Approaching Retirement

For Pre-Retirees

Strategies for the last 5–15 years before retirement — when the difference between guessing and planning compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars.

What You're Navigating

The decisions specific to your situation.

Sequence of returns risk

A bad market in years 1–5 of retirement can permanently change the trajectory. Building a plan that survives that scenario is fundamentally different from building one that maximizes a spreadsheet.

The healthcare gap

Retiring before 65 means bridging the gap to Medicare — a five-figure annual line item most plans understate. We model it directly.

Social Security timing

Claiming at 62 vs 67 vs 70 is one of the largest financial decisions you'll ever make. The right answer depends on you, your spouse, your tax picture, and your other assets.

The Roth conversion window

The years between retiring and required minimum distributions are often the best Roth conversion opportunity of your life. Most people don't realize that — until they look back.

How We Help

What planning looks like, specifically.

01

Income-first distribution design

We work backward from the income you actually want, then design the withdrawal sequence — accounts, asset location, timing — that produces it with the least tax friction.

02

Roth conversion ladders

A multi-year ladder that uses your low-income years deliberately. The result: lower lifetime taxes, smaller RMDs, more flexibility, and a more efficient inheritance for whoever comes next.

03

Social Security optimization

Single-life vs joint-life claiming strategies, the spousal interaction, and how each scenario compounds across a 30-year horizon. We model it, you decide.

04

Sequence-of-returns hedges

Bond ladders, guaranteed income, cash buckets, and dynamic withdrawal rules — coordinated so a bad first decade doesn't break the plan.

A Recent Example

What this can look like in practice.

A married couple in their late 50s comes to us with $2.4M across three accounts and a target of retiring at 62. Inside 60 days we build a 30-year income plan, design a 7-year Roth conversion ladder that's projected to reduce lifetime taxes by mid-six-figures, and time their Social Security claims to maximize joint lifetime benefits.

Hypothetical illustration — not a guarantee of results.

Built For You

Let's see if Sweet Wealth Advisors is built for someone in your situation.

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