Pillar Financial Advisors

Fire up the grill!

Happy Labor Day from Pillar Financial Advisors. We hope you spend today resting, spending time with your family, and enjoying a well-deserved day off.

A financial plan is only as good as its ex*****on.

Building the plan is the first step. Coordinating the tax strategy, managing the account withdrawals, timing the Social Security decision, executing the Roth conversions, and adjusting the plan when life takes an unexpected turn is where the real work happens.

That coordination is what separates a plan that works from a plan that sits on a shelf collecting dust.

Every client relationship at Pillar is built around ongoing ex*****on. A year-round partnership that keeps every piece of the financial picture moving in the same direction.

Are you within 10 years of retirement and looking for that kind of relationship? We’d love to hear from you: pillar.net/contact-us

Are you planning to move in retirement?

Income tax treatment, property tax rates, estate tax thresholds, and Medicaid rules all vary by state, and all four affect the retirement income plan in specific ways.

A move that looks attractive on housing costs alone can look very different when the full tax picture is in front of you.

Do you have all four core estate planning documents in place and updated within the last three to five years? If any of them predate a divorce, a remarriage, or the birth of a grandchild, they may no longer say what you think they say.

You spend 30 years building your 401(k), and then you get handed a form asking what you'd like to do with it. That one decision carries legit tax consequences, and the plan's service center isn't going to walk you through them. Ben Allison breaks down how to evaluate your 401(k) options before you set a retirement date. Link in the comments.

401(k) Options Before Retirement | Pillar Financial Learn how to evaluate 401(k) options before retirement. Ben Allison is a fee-only fiduciary financial advisor at Pillar Financial Advisors in Louisville, KY.

Are you planning to work past 65 and stay on your employer's health plan?

The transition to Medicare when that coverage ends has a specific and unforgiving timeline. The special enrollment period opens when employer coverage ends and closes eight months later. Missing it triggers a permanent penalty on Part B premiums of 10% for every year enrollment was delayed.

Part D prescription drug coverage works similarly. Gaps in creditable drug coverage after employer insurance ends create their own penalty structure that applies the moment Medicare enrollment occurs.

Missing that window is an avoidable (but permanent) financial mistake in the transition to retirement.

A traditional IRA or 401(k) does not eliminate taxes… it postpones them.

Every dollar contributed pre-tax will eventually be taxed as ordinary income when it’s withdrawn. For retirees with large tax-deferred balances, that liability is sitting inside the account alongside the growth, and it will surface through required minimum distributions whether it is convenient or not.

Understanding the difference between deferring a tax bill and reducing it is an important distinction in retirement income planning.

Real financial planning is neither complicated nor difficult. The financial services industry has spent decades convincing people otherwise.

At Pillar, we have always believed the opposite. A clear picture of where you are, a realistic path to where you want to go, and a team that connects the pieces. That’s the whole job.

In practice, that means the plan comes before the portfolio. It means tax strategy gets built around the income plan, not added on as an afterthought, and that someone is in your financial corner year-round.

We work with professionals in the 5 to 10 years before retirement who value planning as much as performance and want a team that brings genuine skill across every discipline that affects their retirement outcome.

If that sounds like the kind of relationship you are looking for, reach out today for a consultation.

🔗 http://pillar.net/contact-us

Please join us in congratulating Marlene Men on earning her CFP® certification.

Getting there takes coursework across retirement, tax, estate, and investment planning, a board exam, thousands of hours of client experience, and a commitment to putting clients first. Marlene did all of it alongside a full client load.

She came to Pillar from a boutique CPA firm, where she handled complex corporate tax compliance and estate planning. That's the same intersection where many pre-retirement decisions are made, and it shows up in how she works: she's comfortable with the details and good at explaining them.

Well earned, Marlene.

If you're within 10 years of retirement and looking for that kind of depth behind your plan, we'd be glad to talk: https://pillar.net/contact-us/

A beneficiary designation on a retirement account or life insurance policy overrides a will entirely.

It doesn't matter what the will says, who the executor is, or when the will was last updated. The account passes directly to whoever is named on the beneficiary form, outside of probate and outside of any other estate planning document.

If you’ve experienced a divorce, a remarriage, the death of a named beneficiary, or the birth of a grandchild since the last review, that form deserves a close look before it becomes a potential problem.