Retirement Planning

Retirement Planning with Matt Dages

Building Financial Strategies for Life After Work

Retirement changes the way people interact with their money.

During the working years, financial planning often centers on accumulating assets. Retirement introduces a different challenge: determining how those assets can support income needs while managing taxes and preserving long-term financial flexibility.

Matt Dages works with retirees and pre-retirees to evaluate these decisions as parts of one larger financial picture.

Retirement Income Strategy

A retirement portfolio has to do more than grow.

Eventually, it may also need to generate dependable income.

Matt Dages helps clients evaluate how different financial resources can work together during retirement, including employer-sponsored retirement plans, IRAs, taxable investment accounts and Social Security.

Withdrawal decisions can also have tax consequences, making the sequence and timing of retirement income an important part of long-term planning.

A carefully considered strategy can help retirees understand not only how much they may need, but also where that money could come from.

Taxes and Retirement

Tax planning can continue to matter long after someone receives their final paycheck.

Different retirement accounts receive different tax treatment, and decisions made during the early years of retirement can influence taxes years later.

Matt Dages incorporates tax considerations into the broader retirement planning process.

Topics may include:

Roth IRA Conversions

Moving assets from certain tax-deferred retirement accounts into a Roth IRA may provide future tax advantages in appropriate circumstances. Determining whether a conversion makes sense requires considering current income, expected future tax exposure and other financial goals.

Required Minimum Distributions

Certain retirement accounts eventually require distributions. Planning ahead for RMDs can help retirees better understand how these withdrawals may affect taxable income.

Tax-Efficient Withdrawals

Choosing which accounts to draw from — and when — can become an important part of managing retirement income.

The goal isn't simply to focus on today's tax bill. Retirement tax planning involves considering how financial decisions may interact over many years.

Social Security Planning

Social Security represents an important source of retirement income for many Americans, but deciding when to claim benefits isn't always straightforward.

Matt helps clients consider Social Security within the context of their overall retirement strategy rather than viewing the decision in isolation.

Income needs, other retirement assets and long-term financial objectives can all influence the appropriate approach.

Preserving Wealth Across Generations

For some families, retirement planning also includes determining what happens to assets beyond their own lifetime.

Matt Dages assists clients with financial considerations surrounding generational wealth and coordinates with appropriate estate planning professionals when legal planning is required.

Beneficiary designations, account structures, gifting considerations and legacy goals can all become part of the conversation.

By addressing these topics in advance, families can develop a clearer picture of how their financial resources may eventually benefit the people and causes that matter to them.

Planning with the Bigger Picture in Mind

Retirement decisions rarely exist independently.

A Roth conversion could influence taxable income.

Taxable income could influence other retirement considerations.

A withdrawal decision today could affect available assets later.

That's why Matt Dages approaches retirement planning as an interconnected process.

Rather than concentrating on a single product or financial decision, the focus is on creating a strategy in which income, taxes, investments, Social Security and legacy considerations work together.