You've saved a lifetime. The question is whether it covers a 30-year retirement — and how.
Most families within ten years of retirement are surprised by the gap between what they've saved and what three decades of retirement actually costs. One written plan closes more of that gap than another year of saving.
Cory McCune
Bret Whiteley
Cory McCune
Bret Whiteley
Find the part of this page that fits where you are.
The retirement decisions ahead of you depend on how close you are. Pick the one that sounds like you — we'll take you to the section of this page that matters most.
5+ years out
Pre-retiree
See the five age-gated decisions that shape the next 30 years.
See the decisions by age
Within 2 years
Near-retiree
See the six areas we cover in a written retirement plan.
See what's covered
Already retired
Recently retired
See the gaps a coordinated plan closes once you're drawing income.
See typical vs. coordinated
Five decisions shape the next thirty years.
Each one is gated by an age between 55 and 73. Each has a window that doesn't reopen.
- Age55
Rule of 55 — penalty-free 401(k) access
- Age59½
Penalty-free withdrawal window opens
- Age62
Social Security becomes available
- Age65
Medicare enrollment window opens
- Age73
Required Minimum Distributions begin
We plan each one in writing before it hits — so the decision lands on the right side of the window.
A written plan, not a portfolio recommendation.
Six areas covered in one document, reviewed annually with you.
Social Security timing
Model claim ages against your spouse's and your other income.
- Filing scenarios
- Survivor benefits
- Longevity match
Withdrawal sequencing
Decide which account funds each year of retirement.
- Account-by-account order
- Tax-bracket coordinated
- IRMAA thresholds
Roth conversion analysis
Use the gap years to convert deliberately, not reactively.
- Year-by-year conversion plan
- IRMAA exposure modeled
- RMD pressure projected
Healthcare & long-term care
Cover the gap from retirement to Medicare and beyond.
- Bridge-to-Medicare coverage
- Enrollment timeline
- Long-term-care framework
Income floor strategy
Build a baseline that doesn't depend on the market each year.
- Social Security + pensions
- Baseline for essentials
- Portfolio buffered from selling
Estate & beneficiary review
Confirm the documents and beneficiaries match your intent.
- Beneficiaries reviewed
- Will & trust check
- Estate-attorney coordination
Want to see what one of these sections actually looks like?
A redacted, illustrative-only sample page — no real client data.
Same household. Two paths.
The decisions that shape a 30-year retirement are the same for everyone. What changes is whether they get made one at a time — or coordinated, in writing, against each other.
Typical — decisions made one at a time
Social Security claim age
Filed at 62 — defaulted to earliest option
Withdrawal order
Pulled from whichever account was easiest
Roth conversion window
Window closed at 73 without being used
Medicare & IRMAA
Enrollment timed late; IRMAA surcharge a surprise
Lifetime income outlook
Reactive decisions — Sunday-night research after each event
Coordinated — one written plan
Social Security claim age
Modeled against spouse, longevity, other income
Withdrawal order
Sequenced across taxable, tax-deferred, Roth
Roth conversion window
Conversions sized year-by-year against bracket and IRMAA
Medicare & IRMAA
Enrollment scheduled; income coordinated with brackets
Lifetime income outlook
One written document consulted whenever something changes
See what a coordinated plan would look like for your household.
A 15-minute conversation. No forms, no follow-up unless you ask. We'll tell you honestly whether a written plan would change your picture.
An honest perimeter for a retirement engagement.
A written retirement plan is a defined scope of work. Naming what's outside that scope is part of being clear about what's inside it.
Day trading or short-term market timing
We don't move portfolios in and out of the market based on headlines or short-term forecasts. The plan is built for a 30-year horizon, not the next quarter.
Active stock-picking as the strategy
We don't build retirement income on a portfolio of hand-picked individual stocks. Your withdrawal plan shouldn't depend on any single company performing.
Tax filing or replacing your CPA
We coordinate with your CPA on tax-aware planning — Roth conversions, withdrawal sequencing, IRMAA. We don't prepare returns or hold ourselves out as your tax preparer.
Legal documents or replacing your estate attorney
We review beneficiary designations and flag where your estate documents and intent don't line up. We don't draft wills, trusts, or powers of attorney.
Insurance pitched without a planning reason
If an insurance product comes up, it's because the plan identified a specific gap — long-term care exposure, survivor income, a defined need. We don't lead with a product looking for a problem.
Projections of specific portfolio returns
We don't model your plan around an assumed market return. The illustrations we share are mathematical — input, formula, output — not predictions of how investments will perform.
What working with us looks like.
Families we work with describe the same shift after their plan is in place: clearer answers to questions that used to feel unanswerable, and a written reference point to come back to when something changes. Not certainty — no plan offers that — but clarity.
“After 17 years of first meetings, I can tell you almost every family walks in with the same handful of gaps. Our job isn't to sell them something. It's to sit down, work through each one, and write it down.”
A HYPOTHETICAL ILLUSTRATION
One couple came in making retirement decisions one at a time, under pressure, whenever something came up — Social Security, Roth conversions, Medicare, a rental property. Working through each area in order and writing it down surfaced several planning gaps and produced one document they could consult when something changes, instead of a new round of Sunday-night research.
No new product sale. No rushed decisions. Just a reference point they didn't have before.
This is a hypothetical illustration composited from common planning situations and is not based on any specific client. Individual circumstances, planning needs, and outcomes vary.
About working with us.
We'd love to hear your story.
Whether you're five years out, five months out, or already retired — we're here when you're ready to talk.
- 1
15-minute phone call
You talk, we listen. No forms.
- 2
Honest assessment
We'll tell you if we can help.
- 3
Your decision
No fee, no pressure, no sales follow-up.