We hope you had a great Fourth of July with family and friends.

Summer has a way of putting things in perspective. It slows the pace down just enough that you actually notice the moments you'd otherwise rush past.

Last week, Jeff was in Louisville, Kentucky, watching his daughter Tori graduate from PA school at the top of her class. Brad and the rest of the family were right there with him to celebrate.

It was one of those weekends you don't want to be checking your phone or worrying about the market.

Watching your child finish school and step into a career has a way of reminding you how fast a transition can move.

One day you're helping them with a college application. The next, they're figuring out student loans, benefits, and their first real paycheck.

It happens quickly. And the decisions made in that window shape the next several decades.

The same is true for the transition into retirement.

The Quieter Years Do a Lot of Work

The five to ten years leading into retirement tend to be an important stretch of a financial life.

They're also often the least understood.

Contributions are usually at their peak. Investment balances are the largest they've ever been. Everything looks good on paper.

But the decisions made during this window can carry meaningful weight for the years that follow.

Here's why.

Tax Planning Shifts From Saving to Sequencing

In your working years, the goal is often to defer taxes. Max the 401(k). Grow the pre-tax bucket.

In the years before retirement, the conversation often changes.

Roth conversions. Capital gains harvesting. Coordinating income to manage IRMAA brackets.

Each of these strategies involves trade-offs. Roth conversions accelerate taxes now in exchange for potentially tax-free growth later. Capital gains harvesting can shift future tax exposure. IRMAA coordination requires planning two years ahead of Medicare enrollment, since income is looked back on a two-year window.

Whether any of these moves make sense depends entirely on your individual situation, current tax law, and how the numbers work out. What's worth knowing is that the years before retirement are often the window where these options are on the table.

Social Security Is More Than a Math Problem

The claiming decision doesn't happen in a vacuum.

It interacts with your withdrawal strategy. Your spouse's benefit. Your tax situation. Your healthcare costs.

Filing early works well for some people. For others, waiting to claim can result in a larger benefit, both for the individual and, in some cases, for a surviving spouse.

Modeling several scenarios before anyone files is generally worth the time.

Sequence of Returns Is Worth Understanding

A rough market stretch in your first few years of retirement can have a different impact than the same stretch later on. When you're drawing income, selling into a down market can affect the portfolio in ways that a strong market later may not fully offset.

That's often referred to as sequence of returns risk.

It's one reason the same allocation that built your wealth may not be the right one to draw income from.

There are trade-offs here too. Shifting toward a more conservative mix can help manage sequence risk but may reduce long-term growth potential. The right balance depends on your income needs, other sources of retirement income, and time horizon.

A Plan Should Account for Real Life

Markets will drop.

Healthcare will get expensive.

One spouse will likely outlive the other.

A plan built with those realities in mind gives you a starting point for the questions that come up along the way. A plan that assumes everything goes smoothly leaves more of those questions unanswered.

The Bottom Line

The years before retirement don't feel dramatic. That's part of what makes them easy to overlook.

The work happening in this window is quiet. Tax planning. Income design. Portfolio positioning. Coordinating the pieces so fewer things get missed.

When that work is done thoughtfully, more of the years after retirement can be spent being present.

In Louisville watching a graduation. On a golf course. At a grandchild's game. Wherever your version of that looks like.

If you'd like a second set of eyes on your plan, we'd love to have a conversation.

Got questions, comments, or feedback? Simply hit reply! We personally read and respond to every message.
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​Keeping wealth in focus,

The MY Wealth Management Team