Pillar 1
Know when you can retire, and what life after work will look like.
Retirement planning is a cash flow question before it’s an investment question. We map your income and spending year by year, from today through the rest of your life.
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What this pillar covers.
- Retirement readiness: whether what you have, plus what you’ll add, can support the life you want for as long as you need it to.
- Income design: which accounts pay you, in what order, and how that changes from year to year.
- Social Security timing: when to claim, for you and your spouse, and what each choice is worth over a lifetime.
- Pension decisions: annuity versus lump sum, survivor options, and how they fit the rest of your plan.
- Sustainable spending: a number you can live on without guessing, updated as life changes.
Where it touches the other pillars.
The order you draw income in is a tax decision. When you claim Social Security affects your estate. Your pension election changes how much insurance you still need. Nothing in this pillar gets decided on its own.
What the work looks like.
It starts with the intake and your Discovery Meeting. By the findings meeting, you’ll see a year-by-year plan on screen, and we’ll adjust it together until it reflects the retirement you have in mind.
Frequently asked questions
Well before your retirement date. Most of the decisions that shape retirement, like how much to save and in which accounts, when to claim Social Security, and how to take a pension, are set up years in advance. Starting at 50 gives you more options than starting at 64, but starting at 64 still beats not starting at all.
Yes. We analyze pension elections, survivor options, and employer or government benefits as part of your plan, including when and how to apply and what to do with the funds.
Let’s move forward together.
You’ve worked hard to build what you have. Start with a Discovery Meeting, at no cost and with no obligation. We’ll talk about where you are and where you want to go, and you’ll leave knowing exactly what working together would look like.
