Retirement Planning That Answers the Question You Actually Have
Ready is a number, not a feeling. We start with your tax return, your statements and your Social Security estimate, and we do our best to tell you plainly where you stand.
The highest-leverage tax choices in retirement, and most people make all three without modeling any of them
Three Decisions With Expiration Dates
Retirement planning in Fort Smith, AR usually gets framed as a savings target, but the decisions that move the needle most come later, in a narrow window of years. Each of these gets its own page because each is substantial enough to deserve one.
The years between retiring and the start of required distributions may be the lowest-income stretch of your life, which makes it the window where conversions are worth modeling.
Roth Conversion Strategy
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Once distributions begin they add taxable income on a schedule you do not control, and the size of that bill is largely determined by choices made a decade earlier.
Required Minimum Distributions
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When you claim affects your monthly benefit, how much of it is taxed, and what your surviving spouse receives for the rest of their life.
Social Security Planning
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A Timeline, Not a Checklist
What deserves attention at each stage
Ten years out the work is projection: what the accounts may support, whether the savings rate holds up and where the gaps are. Five years out it turns concrete, with Roth conversion windows, healthcare coverage between retirement and Medicare, long-term care exposure and any pension election coming into focus. In the final year before retiring we address the rollover decision, the claiming decision and what your first year of spending will actually look like, and if one spouse keeps working, that reshapes the sequence considerably. Once you are retired, the conversation shifts to withdrawal mechanics and turning the balance into a paycheck, which is where our income planning work picks up, and TAXNAV is the roadmap that holds it together.
Questions People Ask Before They Retire
Including the one about whether it is too late
How do I know if I have enough saved?
Enough depends on what you plan to spend, what income arrives on its own and how long the money has to last, so the same balance can be plenty for one household and thin for another. We compare your projected spending against your income sources and portfolio across the full horizon rather than checking a balance against a rule of thumb.
Is it too late to start at 60?
No, and the years just before retirement are when planning tends to have the most leverage, because the decisions are immediate and specific. Starting earlier gives more room, though the tax decisions ahead of you are still fully available.
Do you work with people who are already retired?
Yes, and a good share of our clients came to us after retiring. Withdrawal sequencing, conversion timing and distribution planning are all live questions well into retirement.
Is there a minimum to work with you?
We do not publish a figure, because complexity tends to matter more than balance. The introductory meeting is where we both find out whether the work would be worth what it costs.
How often is the plan revisited?
On a regular schedule and whenever something changes, including tax law, health, spending or market conditions. We meet clients at our Fort Smith office, at our Rogers office serving Bentonville, Springdale and Fayetteville, or by video if travel from Van Buren or Greenwood is inconvenient.
Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal.
