We do love it when someone refers a family member or friend to us. Sometimes the question is, “How can we introduce them to you?” Well, there are multiple ways but a very easy way is to simply forward them a link to this webpage.
Here are this week’s items:
Portfolio Update: Murs and I have recorded our portfolio update for May 19, 2025
The Peace of Mind Pathway – Step 2 – Implementation
Radon and Murs discuss the second step in the Peace of Mind Pathway—Implementation. This is where the planning becomes reality. After building your personalized retirement roadmap, it’s time to put your financial planning for retirement into motion. ...
The Peace of Mind Pathway – Step 2 – Implementation
In The Peace of Mind Pathway™: Your Roadmap , we laid the foundation. We got to know your goals. We clarified your income needs, investments, taxes, and healthcare decisions. Now, it’s time to bring that plan to life—with care, clarity, and coordination. That’s where Implementation, the second phase of our Peace of Mind Pathway™, comes in…
Retirement isn’t a single decision. It’s a series of carefully timed moves, thoughtful adjustments, and proactive strategies.
In The Peace of Mind Pathway™: Your Roadmap , we laid the foundation. We got to know your goals. We clarified your income needs, investments, taxes, and healthcare decisions. Now, it’s time to bring that plan to life—with care, clarity, and coordination.
That’s where Implementation, the second phase of our Peace of Mind Pathway™, comes in.
From Paper to Action
After the planning work in the Peace of Mind Roadmap™ phase—including your Introduction, Planning, and Strategy meetings—you now have a complete financial plan built around your goals.
Phase 2 is where that plan comes to life.
Implementation means more than just opening accounts or shifting investments. It means putting strategies into action: transitioning accounts, adjusting investments, initiating estate planning, coordinating tax strategy, and handling key retirement decisions like Medicare or long-term care. It’s the moment when your plan starts actively working for you.
We serve as your single point of contact through it all—keeping everything aligned, simplified, and fully coordinated.
What Happens During Implementation?
Implementation looks a little different for everyone, but this phase includes:
Transferring assets to your new custodian
Applying your personalized retirement income strategy
Executing your investment bucket strategy for retirees
Every part of this phase is implemented with clarity and care.
Transferring Your Assets
Once you decide to move forward, we begin by transitioning your assets into your new accounts. This includes:
Opening IRAs, Roth IRAs, and brokerage accounts as needed
Signing transfer paperwork
Moving investments “in-kind” (without selling them during the transfer)
We know this is a big decision, one we do not take lightly. We monitor and communicate every step of the process to help you feel confident and informed.
Common Question: Will I Miss Market Gains During the Transfer?
No. With in-kind transfers, your investments move as-is, so you stay fully invested and there is no disruption to your exposure in the market.
Activating Your Investment Strategy
With assets in place, we can see your full financial picture in real time and begin fine-tune and apply your investment plan using the bucket strategy discussed during the Peace of Mind Roadmap™ phase:
Cash Bucket – For near-term spending and emergency reserves
Safety & Income Bucket – Structured for reliable, predictable income and reduced risk
Growth Bucket – For long-term growth and inflation protection
This structure is designed to bring clarity and calm, by aligning your portfolio with your risk tolerance, income needs, and long-term goals— ensuring a steady stream of income, even in volatile markets.
Estate Planning (Simplified & Included)
If you don’t already have an estate plan in place, this becomes one of the top priorities in the implementation phase. Your Peace of Mind Pathway™ includes guidance on:
Wills
Powers of Attorney
Health care directives
Revocable living trusts (when appropriate)
Even better, your estate plan is flexible. If you make changes down the road, you’re not penalized. Updates are easy, quick, and all included as part of your relationship with us.
Retirement Tax Strategy: From Talk to Action
Taxes can be one of the biggest expenses in retirement, and retirement tax planning is not something to be ignored or delayed. Implementation starts a proactive approach by:
Analyzing your current and projected tax brackets
Developing multi-year tax strategies to reduce lifetime tax burden
This isn’t just a one-time meeting. Tax strategy includes year-round support from our in-house tax strategist, Taylor Wolverton, CFP®, Enrolled Agent. She helps you with:
Roth conversion planning
Withholding optimization (to avoid April 15 surprises)
Charitable giving strategies, including:
Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs)
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)
Tax strategy is ongoing, flexible, and customized to your evolving needs.
