Retirement Planning
This section covers the mechanics of life after the paycheck stops: paying for healthcare, turning savings into income, and putting your estate and your advisors in order. Medicare enrollment windows carry lifelong late penalties, and required minimum distributions trigger penalties if you miss them.
It also covers how to choose the professionals you work with. Many people who call themselves advisors are paid in different ways, and the pages below explain how to tell fee-only fiduciaries from commission-based salespeople and what each professional actually does.
Healthcare
Section titled “Healthcare”- Medicare and Medicaid: How the two programs differ, what each covers, and the enrollment windows that carry lifelong penalties if you miss them.
- Supplemental coverage: Medigap and Medicare Advantage plans, what they cover beyond original Medicare, and how to compare them.
Income and withdrawals
Section titled “Income and withdrawals”- Required minimum distributions: When the IRS forces withdrawals from tax-deferred accounts, how the amount is calculated, and the tax consequences of getting it wrong.
- Social Security timing: How claiming age changes your monthly benefit, and the trade-offs between filing early and waiting.
- Annuities: What an annuity is, the difference between income-producing and fee-laden products, and how to judge whether one fits your situation.
Estate and advisors
Section titled “Estate and advisors”- Estate planning basics: The core documents most families need, including a will, powers of attorney, and beneficiary designations.
- Selecting a financial planner: How to tell a fee-only fiduciary from a commission-based salesperson, and the questions to ask before you hire one.
- What a CPA actually does: The role of a certified public accountant in retirement, and where a CPA’s tax work differs from a financial planner’s.