly flat year-to-date. Allocation is very clean.
[0:12] Sam Chen: Maya — she's three years from college now. We wanted to do the
529 deep-dive today.
[0:13] Sarah Chen: Let's do it. Maya's 529 is at $33,800. Eli's is at $32,400.
Maya has three years to matriculation — her age-based allocation is now 65% bonds,
35% equities. That's appropriate. The question is adequacy. At current balance with
$4,000/year contributions and 4% average growth — we're being conservative given the
bond-heavy allocation — she'll have approximately $47,500 at matriculation.
[0:16] Alex Chen: And college costs?
[0:17] Sarah Chen: Public in-state tuition, room and board: approximately $30,000
per year today, inflating at roughly 4% annually. In three years: about $34,000 per
year. Four years total: $136,000 to $145,000. Maya's 529 will cover about $47,500 —
roughly a third of the projected cost. The gap would be funded from income at the

time, potential scholarships, or a modest student loan.
[0:20] Sam Chen: Can we do more? Increase the contributions significantly in the
next three years?
[0:21] Sarah Chen: Yes — and the 529 annual contribution limit is generous. You can
contribute up to $18,000 per year per child without gift tax implications, or use
front-loading — 5-year election — to contribute $90,000 at once. The front-loading
option would be compelling if you want to fully fund the gap. At $90,000 contributed
today plus existing balance plus growth, Maya would have approximately $145,000 —
fully funded.
[0:24] Alex Chen: That's a significant outflow. Is that the right call?
[0:25] Sarah Chen: It depends on whether you value certainty versus flexibility. The
90K goes in, it grows tax-free, and covers Maya's education. The tradeoff is that
money is no longer available for other goals. Given your portfolio size and income, I
think you can do the front-load for Maya without compromising retirement planning.
But let's model it properly — I'll have a scenario analysis for your review before
June.
[0:27] Sam Chen: Please. That's exactly the kind of analysis we want.
[0:28] Sarah Chen: On the broader planning: Roth conversion opportunities. Alex,
you have approximately 9 years of peak earning ahead. Roth conversions in a
lower-income year — if that happens — are very powerful. I want to introduce this as
a planning tool to monitor annually. No action today, but I'll flag any year where
conversion makes sense.
[0:30] Sarah Chen: Action items: fee tier notification when AUM crosses $1.5M; Maya
529 front-load scenario analysis by June; Roth conversion monitoring framework
documented. Good start to the year.
[0:30] Meeting adjourned
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ACTION ITEMS
1. Send fee tier notification and worked example when AUM crosses $1.5M —
auto-triggered
2. Model Maya 529 front-load scenario ($90K 5-year election) — analysis by June
11 meeting
3. Document Roth conversion monitoring framework — annual review trigger defined
4. Eli 529: maintain current allocation; no changes needed at this time
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CONFIDENTIAL — For client use only. Not for distribution.