Frank and Lily came to us unsure if a Roth conversion was worth it. Five years later, their strategy reduced their lifetime tax burden by over $300,000—all from a series of quiet, confident moves that started in Implementation.
Medicare & Healthcare Coordination
Healthcare decisions matter—for both your well-being and your wallet in retirement. Whether you’re retiring before 65 or approaching Medicare eligibility, finding healthcare plan that fits your timeline and budget comes into focus in the Implementation phase.
We connect you with our in-house Healthcare Professional specializing in Medicare, Shawn Southard, who offers:
Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D guidance
Help choosing between Supplement and Advantage plans
Private insurance strategies before age 65
These are important decisions. We make sure you don’t navigate them alone.
Long-Term Care Planning
We take a realistic, balanced approach to long-term care planning. For many, this is one of the biggest unknowns in retirement.
Fortunately, options have improved significantly in recent years:
Hybrid policies with better benefits
More affordable premiums
Flexible coverage for different levels of care
Implementation includes a thoughtful discussion about whether insurance is necessary and how much coverage fits your needs.
How Long Does Implementation Take?
Implementation is a deliberate process. It doesn’t happen overnight—and that’s by design. This means taking small, intentional steps to ensure clarity, comfort, and confidence. Every situation is different, but here’s a general timeline to help set expectations:
Day 1–10: Asset transfer begins
Day 30–45: Investment strategy finalized and deployed
Months 2–6: Address estate planning and tax strategy
Months 6–12: Dive deeper into healthcare and long-term care planning
This step-by-step process ensures thoughtful decisions at every turn.
Flexibility is Built In
Your plan is never set in stone. Implementation is just the beginning. If your goals change or life throws a curveball, we continue to adapt your Peace of Mind Pathway™ with you.
And remember: everything you see here is included in one transparent fee. You won’t get separate invoices for tax strategy, estate planning, or Medicare coordination. We keep it simple.
What Comes Next?
Implementation is not the end of the journey—it’s the beginning of your retirement lifestyle. Once your plan is in motion, we move into Phase 3: Nurture. This includes monitoring performance, adjusting to life changes, and maintaining regular communication.
Stay tuned for Phase 3: Nurture, where we walk through how we continue supporting you for the years to come. Until then, if you’re curious about what Implementation could look like for you, we offer a complimentary 15-minute call.
Schedule your call and learn how the Peace of Mind Pathway™ can help you move from planning to progress—with confidence.
We do love it when someone refers a family member or friend to us. Sometimes the question is, “How can we introduce them to you?” Well, there are multiple ways but a very easy way is to simply forward them a link to this webpage.
Here are this week’s items:
The Peace of Mind Pathway – Step 1 – Your Roadmap
Radon and Murs discuss the foundational first step in their three-part Peace of Mind Pathway: The Peace of Mind Roadmap. This step is all about creating a personalized retirement roadmap to help you clearly define where you are, where you want to go, and what your journey through retirement will look like....
Planning for retirement can feel overwhelming. Between income strategies, healthcare decisions, tax planning, investments, Social Security, and estate considerations, it’s easy to feel like you’re juggling too much—and risking that something important gets missed. That’s exactly why we’ve developed the Peace of Mind Pathway™. It’s a structured, step-by-step planning process designed to….
Planning for retirement can feel overwhelming. Between income strategies, healthcare decisions, tax planning, investments, Social Security, and estate considerations, it’s easy to feel like you’re juggling too much—and risking that something important gets missed.
That’s exactly why we’ve developed the Peace of Mind Pathway™.
It’s a structured, step-by-step planning process designed to bring clarity, confidence, and coordination to your retirement. Whether you’re just beginning to plan, or you’ve already made some decisions and want to be sure everything fits together, this process helps reduce stress and get you on track.
