A Structured Approach to Retirement Income and Tax Planning

Before we look at a single account balance or tax return, we start with a conversation about your life. What does retirement look like for you — and what does it actually cost? When do you want to stop working? What are you most worried about getting wrong?

Most people have never been asked these questions in a financial meeting. They should be the first ones asked.

Your answers shape everything that follows. A plan without purpose is just math. We build plans around real lives.

Once we understand your goals, we take a clear-eyed look at your full financial picture — investment accounts, retirement plans, Social Security projections, income sources, tax situation, and estate considerations.

This isn’t just a data-gathering exercise. It’s about understanding what you’ve built, identifying what’s working, and spotting the gaps and inefficiencies that are quietly costing you. Many clients are surprised by what a fresh set of fiduciary eyes finds at this stage.

This is where strategy takes shape. Using RightCapital and Holistiplan, we build an interactive, living plan that shows you exactly how your retirement income will work — which accounts to draw from, in what order, and when.

We map out your retirement paycheck: Social Security timing, withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion windows, and portfolio structure — all coordinated to maximize income and minimize taxes over your lifetime. Not just next year. Over your lifetime.

This is the plan most people never get from their advisor.

Taxes are one of the few retirement expenses you can actually control — if you plan ahead. In the years before and after retirement, the opportunities to reduce your lifetime tax bill are significant. Most people miss them entirely.

We look for every lever: Roth conversions during low-income years, tax-loss harvesting, bracket management, charitable giving strategies, IRMAA planning, and Social Security taxation coordination. The goal isn’t just to file a clean return — it’s to keep more of what you’ve earned over the long run.

This step alone often pays for our relationship many times over.

A great plan at 57 needs to evolve by 62. Markets shift. Tax laws change. Life happens. The Sentient Approach doesn’t end when the plan is delivered — it’s an ongoing relationship built on regular review, proactive communication, and honest guidance when things get complicated.

We also make sure the right protections are in place: beneficiary designations reviewed, estate coordination handled, insurance gaps identified. The details that quietly fall through the cracks when no one is watching the whole picture.

You’ve spent decades building this. We make sure it holds.