How to Measure the Value of Deferred Compensation

“It’s hard to overcome a client’s enamored passion,” said Lili Vasileff, a certified financial planner in Greenwich, Conn. “Time might prove you right [that the marriage was a mistake], but by that time you’re long fired.”

“I ask clients, ‘If the house will eat up 70 percent of your income, are you willing to sacrifice 70 percent of everything else in your budget to keep it?’” Ms. Vasileff said.