Retirement Income Planning

What's your retirement lifestyle?


Retirement Income Planning, Redefined

Our principal, James Gallagher, is helping to redefine a retirement income planning industry that is being hit by the perfect storm: The retiring baby boomer population, life expectancies dramatically increasing, near zero interest rates expected for years to come, an almost certain increase in potential inflation, and a volatile market being driven by the bond bubble.


James believes that retirement is far too important to be left to chance, it needs to be well designed and then tested to make sure you are protected.

There are five steps to engineering a retirement plan.

As we complete each step together, your goals and objectives will become clearer, potential obstacles will be easier to understand, and your plan for retirement will continue to improve.


No matter where we are in the planning process, and even if you are already retired, the ultimate objective is to refine and enhance the way your assets are working for you, giving you greater confidence in the future.

  • 1. What does your desired retirement lifestyle look like?

    The Fiscal Cliff of Retirement


    We start by understanding how you define your retirement lifestyle.

    • Do you have enough saved to last “the 25 years of unemployment” we call retirement? 
    • How long will you live? 
    • What rate of return should you assume? Don’t forget inflation, it will happen. 
    • Are you heading towards a fiscal cliff where money and lifestyle collide? 
    • Will you be able to stay retired?
  • 2. How do your known & secure incomes add up?

    Social Security & Income Optimization


    This includes incomes such as Social Security, pensions, and annuities, getting the answers to questions like:

    • Do you feel secure enough? 
    • Are you getting the best performance, or is there a way to optimize and get more? 
    • If it’s best to wait and optimize social security, how do you fill the income gap now? 
    • Will RMDs become an issue, especially later in life? 
    • What happens to the income streams if your spouse dies?
  • 3. What impact will taxes have on your retirement plan?

    Tax Preparation & Planning


    Federal and State Income Taxes can be a non-event for some, but a total shock for others. For tax preparation and planning, we take a look at:


    • Are you paying the IRS too much in taxes? 
    • Will it change when you stop working? 
    • Can you invest differently and take advantage of tax free and tax deferred investments? 
    • Are taxes likely to increase in the future? 
    • Did you factor in taxes on your retirement income plan?
  • 4. How can you prepare for the unexpected?

    Estate & Asset Protection


    Estate planning is the process of figuring out what could go wrong - and then putting strategies in place to prepare for it.


    • Could you or your spouse have a catastrophic health issue or need long term care? 
    • What if one of you passes away early, will there be enough money then? 
    • Death benefit issues can arise – will all that hard earned savings go to where you think it will? Spoiler alert – it often doesn’t! 
    • Are your assets protected against lawsuits? 
    • What about cyber security, now the number one crime in America? 

    This is an area underserved by advisors, yet bankruptcies amongst retirees is the fastest growing demographic in people suffering from financial collapse, almost 1 in 10 retirees. 


    Estate planning is not just for your children, it’s for your spouse, and it’s for you. 


    Don’t lose all you’ve earned over the years!

  • 5. What's the right mix of investments to make it all happen?

    Investment Management


    In the last step, we look at how best to allocate savings into the right investments to provide for your planned retirement.


    Our team can help you understand investment philosophy and advice, including: 


    • Should you add some income security? 
    • Is there too much risk in your portfolio to reliably fund a regular income? 
    • Could the number one risk for retirees – the Sequencing of Returns – impact you? 
    • Can you afford the cost to protect the assets against the unforeseen events of the future like health care events and survivorship? 
    • Have you added back enough portfolio risk to fight the inevitable increases in cost of living – inflation?

Asset Management and financial advice is very different when you are still working and in the accumulation phase, i.e. saving money.


There are many advisors who can do great allocation plans and give you solid investment advice while the money is still growing.


But what about once you are retired, unemployed? Once you start taking distributions and stop adding money. Once you are not able to put money in, the advice you need is quite different.


Make sure you pick an advisor that knows how to engineer a plan that is designed, tested, and built to work – for you and your whole retirement.