Today, we’re focusing on Phase 1: The Peace of Mind Roadmap™—a foundational part of your retirement journey.
What Is the Peace of Mind Pathway™?
The Peace of Mind Pathway™ includes three clear phases that guide you through retirement planning and beyond:
The Peace of Mind Roadmap™ – Clarifying your goals and crafting a personalized retirement plan
Implementation – Putting your plan into action
Nurture – Monitoring, adjusting, and supporting your plan as life changes
Each phase builds on the last. But it all begins with the Peace of Mind Roadmap™.
The Peace of Mind Roadmap™: Where Clarity Begins
Retirement often feels like a winding road. You know where you are now, and you may have a vision for the future—but the steps in between aren’t always clear.
The Peace of Mind Roadmap™ is designed to change that. It acts as your GPS: showing where you are today, helping you define where you want to go, and guiding you with turn-by-turn directions.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Your Personalized Introduction Meeting
Your journey starts with a relaxed, one-on-one conversation. We’ll ask questions about your goals, your concerns, and your current financial situation. You’ll also fill out our Confidential Financial Snapshot—a simple two-page worksheet that gives us a clear overview of your income, assets, debt, and retirement vision.
This meeting isn’t a sales pitch. It’s a two-way conversation: You’re deciding if we’re the right partner for your retirement, and we’re learning whether we can provide real value to your situation.
Step 2: Your Personalized Planning Meeting
With your information in hand, our team—comprising Certified Financial Planners—gets to work building your personalized retirement plan. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. We consider:
Your income needs (essential vs. discretionary spending)
We also help you evaluate different options: Are you already on track to reach your goals? Can you retire now? Should you adjust spending? Would delaying retirement give you more flexibility? Like a GPS, we guide you and adjust your Roadmap as needed.
Retirement Goals Drive Strategy
Once the core plan is built and validated, it’s time to layer on strategy. This is where we dive deeper into tactical decisions to optimize your financial outcome:
Cash Bucket – Your emergency fund and short-term reserves
Safety & Income Bucket – Designed for predictable, low-risk income
Growth Bucket – Long-term investments designed to grow over time
The bucket strategy in retirement helps reduce stress by separating your short-term needs from long-term growth assets. It also protects you from having to withdraw funds during down markets.
Which accounts do I withdraw from first—IRA, Roth, taxable?
How much can I safely withdraw each year?
We help you answer these questions based on your plan’s goals and timelines.
Retirement Tax Strategy
Navigating taxes in retirement can be challenging on your own. Without a retirement tax strategy, many retirees pay more in taxes than they expect. Proactive tax planning can have a big impact on your long-term success.
We look at:
How your income is taxed
Whether Roth conversions can reduce your future tax burden
If you’re retiring before 65, we help bridge the healthcare gap until Medicare begins. When the time comes, our in-house Medicare specialist helps you understand enrollment, supplement options, and costs.
Estate Planning
A proper estate plan ensures that your assets pass smoothly to your heirs and that your wishes are carried out if you’re unable to make decisions. We’ll review:
Wills
Powers of Attorney
Healthcare directives
Trust structures (when appropriate)
This isn’t just about death—it’s about protecting your legacy and ensuring you remain in control of your affairs.
Step 3: Your Personalized Strategy Meeting
The roadmap phase ends with a Personalized Strategy Meeting, where we review and finalize all the strategies needed to bring your plan to life. You’ll walk away knowing:
Your retirement plan and strategy
The next steps to move forward
How your investments, taxes, healthcare, and estate planning all work together
This sets the stage for the next phase: Implementation, where your plan is put into motion.
Why the Roadmap Matters
Clients often tell us this phase of the process is the most empowering. It replaces fear with clarity. It connects scattered financial pieces into one picture. It helps you feel confident knowing you’re on the right path. And you’ll know it’s all included in one simple, transparent fee. No surprise charges. No picking and choosing. Just one coordinated plan with a strong team.
Want to understand what your Peace of Mind Roadmap™ might look like? We offer a complimentary 15-minute call to help you explore whether this process is right for you. Schedule your call and take the first step toward clarity and peace of mind.
