Retirement Plan Tips: Financial Planning Advisor in Troy, MI

If you're twelve months from retiring out of a Troy-based corporate job, here's what to work on right now — in the order I'd actually tackle them with you.

Month 12–9: Audit everything

Pull every statement. 401(k), deferred comp, RSUs, pension estimate, Social Security statement (from SSA.gov, not memory), HSA, brokerage, checking, mortgage, any remaining employer insurance benefits. You'd be surprised how often a pension from a job you had in 1998 shows up when someone finally digs through a filing cabinet.

Month 9–6: Build the income plan

Before anything else, answer: how much do we need to spend, per month, after tax, to live the life we want? Work up a realistic number — and then work up a second number for the first 10 years, when people travel more and spend more. The final number usually lands 15–20% higher than the original estimate. Plans built around low-ball numbers fail in year three.

Month 6–4: Make the Social Security decision

Run every filing-age combination (for you and your spouse) through a tool that models lifetime benefit, not just break-even. Factor in IRMAA thresholds, spousal coordination, survivor benefits, and the effect on your 59½-to-70 tax window. The "optimal" answer is rarely "file at 62" and rarely "file at 70" — it's almost always somewhere in between and depends on your specific numbers.

Month 4–2: Handle the 401(k) / NUA decision

If you have employer stock in your 401(k), decide before your last day whether to claim NUA treatment. The rules are strict, the window is narrow, and the tax savings can be enormous. Do not roll over first and ask questions later — you give up the option permanently.

Month 2–0: Line up Medicare

Your Initial Enrollment Period is a 7-month window around your 65th birthday. Miss it and you can pay a lifetime Part B late-enrollment penalty. If you're retiring before 65, make sure you have a COBRA or marketplace plan covering the gap. Medicare planning is less exciting than investment planning, but the cost of messing it up is entirely avoidable.

Day 1 of retirement: Everything on paper

Written income plan. Written tax strategy. Written Social Security filing plan. Written beneficiary summary. Written long-term-care plan. Written legacy plan. When something changes — and it will — you should be able to pull the binder, find the relevant page, and know where you stand in 90 seconds. That is the whole point of "planning ahead."