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Our Retirement Planning Process

Our complimentary Design Before You Decide retirement income planning process gives you something many firms don’t: A personalized retirement plan, created for you before you officially become a client.

Those who qualify most for this process are who we serve best:

  • Retired or ready to retire
  • Diligent savers with a $500,000+ investable asset profile
  • Looking for comprehensive guidance and a long-term planning relationship
  • Seeking a fully customized retirement roadmap, not generic advice

If these elements align with you, here’s what you can expect from our simple 7-step process:

Your Comprehensive Retirement Plan in 7 Steps

Step 1: Define

20-Minute Introductory Call


To protect your time and ours, we’ll start with a short phone conversation to better understand your goals, clarify what you’re looking for, and confirm Retirement Matters is the right resource.

Then, if everything is aligned, we will schedule your Discover meeting.

Schedule Your Introductory Call

Step 2: Discover

In-Person or Virtual Meeting

This is a deeper conversation to help determine if we are a good fit for each other. We will cover:

  • Your retirement goals and lifestyle vision
  • Income needs and investment structure
  • Tax exposure and Social Security strategy
  • Concerns about market volatility, healthcare, or legacy

There is nothing binding at this stage. At the end of Discover, only one decision is made:

Would you like to see your custom-designed retirement plan?

That’s it. No paperwork. No commitments. No selling. If the answer is yes, we move on to:

Step 3: Design

We Create Your Plan

We design a comprehensive retirement plan that employs advanced planning strategies to help meet your unique needs and reach your goals. This may include:

  • Tax-efficient retirement income planning
  • Social Security optimization
  • Investment alignment and risk management
  • Estate and legacy coordination
  • Stress-testing your plan for real-world scenarios

This is not a template or a software output. It’s a coordinated strategy built around your life, tailored specifically for you. Then, we will:

Step 4: Deliver

We Present Your Plan

We meet with you to walk you through your completed retirement plan in detail, including:

  • What we recommend for you personally and why
  • How this plan is designed to support your lifestyle
  • What implementing the plan would involve

You’ll receive a 1-page summary of the action items you need to take and that we can assist with, covering the 5 pillars of the holistic wealth management experience, written in plain, easy-to-understand language.

We will also answer any questions you may have. Then, you will:

Step 5: Decide

Think About It

You take the plan home and review it, talk it over, sleep on it, then get back to us with a decision within 24-48 hours. We use this time frame to help protect our time and resources, but you will not be charged a planning fee if you decide not to move forward.

If you do decide to move forward with us, we will then move on to:

Step 6: Deploy

We Implement Your Plan

At this stage, you’re now an official client and we put your plan into action. Here, we will:

  • Complete the necessary paperwork
  • Coordinate accounts and transfers
  • Activate any immediate income, tax, and risk protection strategies
  • Align protection and estate elements

After all the details are put in place, we officially begin the wealth management process and our long-term partnership.

Step 7: Dedicated

Ongoing Support & Adjustments

Retirement is not static and neither is your plan.

As a Retirement Matters client, you can expect ongoing monitoring, regular reviews, and proactive adjustments as markets, tax laws, and life circumstances change. We are your partner in retirement and life.

Serving retirees and pre-retirees throughout the Greater Cincinnati area

with personalized retirement guidance backed by more than 30 years of firm history.

Ready to see your unique retirement plan? Let’s start with a 20-minute call.


Get Your Retirement Plan Today

Frequently Asked Questions About the Retirement Planning Process

What is a retirement planning process?

A retirement planning process is a structured framework that organizes income planning, tax strategy, investments, estate considerations, and risk management into one coordinated strategy. Rather than addressing financial decisions in isolation, it aligns every moving part to help create clarity, sustainability, and long-term confidence in retirement.

What does comprehensive retirement planning include?

Comprehensive retirement planning includes income distribution strategy, tax-efficient withdrawals, Social Security timing, estate coordination, risk management, and investment oversight. It helps ensure that all five pillars of wealth management work together instead of operating independently, reducing blind spots and improving long-term outcomes.

How does retirement income planning work?

Retirement income planning focuses on turning accumulated assets into reliable cash flow. It coordinates withdrawal sequencing, Social Security optimization, tax brackets, and investment positioning to help reduce unnecessary taxes while creating predictable income designed to last throughout retirement.

Do I need a financial advisor if I already have investments?

Having investments is not the same as having a coordinated plan. An advisor can help ensure your investments align with income needs, tax strategy, estate goals, and changing regulations. For many retirees, the value lies not in asset selection alone, but in integrated strategy and ongoing oversight.

How can I reduce taxes in retirement?

Reducing taxes in retirement often involves proactive withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion analysis, Social Security timing strategy, capital gains coordination, and estate alignment. A proactive tax management approach can help preserve more of what you’ve worked hard to build.