Hypothetical Situation:

• Maybe you’re remarried with adult children from prior marriages.
• Perhaps one spouse’s health is tentative (husband), while the wife is healthy with longevity in the family.
• Is your wealth currently distributed among rental property and pre-tax retirement accounts, with multiple properties in different states?
• The wife may have a pension plan with multiple payment options.
• Husband’s account may be all in money market funds.
• The wife’s account may be being managed with little feedback.
• You may even be in the process of estate planning when we initially meet.

• Review cash flow in detail to determine your income needs.
• Incorporate income needs and existing resources into a detailed retirement projection with multiple scenarios – here we’d model out alternatives of selling or keeping portions of various portfolios, such as rental.
• We’d consider the consolidation of retirement accounts into two Traditional IRAs to be managed in line with your risk tolerance and objectives.
• Next, we could develop a plan to convert a good portion of Traditional IRA money to Roth IRAs, strategically converting money in years where income is expected to be lower.
• Review estate planning documents, to verify they were in line with objectives.

• After developing an outline for the IRA to Roth conversion plan, we’ll review the strategy with your accountant and check in annually to move as much as we can within specified marginal tax brackets.
• Upon reviewing estate documents, we have found that some clients assume their assets would be protected from long-term care expenses. In this case, we would facilitate a joint meeting with the attorney to review any estate plan structure.
• Occasionally, we’ve discovered plans that do not provide long-term care protections.
  In cases like these, we’ve worked with attorneys to establish customized beneficiary designations.

We have a passion for helping our clients work toward their individual goals and personal definitions of success. When you are nearing retirement, success might look something like this:

• Having a system in place to monitor how your retirement income plan is progressing.
  Having over half of your investable assets in a Roth IRA, thus providing tax-efficient, flexible access to funds.
• Gaining a more accurate understanding of your estate plans.
  Working toward a diversified investment portfolio matching objectives and risk profile.
• Taking one spouse's pension as an annuity, rather than a lump sum, but deferred so that the Roth conversion plan can be carried out.
• Being confident in your situation, enabling confidence that you can give money away to loved ones and important causes.
• Maintaining a trusting relationship with an advisor who has open lines of communication.