A 401(k) Is a Tool. A Retirement Plan Is What You Do With It.
Most people saving for retirement have accounts. A 401(k) from a current employer. An IRA opened years ago. A brokerage account that has grown without much attention. Maybe a Roth. Maybe a pension from a previous job.
What most people do not have is a plan that connects all of those accounts to a specific income target, accounts for how each one is taxed when withdrawn, and tells them in what order to use them and when. Without that plan, the accounts exist but the strategy does not. The difference between the two is not academic. It shows up in the tax bill every year after work ends.
Maris works with individuals and business owners across Seattle, Everett, and Snohomish County on retirement planning that pairs financial strategy with tax insight, so the decisions being made today are informed by what they will actually cost and produce later.
The Number You Need Is Not the Number You Think
Retirement planning starts with a spending target, not a savings balance. What does the retirement you want actually cost per month? Housing, utilities, healthcare premiums, out of pocket medical costs, travel, family support, charitable giving. Each of those categories has a number, and that number is what the plan has to produce.
Once the target is clear, the analysis works backward. What income sources exist and when can they be accessed? What does Social Security look like at different claiming ages? What are the tax consequences of drawing from each account in each year? What does inflation do to the target over a twenty or thirty year retirement?
The goal is not a rough estimate. It is a documented plan with specific numbers, specific timing decisions, and specific actions that connect where you are today to the retirement the numbers have to support.
The Sequence of Withdrawals Determines the Tax Bill
Which dollars you spend first in retirement matters as much as how many dollars you have. A taxable account, a traditional IRA, a Roth, and a brokerage account each carry different tax treatment when withdrawn. Drawing from them in the wrong order in the wrong years produces a higher lifetime tax bill than drawing from them strategically.
Coordinating withdrawals across account types, managing income to stay within favorable tax brackets, timing Roth conversions in the years when income is lower, and planning around Required Minimum Distributions before they become mandatory are all decisions that have to be made with the full picture in view. A retirement withdrawal strategy built around tax efficiency keeps more of what was saved without changing the lifestyle the plan was built to support.
| Account type | Tax on withdrawal | Strategic consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable brokerage | Capital gains rates | Often drawn first |
| Traditional IRA / 401(k) | Ordinary income tax | RMDs apply from age 73 |
| Roth IRA / Roth 401(k) | Tax-free | Preserve for later years |
| Social Security | Up to 85% taxable | Claiming age changes benefit permanently |
Social Security and Medicare Are Not Administrative Decisions
The age at which you claim Social Security is a financial decision with consequences that run for decades. Claiming early locks in a permanently reduced benefit. Waiting increases it. The right answer depends on cash flow needs, health, other income sources, and the tax profile of the years in question. Benefits are taxable depending on total income, so the claiming decision interacts with the withdrawal strategy in ways that have to be modeled together.
Medicare carries its own timing and cost considerations. Higher income years trigger IRMAA surcharges that increase Part B and Part D premiums. A property sale, a large Roth conversion, or a business transaction in the year before Medicare enrollment can create premium increases that were not anticipated. Planning around those events before they happen avoids costs that are difficult to reverse after the fact.
What the Planning Process Looks Like
Maris approaches retirement planning as a structured engagement with a clear sequence.
It starts with discovery: understanding income sources, account balances, spending targets, family obligations, and risk tolerance. From there the analysis models income, taxes, and timing across the retirement horizon, including Social Security claiming options, Medicare enrollment, distribution sequencing, and Required Minimum Distribution planning. The result is a documented plan with specific next actions and dates, not a general summary of options.
The plan is updated as circumstances change. A job transition, a property sale, a health event, a change in family situation. Any of those can affect the strategy, and the plan has to reflect current reality to remain useful.
The Best Time to Plan Is Before the Decisions Are Made
Retirement planning done years before retirement produces more options than planning done at the edge of it. Savings rates can be adjusted. Account structures can be optimized. Income can be timed. The decisions that are difficult or impossible to reverse later are still open.
For business owners, the retirement plan connects to the exit strategy, the business valuation, and the tax consequences of how the transition is structured. Those pieces have to be planned together to produce the outcome the owner is counting on.
Maris & Associates CPAs provides retirement planning services to individuals and business owners across Seattle, Everett, and Snohomish County. Contact us to set up a first conversation and talk through what a retirement plan looks like for your specific situation.