How We Do It
A Complete Toolbox for Your Unique Retirement Journey
Our Tools
Integrated Strategies built for longevity
Retirement is too important for guesswork, and too personal for generic models. That’s why we use a comprehensive toolbox—built on research, tested through real experience, and refined for the realities of modern retirement—to help you move forward with confidence. Every tool has a purpose, and every part of your plan works together to support the life you want.
Our Process
Step-by-Step Planning With Clarity
We don’t guess. We follow a deliberate, structured process designed to produce reliable results.
Build Your Plan
We start by gathering your financial information and entering your income, resources, expenses, and goals into our planning software. The goal is clarity—seeing your full picture with complete accuracy.
Scenario Testing
We test your plan against market conditions, spending adjustments, and timing choices. Our Critical Path analysis highlights the exact variables that could impact your success and shows how to adjust without jeopardizing your long-term goals.
Safety-First
Once the numbers are validated, we begin building your portfolio. First comes your income floor: a bond ladder designed to cover your base expenses for the first several years of retirement.
Investing to Grow
With essential income secured, we invest the balance using our Time-Targeted Growth portfolios. These portfolios align risk with when you’ll actually need the funds—maximizing growth potential while still allowing for thoughtful, long-range planning.
The Toolbox We Use to Solve Real Retirement Challenges
We integrate multiple techniques to build a tax-efficient retirement plan customized to your financial picture.
Safety-First Income Planning
Your essential expenses come first. Before pursuing growth, we build a bond ladder that delivers predictable income for your earliest retirement years. This ensures you have dependable cash flow—even during market turbulence—so you don’t have to sell investments at the wrong time.
Time-Targeted Growth Strategies
Once your base income is secured, we invest the remainder for long-term growth using portfolios aligned with your actual time horizons, not broad age-based rules. Each “bucket” of investments is tied to when you’ll need the money, allowing for smarter risk and reward decisions.
Retirement success is measured in after-tax dollars. We layer in strategies to manage brackets, time Roth conversions, optimize charitable giving, and reduce lifetime taxes so your plan lasts longer.
Social Security Optimization
We model multiple scenarios to find your optimal claiming age, considering spousal benefits, taxes, longevity expectations, and your overall retirement strategy.
Healthcare is one of the biggest variables in retirement. We help you navigate Medicare, evaluate supplemental coverage, and plan for future costs so unforeseen expenses don’t derail your progress.
Estate & Legacy Coordination
We coordinate with your attorney to align your beneficiaries, trusts, and legacy goals with the rest of your plan, ensuring your assets pass the way you intend.
Life changes. Markets pull back. Health shifts. Families evolve. We build plans that adapt—so when surprises happen, you stay on track.
Retirement Planning Built on Safety and Confidence
Our approach goes beyond traditional asset allocation. We use Modern Retirement Theory and the Asset Dedication Strategy to create a two-part structure that supports both stability and opportunity.
First, we dedicate a portion of your portfolio to fixed-income securities that deliver the cash flows you’ll need early in retirement, no matter what the market does. This becomes your retirement “floor”—income you can count on.
Second, we invest the remainder for long-term growth with portfolios that match each phase of your retirement timeline.
Throughout your journey, our Critical Path monitoring system keeps you informed, showing exactly how each decision affects your future. This level of clarity helps you retire with confidence, knowing your needs are covered and your remaining assets have room to grow.
A Partner for Every Part of Your Retirement
When the unexpected happens—market downturns, health events, divorce, caring for a loved one, helping grandchildren, or a major lifestyle shift—you’re not left to figure it out alone. We bring the full strength of our toolbox and our team to help you adjust without losing your momentum.
This is more than investment management. It’s a partnership built to guide every step of your retirement journey with stability, clarity, and purpose.