Our Retirement Planning Process

Phase 1: Discovery (Weeks 1 to 3)

We start with a conversation and a document list. Before the first meeting we ask for recent statements on every account: 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth accounts, taxable brokerage, HSAs, and any old employer plans. We also ask for your two most recent tax returns, your Social Security statements, and the declarations pages on your insurance policies. If you have a will or trust, we read it.

The complimentary Retirement Clarity Assessment turns those documents into a baseline. It covers five things: whether your projected income covers your projected spending, where your tax exposure sits across account types, how your portfolio is actually allocated once we combine every account, when Social Security claiming makes sense for your household, and where your insurance leaves gaps. You keep the findings whether or not you hire us.

Related: Retirement Clarity Assessment

Phase 2: Plan Design (Weeks 3 to 6)

Plan design produces three documents. The income plan shows which accounts fund which years of retirement, and in what order. The tax map lays out Roth conversion windows, IRMAA thresholds, and projected required minimum distributions over the next decade. The investment policy statement sets your target allocation, your rebalancing rules, and the cash reserve that funds near-term withdrawals.

We present the plan in a working session, not a slideshow. You push back, we revise, and we do not implement anything until you understand the reasoning behind each recommendation.

Related: Retirement income planning · Tax planning

Phase 3: Implementation (Days 1 to 90)

Once you approve the plan, we open accounts at Altruist or Charles Schwab and move assets through the standard ACATS transfer process. Most transfers move in kind, so you stay invested during the move. Transfers typically complete within the first four weeks.

The first 90 days follow a checklist. Weeks one through four: transfers and account titling. Weeks four through eight: the portfolio transition, done tax aware rather than all at once, plus your withdrawal setup if you are drawing income. Weeks eight through twelve: beneficiary updates on every account, confirmed in writing, and the first items on the tax map put in motion.

Related: Investment management

Phase 4: Ongoing Partnership

You get two scheduled review meetings a year plus a tax season check before filing. Reviews cover spending against plan, the tax map for the current year, and any rebalancing the investment policy calls for.

Certain events trigger an off-cycle call: a business or property sale, an inheritance, a health event, a change in your retirement date, or a tax law change that touches your plan. Market volatility alone usually does not, because the plan is built to absorb it. When a move changes the math, we call you.

The advice itself shifts over time. Early retirement years are usually about Roth conversion windows and sequence risk. Later years shift toward required minimum distributions, IRMAA management, and estate coordination. Same plan, different levers.

Related: The IRMAA cliff, explained

Frequently Asked Questions