Income Planning
For many retirees, the biggest concern isn’t how much they’ve saved, but whether their money will last.
We like to say that cash flow is the heartbeat of retirement, and at Retirement Matters, our goal is to keep it strong and steady. Using The Bucket Plan®, we organize your money into Now, Soon, and Later buckets depending on when you’ll need it. By aligning your income sources with your spending needs and timeline, we help create stability in the present while preserving flexibility for the future.
Strategic income planning works by:
- Social Security optimization and timing for a sustainable income stream
- Grouping assets by time horizon to help ensure you have the money when you need it
- Key pension decisions such as lump sum vs. monthly benefits, and determining how much survivorship benefit is necessary
- A purposeful, tax-efficient withdrawal plan
Asset Management
As fiduciaries, every investment decision we make is guided by your best interests, not products, commissions, or market hype. At Retirement Matters, we take a big-picture approach to investment management, building customized portfolios that reflect your unique goals and tolerance for risk. That’s why we design portfolios to support your income needs, tax situation, and long-term objectives, then actively manage them to stay responsive as conditions and priorities change.
Our investment management approach is centered on:
- Goal-driven portfolio construction tailored to your risk tolerance, not market trends
- Ongoing monitoring and proactive adjustments as markets and life evolve
- Helping ensure your investments stay aligned with your broader financial strategy
- Sophisticated investment platform and highly customizable portfolios through Prosperity Capital Advisors
Tax Management
Taxes impact nearly every financial decision you make in retirement, from how you withdraw income to how much you leave for your loved ones. But without a proactive plan, taxes can end up being managed reactively, often after opportunities have already been missed.
Our tax services go far beyond tax preparation. By integrating year-round tax management into your financial plan, we help you make informed decisions before they become costly. Specific strategies may include Roth conversions, tax-efficient withdrawal sequencing, capital gains planning, and coordinating income to help minimize Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) surcharges.
With proactive tax management, we help you potentially keep more of your wealth by:
- Implementing ways to help reduce lifetime and multi-generational tax exposure
- Coordinating income, investment, and withdrawal strategies more efficiently
- Manage exposure to rising Medicare premiums and other tax-related surprises
Protection Planning
Helping protect your wealth against life’s uncertainties is a cornerstone of our approach. Rather than viewing protection as a standalone product, we treat it as a way to strengthen your entire plan, so unexpected events such as health changes or the loss of a spouse don’t unravel years of progress and cause income instability. From healthcare coverage to life insurance as an asset class, we identify and proactively address potential vulnerabilities to help ensure your wealth plan stays strong.
Risk management planning may include strategies to help:
- Evaluate healthcare, long-term care, and life insurance needs
- Reduce financial exposure during major life transitions
- Support long-term stability for you and your family
Legacy Planning
A thoughtful estate plan helps ensure your wealth is transferred according to your wishes while preserving the legacy you want to leave behind. We coordinate key elements such as wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations, keeping your estate strategy aligned with the rest of your financial plan so your intentions are clear, your family is cared for, and your impact carries forward.
A strong estate plan can help:
- Manage tax efficiency and timing around asset transfers
- Provide clarity and control over how your wealth is distributed
- Support intentional, multigenerational wealth preservation and legacy planning