Annual tax return analysis, Roth conversions, and other planning opportunities
Coordination of income timing across different accounts and sources
A tactical approach to charitable giving and long-term tax bracket management
Your personalized Rothification Method™ will answer:
- 09.What does your lifetime tax bill look like with and without Roth conversions?
- 10.How much of your Social Security will be taxed, and what can you do before it starts?
- 11.When do you start converting, how much do you convert each year, and when does the window close?
- 12.Where do the taxes on Roth conversions come from, and how do you handle them?
- 13.What will your Required Minimum Distributions be at 75, 80, 85, and 90, and how much goes to the IRS?
- 14.What happens to your plan if tax rates go up, and how do you protect against that risk right now?
Your retirement plan needs to answer
Without a real spending number and guardrails, most couples default to underspending in the go-go years.
- 03.How much can you safely spend each month and stay on track?
- 04.What portfolio balance would trigger a spending decrease?
- 05.What portfolio balance gives you permission to increase spending?
- 06.Which accounts do you spend from first, 401(k), IRA, Roth, or brokerage, and in what order?
- 07.Which withdrawal strategy should you use in retirement? (4% rule, staged spending, retirement guardrails)
- 08.Should you claim Social Security early and enjoy it in the go-go year, or wait and collect more later?
Your investment approach is built on four principles.
The Portfolio Serves the Plan
Your portfolio does not start as a model that your life gets fit around. Your income need, your tax situation, and your retirement timeline come first, and your portfolio follows.
Plan for a Bad Decade
Your Retirement War Chest is a dedicated reserve of four to eight years of portfolio income, held in laddered short-term U.S. Treasuries. It funds your lifestyle when markets pull back and gives your growth investments the time they need to recover, without forcing a sale at the wrong moment.
Know the Return Goal
Your portfolio is not built to chase the highest possible return. It is built around the minimum long-term return your portfolio needs to keep your plan on track. Enough growth to support your income plan. Enough stability to survive a difficult stretch without permanent damage.
Put the Rest to Work
Once your War Chest is funded, the remaining portfolio focuses on long-term growth, with U.S. stocks prioritized above all else. With 20 to 30 years of retirement ahead, long-term growth is not optional.
Investments: Built to Support the Plan
Four questions drive every investment decision made with your portfolio:
- 15.What return does your portfolio actually need to support your retirement plan?
- 16.How does the plan stay protected from a market downturn in the first few years of retirement?
- 17.How much should be held in fixed income in your Retirement War Chest, and for how long?
- 18.Once the Retirement War Chest is funded, how should the rest of your portfolio be invested?
The Rothification Method™ combines with advanced IRMAA strategies to minimize surcharges, protecting your 401(k) and IRA savings before 65, after 65, and every step in between.
- 19.How do you cover healthcare between retirement and age 65 if you retire early?
- 20.How does Medicare enrollment work for you?
- 21.Will Medicare IRMAA impact you?
- 22.What does long-term care look like for you, and how does it fit into the overall plan?
Bracket management designed to keep your income below the next IRMAA tier
A look-back check on how this year's income decisions affect your premiums two years from now
Coordination between Roth conversions, required withdrawals, and your Medicare costs
A coverage plan for the years before you turn 65
The Rothification Method™ helps maximize your legacy and protect your loved ones from higher taxes, keeping more in the family and less with the IRS.
- 23.What happens to your income, tax rate, and Medicare costs the day one of you passes away?
- 24.How do you pass on a legacy to your kids or family instead of a tax problem?
- 25.What is your legacy goal, and does the current plan actually support it?
A review of your beneficiary designations across every account
Coordination with your estate attorney so your accounts match your estate plan
A strategy for reducing the tax bill your family inherits along with your accounts
Survivor planning that protects your spouse from a sudden jump in tax bracket
04 · Service
Social Security Strategy
When Should You Claim Social Security?Delaying Social Security can increase your monthly benefit. But the best claiming age depends on far more than one number. Your decision needs to fit your income plan, your tax strategy, your longevity, and how Social Security coordinates with everything else in retirement. Claiming at the wrong time, even with a higher monthly amount, can cost you more than it saves.
A claiming age built around both spouses' benefits, not just your own
Coordination between spouses so survivor benefits are protected, not left to chance
A look at how claiming early or late changes your tax bill and Medicare premiums
Your claiming decision built into your broader income and withdrawal plan