Where will your paycheck come from once you stop working, and which account do you pull from first? You saved well, maxed out your 403(b), and built a $2 million portfolio, but haven’t found clear answers to your retirement questions. 

In this episode, Brett Fellows talks through the three hidden issues that were quietly setting up a CRNA named Janie for $80,000 to $150,000 in taxes she did not have to pay, and the three-act retirement paycheck framework that changed her outcome.

Brett covers:

• Why the 4% rule understates your real take-home by design when every dollar is pre-tax
• The age 73 collision: what happens when a $2 million 403(b), Social Security, and forced RMDs all hit in the same year
• Why the window between retirement and RMDs is the highest-leverage tax planning period of a CRNA's entire financial life (and why most people waste it)
• How Roth conversions done at $75,000 per year from age 62 to 70 reduced Janie's 20-year federal tax bill by $170,000
• The three-act retirement paycheck framework: the bridge, the window, and the forced years
• What Janie's monthly paycheck looked like at age 70 after stopping work at 62 with a structured, tax-efficient sequence

If your numbers raise more questions than they answer, get your retirement pre-op assessment: https://oakcapitaladvisor.com/schedule-a-call/  

Click here to download the Free Retirement Checklist https://oakcapitaladvisor.com/retirement-checklist/

#CRNAs #RetirementPlanning #RothConversion #TaxStrategy #RetirementPaycheck

Key Timestamps:

(0:18) Why retirement feels unclear with $2M

(2:44) Janie: CRNA case study at age 58

(4:10) The 4% rule and the age 73 collision

(6:51) IRMAA and the conversion window

(9:30) Filling your tax brackets on purpose

(11:57) The three act retirement paycheck framework

(13:06) Act 1: Funding the bridge years

(15:15) Final results: Janie's $170,000 savings 

For more information and resources related to this episode, please visit the show notes.