Saving for retirement is only one part of the process. Eventually, the focus shifts from accumulating assets to turning those assets into reliable, tax-efficient income.
That transition can be more complicated than it first appears.
A retiree may have money spread across traditional retirement accounts, Roth accounts, taxable investments, bank accounts, pensions, Social Security, real estate, and other assets. Each source has different tax consequences, investment characteristics, withdrawal requirements, and implications for the future.
A retirement withdrawal strategy helps answer several important questions:
The objective is not simply to minimize taxes in the current year. It is to create a sustainable income strategy that supports the retiree’s lifestyle while managing taxes, investment risk, liquidity, and long-term financial security.
Retirement planning is sometimes reduced to a single withdrawal-rate assumption. For example, a retiree may be told to withdraw a fixed percentage of the portfolio during the first year of retirement and increase that amount for inflation each year.
A starting withdrawal rate can be a useful planning tool, but it is not a complete strategy.
The appropriate amount depends on factors such as:
A household with substantial pension and Social Security income may be able to accept more investment volatility than a household relying almost entirely on portfolio withdrawals.
Similarly, a retiree willing to adjust discretionary spending may be able to begin with a different withdrawal level than someone whose expenses are largely fixed.
The strategy should therefore be built around the retiree’s actual financial life—not a percentage viewed in isolation.
Before deciding which account to use, it is important to understand how much income the household needs.
Retirement expenses may be divided into several categories:
These may include:
These may include:
These may include:
Separating essential spending from discretionary spending makes the plan more adaptable.
A retiree may want predictable income to cover essential expenses while allowing discretionary withdrawals to vary based on portfolio performance and other circumstances.
The spending plan should also recognize that retirement is not always a level, predictable period. Many retirees spend more during their early active years, less during the middle years, and potentially more again later because of healthcare or caregiving needs.
The next step is to determine what income will be available without selling investments.
Potential sources may include:
These sources should be evaluated based on their amount, timing, tax treatment, inflation protection, reliability, and whether they continue for a surviving spouse.
For example, a pension may provide stable lifetime income but offer limited inflation protection. Social Security benefits generally provide inflation-adjusted income, but the decision of when to begin benefits can materially affect the amount received.
The difference between recurring income and spending needs represents the amount that must generally come from savings and investments.
A withdrawal strategy should begin with a clear inventory of the household’s accounts and how each is taxed.
Taxable brokerage accounts may contain cash, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds.
Withdrawals themselves are not necessarily taxable. Instead, the tax result generally depends on interest, dividends, and the gain or loss recognized when investments are sold.
This can give the investor some control over when gains are realized. Taxable accounts may also offer opportunities for tax-loss harvesting and charitable gifts of appreciated investments.
Traditional IRAs, traditional 401(k) plans, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and similar accounts generally provide tax-deferred growth.
Withdrawals of previously untaxed amounts are generally included in ordinary taxable income. These distributions can therefore affect marginal tax rates, the taxation of Social Security benefits, Medicare premiums, and other tax calculations.
Qualified Roth IRA and Roth retirement-plan distributions can generally be received tax-free. Roth accounts can therefore provide flexibility when a retiree needs additional money but does not want to increase taxable income.
Under current rules, original account owners are not required to take lifetime distributions from Roth IRAs or designated Roth 401(k) and 403(b) accounts. Beneficiaries remain subject to distribution requirements.
Cash may be used for near-term spending, taxes, emergencies, and large planned expenses.
Although cash can reduce the need to sell investments during a market decline, keeping too much in cash may reduce long-term growth and purchasing power.
The value of having several account types is flexibility. A retiree with taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth assets may have more control over annual taxable income than someone whose savings are concentrated entirely in one type of account.
A common rule of thumb is to spend taxable assets first, tax-deferred accounts second, and Roth accounts last.
That approach can make sense in some circumstances, but it should not be treated as an automatic answer.
