Who We Help · Approaching Retirement

You saved for decades.
Now comes the part nobody prepares you for.

Getting to retirement is one challenge. Learning to spend what you spent a lifetime building — and deciding what you actually want this chapter to look like — is a different one entirely. We help people navigate both: the technical planning that makes retirement work, and the transition that makes it meaningful.

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5–10 years The window where planning decisions have the most impact

$4M Illinois estate tax threshold — lower than most retirees expect

One plan That covers income, taxes, healthcare, and estate — not just investments

The Financial Challenge

The rules change when you stop adding to the pile

Most financial advice is built around accumulation: save more, invest longer, ride out downturns. Retirement inverts that. You’re drawing down instead of building up, the sequence of early returns matters more than average returns, and decisions made in the years just before and after retirement tend to have effects that compound for decades.

There’s also a transition most people don’t plan for. Clients who’ve saved well and arrived at retirement in strong shape still often feel uneasy about spending what they’ve built. Watching the balance go down (even according to plan) feels like going backward. That doesn’t resolve itself without a plan you actually trust. We also ask early what you’re retiring toward — because those answers end up shaping the financial decisions that follow.

Sequence of returns risk

A market downturn in the first few years of retirement has an outsized impact compared to the same downturn a decade in. How you draw income during a down market determines whether the portfolio recovers.

The Social Security timing decision

Claiming at 62 versus 70 can mean a difference of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime. The right answer depends on health, income needs, spousal benefits, and tax situation — not just age.

Tax drag in retirement

RMDs, Medicare IRMAA surcharges, and the taxation of Social Security benefits can combine in ways that significantly reduce what you keep. Managing the order and timing of withdrawals is one of the highest-value things a plan can do.

The spending psychology shift

Thirty years of building creates a powerful instinct to protect the number. Many retirees underspend not because they lack resources, but because watching the balance decline feels wrong even when the plan says it’s fine.

How We Help

Planning for the years that matter most

01

Retirement Income Planning

A coordinated plan that draws from the right accounts in the right order: Social Security, pension, IRA, taxable. The goal is to maximize what you keep after taxes while reducing the risk of running short. A predictable income floor, with flexibility above it.

Retirement transition guide →

02

Social Security Strategy

Claiming timing, spousal coordination, and how Social Security interacts with your other income sources. We model your specific situation to find the strategy that produces the most lifetime income, not just the highest near-term check.

Understanding Social Security→

03

Tax Planning in Retirement

Roth conversion timing, withdrawal sequencing, and managing how each decision affects Medicare premiums. For most retirees, taxes are where the most recoverable money sits, and where the least planning has typically happened.

Our tax planning approach → Roth vs. Traditional IRA calculator →

04

Medicare & Healthcare Planning

Enrollment timing, plan selection, and structuring income to avoid premium surcharges. Most people make these decisions once and live with them for years. We help you understand your options before you commit.

05

Investment Management

A retirement portfolio isn’t an accumulation portfolio. Allocation, cash reserves, and how you draw income in a down market all work differently when you’re living off the plan rather than building it.

06

Estate Planning Coordination

Beneficiary designations, gifting strategies, and how your estate interacts with your retirement accounts. Especially relevant if assets have grown, family circumstances have changed, or the Illinois estate tax threshold is a factor.

Estate planning →
Do you need a trust? →

How This Works in Practice

Early retirement creates a window most people don't know to use

Retiring earlier than planned opens a gap between when income stops and when the government starts requiring withdrawals from retirement accounts. Used well, that window can change the shape of a retirement. Used poorly, it closes quietly.

A client retired in their late fifties with significant savings but substantially lower income than their working years. That gap — roughly a decade before mandatory retirement account withdrawals would begin — was the opportunity. Lower income meant lower tax rates. Lower tax rates meant we could move money out of traditional retirement accounts at a fraction of what they'd otherwise owe when the IRS eventually required it.

Early withdrawals at lower tax rates

We drew strategically from retirement accounts during the low-income window — converting to Roth or simply withdrawing — at rates unlikely to be available again. Every dollar moved reduced what would later be forced out at higher rates.

Keeping Medicare premiums in check

Medicare charges higher premiums above certain income thresholds — something most retirees discover only after triggering it. By managing how much income appeared in each year, we kept the client below those thresholds entirely.

Social Security timing

We modeled the tradeoffs of claiming at different ages and found the timing that fit their income needs, their other sources, and the rest of the plan. There's no universal right answer — the right answer depends on the full picture.

Estate and housing decisions

Working with our estate planning team, we restructured how assets were held to reduce potential estate tax exposure. We also ran the numbers on a decision many retirees face: whether staying in their current home or moving closer to family made more sense financially and practically.

The outcome

When mandatory withdrawals began, the accounts subject to them were meaningfully smaller — lower taxes, lower Medicare premiums, a cleaner estate. The client had made an informed housing decision rather than drifting into one. The hard work happened early, when there was still room for it to matter.

The scenario described is hypothetical and is intended solely to illustrate the types of financial planning services that may be provided. It does not represent the experience of any specific client. Actual client experiences and outcomes will vary depending on individual circumstances and it should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results or client experience.

Is This Right for You

You might be ready to talk if…

We work with people close enough to retirement to make real decisions about it, and with retirees who want to know whether their plan is holding up.

✓ You're within five to ten years of retirement and haven't built a specific income plan yet

✓ You're not sure when to claim Social Security, or how the answer changes when your spouse's situation is factored in

✓ You're already retired but the plan feels like a general sense of things rather than something tested against real numbers

✓ You're paying more in taxes than you expected, or you're getting hit with Medicare premium surcharges

✓ You feel more anxious about the money than you expected — even though the numbers look okay on paper

Who You’re Working With

Retirement planning as its own discipline

The decisions around Social Security, Roth conversions, RMDs, Medicare, and estate structure all interact with each other in ways that require someone working in this space regularly. That’s the focus here.

Eric Jones, CFP® Certified Financial Planner® Professional · Tax Planning Focus

Eric leads on retirement income planning, Social Security strategy, and the tax decisions that define how efficiently a retirement plan runs. His background in tax planning means he approaches withdrawal sequencing and Roth conversion timing with a level of specificity that goes beyond most retirement planning conversations.

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Brianna Hook, CDFA® Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® · Life Transitions

Brianna brings particular depth to the estate and beneficiary side of retirement planning, and to situations where a life transition — divorce, widowhood, a major change in family circumstances — intersects with retirement. She works across all retirement client relationships alongside Eric.