Enjoy today.
Turn savings into income for everyday life, travel and the retirement you worked for.
Explore what spending costs →For substantial tax-deferred retirement savings—including IRAs, 401(k)s and 403(b)s.
Your retirement balance is visible.
Your future tax bill isn’t.
You saved successfully. Now see what those savings could mean after tax.
Your statement shows an account balance—not how future withdrawals may interact with taxes, Medicare premiums and your household’s changing needs.
Get the Future Tax Bill Checklist →A larger balance can affect more than one bill.
Required withdrawals
A larger balance can mean a larger RMD at the same IRS divisor—even when you don’t need the cash.
Income interactions
Taxable withdrawals join other income and may affect both taxes and Medicare premiums.
A changing household
A surviving spouse may face different filing circumstances and income thresholds.
Start with purpose
Give your money three jobs.
Before choosing an investment or a tax strategy, decide what your money is for—and when you will need it.
Protect tomorrow.
Prepare for market downturns, inflation, healthcare and unexpected expenses.
Explore growth and future spending →Provide for others.
Give money intended for children and grandchildren a deliberate investment and tax strategy.
Whose retirement is this money funding? →One household can have all three purposes. Each dollar’s job and time horizon help shape its investment allocation, account location and eventual withdrawal.
Help your money grow, help you keep more of it, and give you a thoughtful way to spend it.
Explore your decision →One purchase. Three funding choices.
What does a dollar cost?
Enjoying retirement starts with a usable paycheck. The same purchase can require a different withdrawal depending on which account pays.
Teal: money to spend · Orange: illustrated withdrawal tax
Illustrative rates: 24% federal + 6.99% state on fully pretax withdrawals. Brokerage: 15% federal long-term gains + 6.99% state, with half the sale representing gains.
Assumptions and limits
Qualified Roth withdrawals are assumed tax-free. Tax is funded from the withdrawal or sale. Fixed rates apply to all relevant dollars; actual taxes depend on brackets, basis, holding periods and individual circumstances. No penalties, Medicare effects, net investment income tax or deduction interactions are modeled.
This compares tax at withdrawal, not lifetime account economics. Roth funding may have involved earlier tax; pretax contributions may have received deductions. No account type is always best.
Adjust the assumptions →Your retirement paycheck needs more than a withdrawal.
Building savings and turning them into spending money are different jobs. Three decisions should work together:
- Bucket strategy: when will you need the money? Coordinate near-term spending reserves with investments intended for later years, so your plan considers market downturns as well as growth.
- Asset location: where should investments live? Coordinate what you own across taxable, tax-deferred and Roth accounts, considering tax treatment, risk and when you expect to use the money.
- Withdrawal strategy: which account pays this year? Coordinate withdrawals with other income and your tax picture rather than automatically drawing proportionately from every account.
The goal is a dependable spending plan with more tax flexibility—not simply the lowest tax bill this year.
Build wealth. Plan how you’ll use it.
What changes the tax-bucket decision?
Money for later has a different job from next month’s paycheck. Compounding can support future purchasing power; your account choices help determine how you can use it.
One hypothetical $10,000 pretax contribution opportunity · 6% annual growth · 24% tax today
Required withdrawals, other income or a change in filing status can affect the rate on future withdrawals. None automatically means a higher rate. Try all three scenarios to see what changes the comparison.
Assumptions and calculation
Equal pretax resources: the pretax account starts with $10,000; Roth starts with $7,600 after $2,400 of upfront tax. Both earn the same hypothetical return. We compare a fully taxed pretax withdrawal with a qualified Roth withdrawal.
No additional contributions, fees, state taxes, penalties, RMDs or other tax interactions are modeled. Returns are not guaranteed; 30 years is a planning horizon, not a life-expectancy estimate. This is not a conversion recommendation.
Hypothetical illustration, not an investment forecast. No particular security, sector or portfolio is modeled. The fixed 6% growth assumption is not an expected return; investments can lose value. Results change with the selected assumptions, and actual outcomes change over time. This contribution comparison is not a complete calculation of an existing IRA conversion.
Already have substantial pretax savings? Revisit where your next retirement contribution goes—not just how much you save. Tax rates, employer benefits, eligibility and your need for flexibility all matter.
See how we approach these decisions →You know what you’ve saved. Do you know how you’ll use it?
Your investments matter. So do the accounts holding them. These eight questions explore how your savings could become retirement income—and what taxes and market swings could mean along the way.
Retirement planning. With tax consequences in view.
Compare choices about asset location, withdrawals and possible Roth conversions alongside spending, risk and the needs of your household. The goal is a coordinated plan—not the smallest tax bill this year at any cost.
Explore a conversation with Rich →Follow the dominoes.
See how account growth can connect to the rest of your retirement.
Explore the connections →Planning decisions you may recognize
See the choices behind the plan.
A retirement paycheck. Employer stock. Conversion taxes. Explore four stories about connecting the decisions.
Explore the planning stories →Prefer to learn before scheduling?
Explore the class outline and free resources. There is no asset minimum to learn.
Explore retirement education →