Spending only from taxable accounts during the early retirement years may allow a traditional IRA to continue growing. However, that growth could lead to larger required minimum distributions later.
The result may be:
Conversely, withdrawing too aggressively from tax-deferred accounts could create unnecessary current
taxes and reduce assets that were intended to support future income.
A coordinated strategy may use several accounts during the same year.
For example, a retiree might:
The appropriate combination depends on the retiree’s circumstances and projected future tax exposure.
Retirement can create years in which taxable income is temporarily lower.
This commonly occurs after employment income ends but before Social Security benefits and required minimum distributions begin.
These lower-income years may provide an opportunity to recognize income deliberately.
Possible strategies include:
The purpose is not necessarily to pay the least possible tax in each individual year.
A retiree may intentionally recognize additional income in a lower-tax year to reduce larger distributions and potentially higher taxes later.
A multi-year tax projection can help compare the effect of different withdrawal patterns rather than evaluating each year independently.
A Roth conversion moves assets from a traditional retirement account into a Roth account.
The taxable portion of the converted amount is generally included in income for the year of conversion.
Future qualified Roth distributions may then be tax-free, and Roth accounts are not subject to lifetime required minimum distributions for the original owner.
A conversion may be worth considering when:
The decision should also consider potential disadvantages.
A conversion may:
Roth conversions made after 2017 generally cannot be recharacterized back into traditional IRAs, making advance planning particularly important.
A conversion should therefore be sized carefully rather than treated as an all-or-nothing decision.
Traditional retirement accounts cannot generally remain tax-deferred indefinitely.
Under current law, the applicable required-minimum-distribution age is generally 73 or 75, depending on the individual’s date of birth. The annual distribution is generally calculated using the prior year-end account balance and an IRS life-expectancy factor. Roth accounts are not subject to lifetime RMDs for the original owner.
An RMD is only the minimum amount that must be withdrawn. It is not necessarily the amount the retiree should spend.
If the distribution is not needed for current expenses, the net proceeds may be:
RMD planning should begin before the first distribution is due.
Potential planning opportunities may include:
Delaying the first RMD until the following year can cause two required distributions to be included in income during the same year, which may produce an unexpectedly high tax bill. The IRS allows the first distribution to be taken by December 31 of the applicable year instead, keeping the first two distributions in separate tax years.
The timing of Social Security benefits should be evaluated alongside the portfolio withdrawal strategy.
Claiming earlier may reduce the amount that must initially be withdrawn from investments. Delaying benefits may require larger portfolio withdrawals during the early retirement years but can provide a larger monthly benefit later.
The decision may depend on:
Social Security benefits may also be taxable.
Under current federal rules, up to 85% of benefits may be included in taxable income when combined income exceeds applicable thresholds. Traditional retirement distributions, interest, dividends, wages, and other income can affect this calculation.
This can create an unexpected result: an additional dollar withdrawn from an IRA may cause both the IRA distribution and a larger portion of Social Security benefits to become taxable.
A thoughtful withdrawal strategy should model these interactions rather than considering Social Security and investment withdrawals separately.
Retirement withdrawals can affect more than income taxes.
Higher-income Medicare beneficiaries may pay income-related monthly adjustment amounts, commonly called IRMAA, in addition to standard Medicare Part B and Part D premiums.
Medicare generally uses modified adjusted gross income from the tax return filed two years earlier when determining whether an income-related adjustment applies.
Income that may influence the calculation can include:
This does not mean taxable income should always be kept below an IRMAA threshold.
A larger Roth conversion could still produce substantial long-term benefits even if it temporarily increases Medicare premiums. However, the additional premium should be included in the cost of the strategy.
Because IRMAA operates through income ranges, a relatively small increase in income may sometimes cause a larger change in premiums. Monitoring projected modified adjusted gross income before completing a major year-end transaction can help avoid surprises.
Taxable investment accounts can provide significant flexibility during retirement.
