Smart Moves To Focus On Family

THEN: Raffi and Elaine Boloyan first appeared in the April 2006 issue of Kiplinger’s, shortly after Elaine had left her job in human resources to be a stay-at-home mom. At the time, Ava was 2 and Roman was 5 months.

- Kimberly Lankford

To prepare, they had moved in 2002 from pricey Marin County, Calif., to American Canyon, in southern Napa County, which meant a longer commute to Raffi’s job as a city planner in San Rafael but a much lower cost of living. Mortgage rates were dropping at the time, so they refinanced to reduce their payments even further. They had started contributing the maximum each year to a Roth IRA for Raffi and a spousal IRA for Elaine, and they had opened 529 college savings plans for their kids.