Lindsey and Stevie are a married couple in their late 20s. Lindsey owns three Guitar Centers and makes $100,000 per year. He also teaches guitar lessons on the side. Stevie is a stay-at-home mom to their two young children. The family lives in a 3-bedroom home and currently owe $350,000 on their mortgage. They also have a combined $50,000 in student loan balances. They do not have any money in savings.

John and Christine are a married couple in their late 50s with two children in college. They both work as teachers and make a combined income of $180,000. They live alone in a large 4-bedroom house that is completely paid for. After many years of building up their savings, they currently have $1.5 million across all of their savings, retirement, and investment accounts. Upon retirement, both John and Christine will receive pension payments for the rest of their lives.

1. If Lindsey and Stevie file their taxes as Married Filing Jointly, what tax bracket would they fall under in 2019? 2. Which type of retirement account would John and Christines pension payments come from, a Define Benefit or a Define Contribution plan? 3. Which of the two couples has a greater need for life insurance? 4. Sadly, Lindseys Uncle Mick recently passed away, but he named his nephew Lindsey a beneficiary to his estate worth $250,000. Before paying off any of their debt, the couple would like to put money into an emergency savings fund. Relative to monthly expenses, how much would be a reasonable amount to save in this emergency savings fund? 5. The Uncle Mick inheritance may be subject to which type of tax: income tax, estate tax, or capital gains tax? 6. Lindsey and Stevie decide to put some of the inheritance into a retirement account. What is their time-horizon for this investment? Short, medium, or long-term? 7. Considering the time-horizon of their retirement investments, would Lindsey and Stevies ability to take risk be higher or lower than John and Christines ability to take risk? 8. Which couple would likely have a larger allocation towards bonds in their retirement investment, Lindsey and Stevie or John and Christine?