01
Taxes
How much of this account is actually yours?
We model your bracket stack year by year — RMDs, Social Security inclusion, IRMAA tiers and the ten-year inherited-IRA window — so the tax bill has a schedule instead of a surprise.
Retirement tax & income architecture
Reaching the summit is only half the journey.
The descent — taxes, required distributions, income sequencing and what your family actually inherits — is where retirements are won or lost. We design that descent from your verified numbers, in writing, with every assumption disclosed.
- 37%
- Top federal bracket a deferred account can be taxed at
- 10
- Years most heirs now have to empty an inherited IRA
- 3
- Buckets every retirement resolves into: taxes, income, legacy
The descent
The flag at the summit says retirement. The risks are all on the way down.
A tax hole opens when required distributions and Social Security stack. A poor sequence of returns in the first decade can permanently reset the plan. The landing has to be supported — by tax-free assets, a defined income floor and, where appropriate, insured guarantees.
- Tax hole — RMDs, Social Security inclusion and IRMAA tiers
- Market crash — a bad first decade of withdrawals
- Safe landing — an income floor you can hold through both
The climb
You spent a working lifetime getting up the mountain. You get one attempt at coming down.
Saving rewards patience — decades of contributions, matches and compounding. Distribution rewards precision. The savings phase forgives a mistake; the distribution phase records it. That asymmetry is the entire reason this work exists.
- 40+ yrs
- Accumulating — time absorbs most errors
- ~20 yrs
- Distributing — every decision is taxable and dated
- One
- Attempt. There is no second descent to practice on
The framework
Every retirement resolves into three questions.
We answer them in order, with your numbers on the screen. Nothing is recommended until all three are consistent with the criteria you set at the start.
02
Income & Growth
Does the income hold up, net of tax, for as long as you need it?
Essential spending is measured against reliable income first. The gap gets an explicit design, and growth is tested against a poor sequence of returns rather than an average.
03
Legacy
What lands in your family's hands, and what lands on their tax return?
Two estates of identical size can differ by hundreds of thousands after tax. We show the after-tax number to your beneficiaries, not the statement balance.
The process
A sequence, not a sales appointment.
The order matters. Criteria are recorded before options are shown, so the recommendation can be measured against something you wrote down yourself.
“We never ask how to convince a client. We ask what the client said matters, and what the evidence shows.”
- STEP 01
Discovery
A conversation, not a form. What matters, what worries you, and what would have to be true before you would change anything.
- STEP 02
Decision criteria
Your conditions are written down first — liquidity minimums, spousal income, tax control — and every option is later scored against them.
- STEP 03
Analysis
Your verified numbers run through the conversion, RMD, income floor and legacy engines. Assumptions and calculation detail are one click away.
- STEP 04
Three approaches
Investment-centered, protected-income and integrated architecture — each with genuine strengths and genuine trade-offs. No straw men.
- STEP 05
Decision & report
A written blueprint with sources, assumptions and the questions to take to your CPA, attorney and investment advisor.
Standards of proof
If we can't show you the arithmetic, we don't show you the conclusion.
Our analysis engine runs the full graduated federal bracket table for your filing status, stacks your other income, applies Social Security inclusion rules, the current Uniform Lifetime Table and published IRMAA tiers — not a flat assumed rate.
- Every figure traceable to a client-entered value, an advisor assumption or a disclosed calculation
- Hypothetical illustrations never presented as historical results
- Tax rules versioned by year, never hard-coded into copy
- A liquidity floor you define, enforced before any strategy is called ready
- A written assumptions page attached to every report
Who this is built for
Households where the tax decision is the plan.
Most people don't arrive worried about brackets. They arrive worried about whether the money lasts, whether one of them is left managing it alone, and whether the children inherit a gift or a tax bill. Those are the questions the arithmetic answers.
The pre-retiree with a large deferred balance
Ages 55–72, most of the net worth inside an IRA or 401(k), and a conversion window that closes the moment RMDs and Social Security start stacking.
The newly retired household
Income needs to start, the portfolio has to survive a bad first decade, and every withdrawal decision is also a tax decision.
The legacy-focused family
The money will outlive the plan. The question is which generation pays the tax, and at whose bracket.
Walked through, not handed over
You watch the model change while you ask the questions.
Every blueprint is presented live — in person or on screen — with the assumptions visible and editable. Change the conversion amount, the retirement date, the return sequence, and watch the tax, income and legacy numbers move in front of you. Nothing is presented as certain that we cannot recalculate on the spot.
Questions we're asked first
- Is a Roth conversion right for everyone?
- No. For some households the analysis shows conversion costs more than it saves — and we say so in writing. The model exists to tell you which case you are in.
- What do I bring to the first meeting?
- Most recent statements for retirement and taxable accounts, your latest tax return, and your Social Security estimate. If you don't have all of it, we start with ranges and mark them as estimates.
- Do you replace my CPA or investment advisor?
- No. Every blueprint ends with a coordination list written for them. If your professionals disagree with an assumption, we would rather find out before you act on it.
- What does a Roth Design Blueprint cost?
- The initial blueprint and review conversation are complimentary. If implementation work follows, the scope and compensation are disclosed in writing before anything is signed.