What we do
Turning a portfolio into a paycheck.
What retirement income planning actually is
Retirement income planning decides where your monthly money comes from once your employment paycheck stops. It covers Social Security timing, pension elections, withdrawal sequencing, and taxes. It is a different job from growing a portfolio, and it needs a different plan.
Where your income will actually come from
Most people have four or five possible sources and no plan for combining them: Social Security, a pension if they have one, a 401(k) or IRA, a taxable brokerage account, and sometimes rental or business income.
Each behaves differently. Social Security is inflation-adjusted and lasts for life. A pension usually is not adjusted and may or may not continue for a spouse. A 401(k) is fully taxable on the way out. A taxable account is not. Which one you draw from first, and in what proportion, changes your plan.
The order you withdraw in is worth real money
Draw everything from the IRA and you may push yourself into a higher bracket and trigger higher Medicare premiums. Draw everything from the taxable account and you may waste years of low-bracket space you could have used for Roth conversions.
There is no universal right answer. There is a right answer for your situation, and it changes as your situation does.
Why the plan comes before the portfolio
A risk-tolerance questionnaire asks how you feel about losing money. It does not ask what you need to spend, when you need it, or what is already covered by Social Security or a pension. For someone still saving, that gap does not matter much. For someone about to start withdrawing, it matters a great deal.
We build the income plan first. The portfolio is designed around your unique income needs.
Questions
Common questions
Usually about five to ten years before you stop working. That is enough time to shape the tax picture, decide on Social Security timing, and position assets before you need them — and still short enough that your numbers are real rather than hypothetical.
It depends on your other income, your health, your spouse's benefit, and whether you need the money. Waiting past full retirement age increases the monthly amount by roughly 8% a year up to age 70, but it also means funding the gap yourself. We model both and show you the difference.
There is no single safe number, which is why we do not lead with one. What matters more is where the withdrawal comes from and whether a bad first five years would force you to sell at a loss. A plan that answers those questions beats a percentage.
Also
The rest of what we do
Concentrated Stock Strategies
If a large share of your net worth sits in a single stock, you may have a difficult time getting out of the stock without an unplanned tax bill.
Tax-Smart Investing
Across a thirty-year retirement, small tax percentages compound into real money.
Private Markets & Alternatives
Private markets can add something a public portfolio cannot.
Let us find out what your portfolio can actually pay you.
Thirty minutes to see where your income will come from. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you.