Who I help
Thinking about your next chapter?
I help disciplined savers become confident spenders in retirement. The decisions you face five years out look nothing like the ones waiting at 68, and below are the three versions of this crossroads I see most often. If one of them reads like your life, we should talk.
Phase one · Around 58
Five years out
Still working, saving hard, and finally close enough to retirement to want the arithmetic done properly.
Who they are
A professional in their late fifties with a strong 401(k) balance and no plan for what happens after the last paycheck. They have run the online calculators. The calculators disagree with each other.
The problem they came in with
Decades of diligent saving, and never once a comprehensive projection. They do not know whether they can retire at 63, or how to use the last few high-earning years before the paycheck stops. So the date slides. One more year is the easiest decision to make and the hardest to get back.
The questions they asked
- “Do I have enough to retire at 63, or should I work a few more years?”
- “How do I make the most of my final working years, tax-wise?”
- “Am I working another year because I need to, or because nobody has shown me I do not?”
- “Should I still be this aggressive with my investments?”
- “When should I claim Social Security, and how does that affect everything else?”
- “What does the health insurance gap look like if I go before 65?”
Phase two · Around 64
Newly retired
Six months in, learning that spending down a portfolio is a different skill than filling one.
Who they are
Someone who retired recently and is discovering that after thirty years of automatic contributions, withdrawing money feels wrong. The paycheck stopped. The bills did not.
The problem they came in with
They need a withdrawal strategy and a portfolio adjusted for the fact that nothing new is going in. They are also sitting in their lowest-tax years since their twenties without realizing it. The other surprise is how hard it is to spend on purpose: thirty years of contributions built a reflex, and underneath the first few withdrawals sits the fear of running out, even when the numbers say they can spend freely.
The questions they asked
- “How much can I withdraw each year without running out?”
- “How do I get comfortable spending money I spent thirty years saving?”
- “How do I coordinate my pension, Social Security, and retirement accounts?”
- “Should I change my investments now that I am retired?”
- “What happens when required minimum distributions start at 73 or 75?”
- “How do I handle healthcare costs and the move to Medicare?”
Phase three · Around 68
The conversion window
A few years into retirement, watching a large pre-tax balance grow toward a required withdrawal schedule they did not choose.
Who they are
Five to ten years into retirement with a seven-figure IRA that keeps compounding. They have heard of Roth conversions and suspect the window to use them is closing.
The problem they came in with
At 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, the IRS starts setting the withdrawal schedule. Every year until then is a year they could be converting deliberately at rates they control. Most people find this out with two years left instead of ten.
The questions they asked
- “How much should I convert to a Roth this year, and for how many years?”
- “What will my RMDs actually be at 73 or 75, and what do they do to my bracket?”
- “How do conversions affect my Medicare premiums?”
- “What happens to my spouse's taxes if I die first?”
- “My kids have to empty an inherited IRA in ten years. What does that cost them?”
Honesty first
I am not right for everyone
I would rather tell you now than after you have spent three meetings finding out. If the right column describes you, reach out anyway. I will point you toward someone better suited, and I do that more often than you might expect.
We will probably work well together if
You live in Western New York
I work with families across Buffalo, the Southtowns, the Northtowns, and the surrounding counties. Meeting in person matters to me, and I would rather know your neighborhood than serve a national list.
You are within about five years of retiring, or already there
This is the stretch where the decisions are largest and the mistakes are hardest to undo. It is the work I do best.
You saved diligently, mostly in pre-tax accounts
Most families I serve have between $2M and $10M, with the bulk of it in a 401(k) or rollover IRA, which means most of it has not been taxed yet.
You want a thinking partner, not a stock picker
You would rather hand off the mental load of getting this right than collect more options to evaluate on your own.
Look elsewhere if
You want someone to beat the market
I do not try to. If a hot tip or a market call is what you are shopping for, we will both be frustrated inside a year.
You want a one-time plan and no relationship
A plan built once goes stale within a year. If you want a document rather than an ongoing partner, a project-based planner is a better use of your money.
You are still deep in the accumulation years
If retirement is fifteen years off, my fee is hard to justify. I would rather point you toward a planner who charges for what you need today.
You enjoy managing it yourself
Some people like this work and are good at it. If that is you, keep going. Call me when the tax decisions get large enough to be worth a second opinion.
See yourself in any of that?
Thirty minutes and no pitch. Worst case you hang up with a clearer picture of your own situation and the name of someone better suited.