FAQ

You specialize in airline pilots. Do you work with anyone else?

Yes. The planning problems pilots face — a hard retirement date, a 401(k) full of pre-tax money, an income gap to bridge before Social Security — show up in plenty of other careers too. If that description fits your situation, we should talk.

What makes this different from what a typical investment advisor does?

Growing your portfolio matters — we do that too. But at 65, you've got a second problem, and it's a different skill entirely: how to actually spend what you've built without running out, paying more tax than you have to, or getting derailed by a bad market in year one. Accumulation gets all the attention. Decumulation is where the plan earns its keep. That's where this one starts.

How do you handle taxes in retirement?

For most clients, taxes are the largest controllable expense in retirement — and the window to do something about it is shorter than most people realize. The years between retirement and your first required withdrawal — age 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later — are the best opportunity you’ll have to get ahead of it. That means Roth conversions, managing Medicare premium surcharges, and planning for what happens to a surviving spouse's tax situation. The goal isn't just a lower tax bill this year. It's a smarter strategy across the whole run.

You're a one-man shop. How do I know my money is safe?

Fair question, and you should ask it. Your assets are held at Charles Schwab — not with me. You get independent statements directly from Schwab. Your money is never commingled with my business. Behind the scenes, I work with GeoWealth for institutional back-office and investment management support. The advice is personal. The custody and infrastructure are institutional. That's by design.

What does it mean that you’re a fiduciary, and why does it matter?

"Fiduciary" is jargon for a simple promise: I'm legally required to put your interests ahead of my own — not just when I sell you something, but every day I manage your money. A lot of people in this business only owe you their best at the moment of the sale. After that, you're on your own. My obligation doesn't expire when the paperwork is signed. I'm held to the higher bar, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

I also eat my own cooking. Your portfolio is built with the same kinds of low-cost funds and the same planning process I use for my own money. If I wouldn’t put it in my own account, I won’t recommend it for yours.

What happens to my plan if the market drops right after I retire?

That’s the one that worries most soon-to-be retirees, and it has an ugly name: sequence-of-returns risk. Translated: a bad market in your first year or two of retirement does far more damage than the same drop at 75, because you’re selling shares to live on while they’re down. Same storm, much worse timing.

The bucket strategy is built for exactly this. We keep a few years of your spending money in something boring and stable, so when the market drops, you spend from that bucket and leave your stocks time to recover — living off this year’s harvest instead of eating your seed corn. It’s designed to make the downturn something you wait out, not something that derails you.

Should I take Social Security right away? And do I really need the survivor benefit on my pension?

Both decisions are yours to make. Both are also permanent — so my job isn’t to talk you out of anything, it’s to make sure you know what each choice costs before you sign. There’s no do-over.

Many pilots want the Social Security check to start the day the paycheck stops — you’re forced out at 65, so why not turn it on at 65? The reasoning is always one of two things: “Social Security is getting cut anyway, so grab it while it’s there,” or “I don’t want to burn through my investments while I wait.” Both are fair concerns. But full retirement age is 66-and-change to 67 depending on the year you were born — claim at 65 and you take a permanent haircut, wait until 70 and the check keeps growing. All in, the check at 70 is roughly 40% bigger than the one at 65, inflation-adjusted, for life, under current law. If you or your spouse have longevity in the family, turning it on at 65 can quietly become one of the most expensive decisions of your retirement. Maybe 65 is still right for you. You should at least know the price tag.

Same discipline on the pension. Some pilots take the maximum benefit with no survivor option and buy term life insurance to cover their spouse instead — the “pension max” play. Sometimes that math works. Sometimes it leaves a surviving spouse with a lapsed policy and no pension check. Which camp you’re in isn’t a hunch — it’s arithmetic: your health, your spouse’s age, the cost of the insurance, your other income. We run the numbers together, and you make both calls with your eyes open.

What does Medicare IRMAA mean for my retirement income?

IRMAA stands for Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount, which is government-speak for “we noticed you have money, so your Medicare costs more.” If your income lands above certain thresholds, your Part B and Part D premiums get a surcharge — and it’s based on your income from two years back. So a big withdrawal or Roth conversion today can quietly raise your healthcare bill two years from now.

Most people retire assuming Medicare is cheap and predictable. It’s neither. The planning software I use, Income Conductor, builds healthcare costs into your plan using actuarial data instead of a hopeful guess — so IRMAA shows up in the plan before it shows up in your mailbox.

What do your fees look like?

Straightforward and tiered: 1% to start, stepping down above $500,000 — the bigger the account, the lower the rate. The full schedule is in my Form ADV, the disclosure document every registered advisor has to file and give you.

No commissions. I use low-cost exchange-traded funds, not high-fee products that pay me on the side — and your portfolio is built on the same kinds of low-cost funds my family and I own. When the only way I get paid is a fee you can see, my incentives and yours point the same direction. That's the whole idea.

When do my required minimum distributions (RMDs) start?

An RMD — required minimum distribution — is the IRS finally collecting on all that tax-deferred money in your 401(k). For decades they let it grow untaxed. Then, at a certain age, they stop being patient and force you to pull it out and pay the tax, whether you need the money or not. That account was always a joint account with the IRS. The RMD is the day they collect their share.

Here’s the part that trips people up: the starting age changed, and it depends on when you were born. Born between 1951 and 1959, your RMDs start at 73. Born in 1960 or later, they don’t start until 75. That extra runway is a gift: two more years to run Roth conversions and draw down the pre-tax account at potentially lower brackets before the forced withdrawals, and the bigger tax bills, kick in.