Vestbourne

VESTBOURNE

Retirement, read carefully.

Independent editorial guidance on Roth conversions, annuities, retirement income, and taxes for the long horizon.

Latest articles

  • The Roth Conversion Window Between Retirement and RMDs

    The years between your last paycheck and your first required minimum distribution are often the lowest-tax-bracket years of your adult life. This window is when partial Roth conversions can reshape a lifetime of tax liability — and it closes on a schedule the IRS sets, not you.

    Roth Conversions

  • What Annuity Illustrations Leave Out

    The glossy projection a salesperson slides across the table is a marketing document, not a contract. Understanding the difference — guaranteed versus current rates, caps and participation limits, surrender schedules, and the cost of the riders — is the difference between buying income and buying a story.

    Annuities

  • The First Five Years Decide the Next Thirty

    Two retirees can earn identical average returns and end up in radically different places, depending only on the order in which those returns arrive. Sequence-of-returns risk is largest in the first years of withdrawal — which is why the early-retirement portfolio deserves different thinking than the accumulation portfolio that got you here.

    Retirement Income