In your pre-retirement years, it's time to begin transitioning from your "Accumulation Phase"  into the "Preservation Phase" so that you can mitigate risk to your financial portfolio leading up to retirement.

Unfortunately, millions of Americans fail to address this important planning phase, leaving their retirement savings subject to the dreaded Sequence of Returns Risk. Without mitigating this risk, you face the risk of running out of money well before your life expectancy, and losing the ability to enjoy your much-anticipated retirement.

From our years of working with clients in the pre-retirement phase, we have learned that these are some of the top goals and concerns facing you at this stage of life:

♦ Building a Retirement Plan That Will Last as Long as You Do

We understand that one of the greatest worries people have as they move closer to retirement is making sure that you will have enough money to live on for the rest of your life.

In order to help you build a solid retirement plan that can last throughout your retirement years, we utilize a number of financial planning tools to help you understand exactly how long your money will last - assuming you continue saving at your current rate - accounting for taxes, expenses, and inflation.

We then help create a detailed plan to show you how much more you may need to save, and/or how long you'll likely need to work in order to support your lifestyle in retirement.

We are experts at finding ways to position your assets to maximize your retirement savings, and designing strategies that will grow and protect your nest egg from unnecessary losses as you draw closer to that important retirement date.

♦ Maximizing Your Social Security Benefits

Have you thought about what Social Security filing strategy you will use to maximize benefits for both you and your spouse? Social Security can be very complex, as there are dozens of different rules and strategy combinations that can impact how much you and your spouse may be able to claim in retirement benefits.

  • Are you divorced or widowed?
  • Do you earn more or less than your spouse?
  • Do or did you or your spouse work in a government job?
  • Which strategy would provide the maximum lifetime benefit in the event that you pass away before your spouse - or vice versa?

There are different strategies for every scenario, and it is difficult to determine the suitability of any Social Security strategy without doing a full assessment of your retirement goals and needs as a couple.

We provide detailed guidance with Social Security planning, and can help make sure you are choosing the appropriate filing strategy, and that the option you choose will work in conjunction with your overall retirement plan to maximize your benefits, minimize your taxes, and create the most efficient income source for your retirement years.

Click here to schedule a FREE initial strategy session with our Social Security planning expert...

♦ Utilizing Tax-Saving Strategies

Are you concerned that taxes may increase in the future and eat into your nest egg? If so, you're not alone! Tax rates are currently at historic lows, and with a deficit ballooning out of control, government spending increasing, and recent tax cuts set to expire in 2026, odds are that taxes will HAVE to go up - no matter which political administration is in power. It's just a matter of when.

If your retirement savings are all in tax-deferred vehicles, this means that you don't have control over how much taxes you will end up paying when you begin taking an income stream. Then-current government policies will determine your tax rate - and if it is higher than it is now - which is likely, you may end up giving up a lot more of your nest egg to Uncle Sam than you would have expected.

Proper planning can help to minimize your future tax bill, and we can work with you to develop a retirement income plan that mitigates taxes and helps keep more of your hard-earned retirement savings in your pocket for your own retirement needs.

♦ Successfully Transitioning through the Preservation Phase into the Distribution Phase

If you are less than 10 years away from retirement and your financial advisor has not discussed moving you into the Preservation Phase, you need to ask why not - and consider seeking a second opinion on your retirement accounts to make sure you're properly prepared!

Unfortunately, this phase is the most overlooked part of the Money Cycle, and missing this phase can prove very detrimental to your retirement savings. Losing money at the wrong time due to a market downturn can have disastrous effects on your long-term retirement plan. (Watch this video to learn more about Sequence of Returns Risk.)

We will work closely with you and your spouse throughout your pre-retirement years to help you make sure everything is properly positioned as you transition from your working years (Accumulation Phase) into the Preservation Phase, and then into your Distribution Phase, where you will begin taking retirement income. By managing this transition successfully, we can help you avoid unnecessary losses and put you in a better position for a secure retirement.

What Next?

The good news is, through proper planning, it is quite possible for you to achieve all of the above objectives and more! However, it is imperative that you take action. Time is of the essence at this stage of the game. We can help you feel prepared to transition into retirement, and enable you to make confident financial decisions for a better future. Click the link below to request an appointment today!

Are you ready for retirement? Find out with a FREE Retirement Ready-Or-Not Analysis!