The decisions you make about taxes in your 60s and 70s will shape what's left for you — and what's left to leave behind.
Most prospects come to us with the same concern: "I don't want to pay more in taxes than I have to." It's the single most common opening statement in our discovery meetings.
Here's why: when you're working, your tax picture is relatively simple. Withholding handles most of it. But once you stop earning a paycheck, the rules change. Required Minimum Distributions, Social Security taxation, IRMAA Medicare surcharges, capital gains decisions, and the ongoing balance between pre-tax and Roth accounts all compound over a 20–40 year retirement.
Done well, these decisions could save a household hundreds of thousands of dollars in lifetime taxes. Done poorly — or not at all — they cost the same.
The right time to convert pre-tax retirement assets to Roth is rarely when the tax software prompts you to. We model the multi-year tax impact of converting in stages — typically during the lower-tax years between retirement and Required Minimum Distribution age — to optimize lifetime taxes rather than just this year's bill.
Required Minimum Distributions begin at age 73 for most retirees. The accounts you draw from in your 60s heavily influence what's required when you hit RMD age. We coordinate the sequencing of withdrawals across taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts to manage the curve.
The Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount adds Medicare premium surcharges when household income exceeds specific thresholds. The thresholds are cliffs, not gradients — earning $1 over the line can cost thousands. We model income strategy with IRMAA brackets explicitly in view.
Up to 85% of Social Security benefits become taxable depending on your provisional income. The right combination of withdrawal sources and Roth balances can dramatically reduce the share that's taxed.
Rather than blanket conversion strategies, we recalibrate your account mix annually based on tax law, your specific situation, and the broader plan. The optimal balance changes over time — and the right answer for one client is rarely the right answer for another.
Tax strategy is most effective when your retirement advisor and your CPA are working from the same playbook. We coordinate directly with your tax professional to ensure the strategies we model in planning meetings actually translate into the right entries on your return.
If you don't currently have a tax professional, we can refer you to CPAs in the Ann Arbor area who specialize in retirement-stage tax planning.
Schedule a complimentary consultation. We'll review your current accounts and walk you through the tax decisions that will most affect your retirement.
Schedule a Tax Strategy Consultation