Wealth Solutions Network

There is a tax window most retirement plans completely overlook.

It opens the year a client stops earning W-2 income and closes the year they start taking Social Security.

For many clients, this creates a 2-6 year period of unusually low taxable income. Earned income is gone, Social Security is not yet on, and required minimum distributions are still years away.

They are sitting in what might be the lowest tax bracket they'll ever experience.

Yet, most financial plans treat this time as a waiting period.

The primary mistake is viewing these bridge years exclusively through a cash flow lens. When viewed through a tax planning lens, these years present a unique opportunity for strategic sequencing.

Some of the strategies to consider during this window include:
- Executing Roth conversions sized specifically to available bracket headroom
- Harvesting long-term capital gains at the 0% federal rate
- Managing adjusted gross income to protect healthcare premium subsidies

Client shouldn't be just coasting through this time. Dollars optimized now may compound favorably for the rest of the client's life, rather than compounding under future tax rates we do not yet know.

How are you currently modeling tax strategies for clients entering these bridge years?

What happens when someone inherits a lifetime of savings… but no real strategy for what comes next?

In this episode of we're walking through a real client case study involving a recently widowed woman who appeared financially secure on the surface — but was unknowingly exposed to unnecessary market risk, long-term care concerns, and a massive future tax burden.

This conversation dives into:
• Retirement income planning
• The hidden impact of the SECURE Act
• RMD and IRA distribution strategies
• Protecting assets from market volatility
• Reducing tax exposure for future generations
• Why “having enough” may not actually be enough

🎧 Listen to Episode 62 of March to a Million wherever you get your podcasts.

Most estate plans transfer assets.

Very few transfer stories, family values, and understanding.

That was one of my biggest takeaways from a recent conversation I had with special needs planning expert Mary Anne Ehlert.

She shared a story about a woman who became a caregiver for her disabled brother after their parents passed away.

The legal documents were in place.
The trust existed.
The money was there.

But nobody told her the little things.

Like the fact that her brother could only wear Velcro pants because buttons and zippers didn’t work for him.
Or that the labels in the pants had to be removed because they irritated his skin.

Once their mother was gone, nobody even knew where to buy the right ones...

This story highlights something our industry misses sometimes:

A financial or estate plan can be technically correct and still incomplete.

Especially in special needs planning.

These families aren’t just solving for investment returns or retirement income. They’re solving for continuity of care, preservation of benefits, family coordination, and quality of life after the primary caregivers are gone.

That requires more than just documents.

It requires intentional communication.
Planning built around a real human life — not just a balance sheet.

The legal structure matters. The tax strategy matters. The funding matters.

But the human details matter too.

And often, those are the pieces that get lost first.

Most people think retirement planning is about having “enough.”

But sometimes the biggest financial risk isn’t running out of money…
It’s unknowingly leaving thousands on the table through taxes, poor distribution strategy, and outdated planning.

In this episode of the March to a Million podcast, we're sharing the story of a recently widowed woman who looked financially secure on paper — until a deeper analysis revealed she was unintentionally building a massive future tax bill for her family.

Watch the full episode here: http://youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com&v=m_Oqu00Fm8E

One of the biggest mistakes people make in retirement planning is assuming every dollar in the portfolio has to do the same job.

It doesn’t.

Recently, I worked with a client approaching retirement who had a question many people quietly carry:

“Will my 401(k) actually last?”

On the surface, it looked straightforward:
• Roughly $750k in a 401(k)
• Conservative positioning ahead of retirement
• Additional assets in private credit, real estate, and cash-value life insurance

The instinct many people have in this situation is to ask:
“Should I stay aggressive or move conservative?”

But that’s the wrong framing.

There’s a third option:
Separate the load-bearing assets from the upside assets.

I isolated the 401(k) and ran the analysis on it alone — leaving the self-directed IRAs, the syndication, and the cash-value insurance explicitly out of the model.

That was a deliberate choice, not an oversight.

If the 401(k) on its own can carry retirement, everything else becomes "upside".

The client keeps running the rest aggressively because it doesn't blow up the plan. The speculative pieces stay speculative — icing on the cake, not the cake itself.

The pressure comes off every other investment decision.

Now the private credit investments stay opportunistic.
The real estate syndication could remain illiquid.
The “interesting” assets no longer carry the entire retirement outcome.

What ultimately solved the plan wasn’t one magic product or one big move.

It was layering:
• Guaranteed income
• Strategic Roth conversions
• A growth target aligned with the actual needs of the plan

Retirement planning usually doesn’t break because of one issue.
It breaks because multiple risks stack together:
Income risk.
Tax risk.
Longevity risk.
Inflation risk.
Liquidity risk.

One lever rarely solves all of them.

Thoughtful layering often does.

That’s where planning becomes more than investment management.

🎙️ New Podcast Feature: Greg DuPont on Influential Entrepreneurs

Greg recently joined Mike Saunders on the Influential Entrepreneurs podcast to discuss the growing challenges individuals and families face when making financial decisions in today’s information-overload world.

During the conversation, Greg shared insights on retirement planning, estate planning, and the importance of bringing clarity and confidence to complex financial decisions.

Key takeaways from the episode include:

🔹 Clarity Before Solutions
In a world filled with endless financial content, opinions, and AI-generated information, many people still feel uncertain about what steps to take. Greg emphasizes that meaningful financial planning starts with understanding your current situation clearly before making decisions about the future.

🔹 The Value of Human Guidance
Technology can provide information, but it cannot replace experience, empathy, and personalized guidance. Financial decisions are deeply personal, and having a trusted advisor who understands both the numbers and the human side of decision-making can make all the difference.

🔹 A Structured Process Reduces Anxiety
We believe confident decisions come from a thoughtful and intentional process. Greg discussed how helping clients slow down, evaluate options carefully, and align decisions with their long-term goals often leads to greater peace of mind and better outcomes.

We’re grateful to Mike Saunders and the Influential Entrepreneurs podcast for the opportunity to share our perspective on helping families navigate their financial future with clarity and confidence.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4YZx0PGdmlwNvTgaPJbAWt?si=UtnwIuD8QI6f3fv9Yr7Lug&utm_campaign=meetedgar&utm_medium=social&utm_source=meetedgar.com

Interview with Greg DuPont, Founder of Advocate Wealth Solutions Discussing Making Informed Financial Decisions Influential Entrepreneurs with Mike Saunders, MBA · Episode

Lately, I’ve found myself having less conversations about “what to invest in” and more conversations about uncertainty.

There’s a lot happening right now:
• Ongoing geopolitical tension
• Record levels of government debt
• AI and automation changing how businesses operate

Individually, each issue matters.

Together? They create a very different environment than what many people have been used to over the last decade.

That’s why I believe the value we bring as advisors right now has less to do with forecasting and more to do with helping people stay grounded.

Helping clients create plans that can weather different outcomes.
Helping them avoid emotional decisions when headlines get loud.
Helping them focus on what they can control.

No one knows exactly how the next few years will unfold.

But preparation has never been a bad strategy.

That’s the conversation worth having right now.

"You’re expected to know legal things, financial things, and find the right doctor for a rare disease—but why would you know it?"

In Episode 61 of March to a Million, Mary Anne Ehlert, CFP®, shares her powerful insights on the overwhelming challenges families face when caring for loved ones with disabilities—and how professionals can step up to truly support them.

🎙️ Listen now to learn how to make a difference. https://bit.ly/4sxNf01

"