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After years of earning, saving, and investing, retirement doesn’t begin with a final paycheck. It begins with a pivotal question: Now what?
That question comes in many forms:
How do I know it’s enough?
How do I start drawing income without running out too soon or sacrificing my future goals?
How do I protect what I’ve built, while still enjoying the freedom I’ve earned?
These aren’t just financial questions. They’re emotional ones. And they deserve more than vague rules of thumb or software-generated projections. They deserve a plan built around your life, your values, and the people you care about most.
At Garda Insurance, we help clients step into retirement not with hesitation, but with confidence.
This quick checklist reveals where your plan might be exposing you to unnecessary risk, tax drag, or lost opportunity.
The financial habits that helped you build wealth-saving, deferring, compounding-aren’t always the same ones that help you enjoy it.
In retirement, the game changes. You move from earning to drawing, from deferring to distributing.
And that shift raises critical questions: What account do I pull from first? What are the tax consequences? How do I structure withdrawals so I don’t trigger unnecessary penalties, taxes, or volatility at the wrong time?
That’s why retirement income planning isn’t about replacing your paycheck. It’s about replacing the certainty it used to give you.
We believe your retirement plan should give you the confidence to spend, the clarity to adapt, and the freedom to enjoy the years you’ve worked so hard to reach.
For years, retirees were told to follow a few basic rules: withdraw 4% annually, balance stocks and bonds, and delay Social Security as long as possible. And for a simpler world, those rules worked well enough.
But today’s retirees face more complexity than ever. Interest rates fluctuate. Market volatility whiplashes accounts. Taxes change. Healthcare costs rise. People live longer. And the margin for error has never been slimmer.
We’ve seen too many people follow outdated advice, only to find themselves restricted, anxious, or worse, exposed. Retirement shouldn’t be a guessing game. It should be a strategy.
At Garda, we believe your retirement income plan should be custom-designed, tax-coordinated, and deeply aligned with the life you want to live. Not based on cookie-cutter assumptions about your age, account size, or risk tolerance.
A real plan doesn’t start with investments. It starts with understanding you.
We start by charting your income goals, expenses, dreams, fears, and uncertainties, then allocate your assets by timeline and tax strategy. Some money is for now. Some is for later. Some is for the “what if.”
This process creates structure without rigidity.
Flexibility without fear. You don’t need to guess how much is safe to spend—you’ll know.
We coordinate across every account and decision point:
Tax-smart withdrawal sequencing across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts.
Roth conversion opportunities to reduce long-term tax exposure.
Social Security and Medicare optimization strategies.
Contingency planning for long-term care or health-related expenses.
Planning for a surviving spouse’s income and lifestyle security.
We also integrate your estate and legacy goals so your income strategy doesn't just serve your retirement, but your family’s future.
“Retirement shouldn’t feel like a question mark. It should feel like a plan you trust.”
For business owners approaching retirement, the transition isn’t just financial. It’s personal. You’ve spent your life building an enterprise that likely represents your largest asset. But now, you face a new challenge: turning equity into dependable, tax-smart personal income.
We help owners prepare for this shift long before the sale, or start of retirement. Whether you’re exiting gradually or all at once, we design a transition strategy that protects what you’ve built and supports your lifestyle. It also positions you to give generously or grow intentionally without looking over your shoulder.
It’s not about selling the business. It’s about converting the business into a lifetime of confident, coordinated income.
Many high-income professionals have done a great job accumulating wealth. But when it comes time to access that wealth, the strategy often falls apart.
Too often, we see portfolios without withdrawal strategies. Accounts with inefficient tax positioning. Advisors who treat retirement like a switch instead of a sequence.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. At Garda, we work with clients who want more than safe withdrawal rates. They want precision. That means designing coordinated strategies that:
Maximize after-tax income.
Minimize sequence-of-returns risk.
Build buffer assets for market downturns.
Contingency planning for long-term care or health-related expenses.
Preserve optionality and control for decades to come.
This isn’t about complexity for complexity’s sake. It’s about structuring your income in a way that gives you more options, not fewer. It’s about making your next 30 years as financially powerful as your last 30.
For many nearing or entering retirement, the hardest part isn’t saving. It’s spending.
You’ve been disciplined for decades. You’ve said no. You’ve waited. And now, even though you have the assets, you don’t have the confidence that it’s okay to use them.
That’s where retirement income planning earns its keep.
Our goal is to give you a strategy that shows you what you can spend, what you should hold, and what you’ll still be able to leave behind. When the numbers make sense, the freedom follows. You stop worrying about whether you can afford the vacation, the remodel, the gift to a child or grandchild.
You spend freely without doubt, support your kids without risking your future, and embrace travel and giving with confidence. You enjoy the freedom you’ve earned because your plan isn’t a guess. It’s a guide.
You stop asking, “Will it be enough?” and start enjoying the answer: “Yes.”
Our process begins with your values. Then we design a structure that protects them.
We’re not selling annuities, pitching investment models, or chasing performance metrics. We’re building a plan you can live with, because you understand how it works.
You’ll get:
A comprehensive income map across accounts and timeframes.
A withdrawal strategy that evolves as life does.
Coordination with your existing professionals (CPAs, attorneys, advisors).
Legacy and estate integration, so income decisions don’t disrupt long-term goals.
We help you make decisions you won’t regret, even 10 or 20 years from now.
You wake up without checking the market.
You spend time with grandkids, not spreadsheets.
You know what’s coming in, where it’s coming from, and what it supports.
You have a plan, and a partner to walk with you through it.
That’s what real retirement income planning feels like.
And that’s what we want for you.
Your Next Step
Whether you’re years away from retirement or already in it, it’s never too late to bring clarity to your income strategy. What matters most is what you do next.
Schedule a Retirement Income Planning Discovery Call with our team.
It’s not about making decisions today. It’s about giving yourself the clarity to move forward confidently, and on your terms.
*Disclaimer: Financial Advisors do not provide specific tax/legal advice and this information should not be considered as such. You should always consult your tax/legal advisor regarding your own specific tax/legal situation. Separate from the financial plan and our role as a financial planner, we may recommend the purchase of specific investment or insurance products or account. These product recommendations are not part of the financial plan and you are under no obligation to follow them. Life insurance products contain fees, such as mortality and expense charges (which may increase over time), and may contain restrictions, such as surrender periods.