When is the best time to start working with an advisor before retirement?

5–10 years out is ideal. There's enough runway to make Roth conversions, optimize Social Security strategy, smooth out tax brackets, and dial in healthcare timing. Within 2–3 years of retirement is still useful but the levers are fewer.

Should I take my pension as a lump sum or as a monthly payment?

It depends on the pension's actuarial value, your other income sources, your spouse's income, your tax situation, and your views on inflation and longevity. This is one of the most consequential decisions in pre-retirement planning, talk to an advisor before electing.

Do I need a retirement advisor, or can I plan retirement myself?

A spreadsheet can answer 'do the numbers add up' for a single year. A retirement planning advisor coordinates the moving parts that change every year for the next 30 years, Social Security timing, Roth conversions, RMDs, Medicare IRMAA, sequence-of-returns risk, beneficiary alignment, and the spouse-survivor scenario. For most Toledo households with $1M+ in assets, the value of a fiduciary advisor is in the coordination, not the spreadsheet.

Retirement Planning Advisor for Pre-Retirees

Most of our clients first reach out to us during this stretch. The questions sound familiar:

Can I actually afford to retire?
When should I file for Social Security?
What about Medicare, what does it cover, and when do I sign up?
What happens if the market drops right after I retire?
How do I stop accumulating money and start spending it without running out?
What about taxes once I'm pulling from retirement accounts?

How we help

Estate planning: creating a coordinated handoff so your spouse and children know what happens.
Social Security, when to file based on your situation and your spouse's.
Tax planning, Roth conversions, RMDs, charitable giving, bracket management.
Investment allocation, designed around the income you'll need.
Healthcare: Medicare timing and IRMAA coordination.

Retirement planning for couples

A household plan is fundamentally different from two individual plans stapled together. Filing decisions interact (Social Security survivor benefits, the tax-bracket effect when one spouse passes), spending plans involve trade-offs, and longevity assumptions need to handle the surviving spouse on the conservative side. We build retirement plans for the household, including the conversation about what each partner actually wants the next 30 years to look like.

Retirement planning at 55, 60, or 65

At 55: 10+ year runway. Roth conversion ladders, "Rule of 55" 401(k) access, peak earning + saving years.
At 60: 5–7 year runway. Healthcare bridge planning before Medicare, Social Security claiming strategy, catch-up contributions.
At 65: 0–2 year runway. Medicare enrollment, IRMAA management, withdrawal-sequence finalization, paycheck construction.

Retirement Income PlanningLearn more →Social Security PlanningLearn more →Tax PlanningLearn more →

Frequently asked questions

There's no universal answer, it depends on your spending, your timeline, your healthcare, and your other income (Social Security, pension). For a household spending around $80,000–$100,000 per year in retirement, planning targets typically start in the $1.5M–$2.5M range, but the right number for you should come out of a real plan.

You're 5–10 years from retirement. This is the most important decade of your financial life.

How we help

Retirement planning for couples

Retirement planning at 55, 60, or 65

Frequently asked questions

Five years out? Let's pressure-test your plan.