Spend-Down Planning

Today, retirees face complex and important choices to manage their resources in retirement. Investment-risk management should be adapted to the retirement timeframe. Tax-management is also an important factor because many resources have different tax implications. Common issues are:

• in any given year, should withdrawals be taken from a IRAs, Roth IRA, or taxable-account?
• if a pension is available, is it preferable to take a lump-sum option or the stream of payments? What survivor benefit makes the most sense?
• should required minimum distributions be taken at 72 or sooner? Can they be delayed past 72?
• different types of bonds—such as munis, t-bills, corporate bonds—are taxed differently. What bonds best fit your tax situation?
• when to claim Social Security?

A spend-down plan seeks to make the wisest use of resources available in retirement.