When appreciated investments are sold, only the gain—not the entire amount withdrawn—is generally considered for capital-gains purposes.
A retiree may be able to choose which tax lots to sell, allowing the investor to manage the amount of gain recognized.
Potential approaches include:
Capital-gains planning should be coordinated with ordinary income.
Traditional IRA distributions, Roth conversions, pensions, and other income may affect the rate applied to long-term capital gains. Capital gains can also influence Medicare premiums and the taxation of Social Security benefits.
A withdrawal that appears tax-efficient when viewed alone may have a different result once the entire return is considered.
A cash reserve can help fund spending without requiring investments to be sold during a market decline.
This may be particularly important during the first several years of retirement.
When withdrawals occur during a falling market, the retiree must sell more shares to generate the same amount of cash. Those shares are then unavailable to participate in a later recovery.
This is commonly referred to as sequence-of-returns risk: the order in which investment returns occur can materially affect a portfolio that is also funding withdrawals.
A retirement-income reserve may include:
The appropriate reserve depends on the household’s guaranteed income, spending flexibility, portfolio allocation, and risk tolerance.
Holding several years of all expenses in cash may provide emotional comfort, but it can also reduce long-term growth. The reserve should be large enough to provide flexibility without unnecessarily compromising the portfolio’s ability to support a long retirement.
Retirement withdrawals can also be used to maintain the portfolio’s intended allocation.
Suppose a portfolio’s stock investments have performed well and now represent more than the target allocation. The retiree may generate spending cash by selling a portion of the overweight stock position.
After a market decline, withdrawals might instead come from cash or fixed-income holdings, allowing stocks more time to recover.
Other rebalancing methods may include:
This approach connects the spending plan with the investment-management process.
Withdrawals should not simply occur from whichever account is easiest to access.
A retirement plan should be able to respond to changing conditions.
A rigid strategy that increases withdrawals every year regardless of market performance may create unnecessary pressure on the portfolio.
A flexible strategy may include:
Flexibility does not mean the retiree must make dramatic lifestyle changes whenever the market declines.
Even modest adjustments can reduce the amount that must be sold during unfavorable periods and improve the plan’s resilience.
The withdrawal strategy should also recognize that spending goals may change. Travel may be a major priority during the first decade of retirement, while healthcare, family support, or charitable giving may become more important later.
Retirees who regularly support charity may be able to coordinate those gifts with retirement distributions.
An IRA owner who is at least age 70½ may be able to make a qualified charitable distribution directly from an eligible IRA to a qualifying charitable organization.
A qualifying distribution can count toward the owner’s required minimum distribution while generally being excluded from gross income. The annual exclusion limit is indexed for inflation and is $111,000 for 2026.
This may be particularly valuable for retirees who:
The distribution must satisfy specific requirements, including being made directly by the IRA trustee to an eligible organization.
Taxpayers should coordinate the transaction with their custodian and tax professional before funds are distributed.
Retirees with appreciated taxable investments may also consider donating securities directly rather than selling them and donating cash.
Retirement income is not always subject to automatic withholding in the same way wages are.
Without planning, a retiree may receive significant income from IRA distributions, pensions, investments, and Social Security but have insufficient taxes paid during the year.
Federal and state taxes may be covered through:
The Social Security Administration allows beneficiaries to request voluntary federal income-tax withholding from their benefits.
One practical advantage of withholding from a retirement distribution is that federal withholding is
generally treated as paid evenly throughout the year, even if the distribution occurs later in the year. This can sometimes help address an underpayment that becomes apparent during year-end planning.
The withdrawal plan should distinguish between the gross amount distributed and the amount actually available for spending after taxes.
A retirement withdrawal strategy should consider what happens after the first spouse dies.
The surviving spouse may experience several changes:
A couple may be comfortable within a particular tax bracket while filing jointly, but similar income could be taxed less favorably after one spouse dies.
This possibility may support strategies such as:
Planning for the survivor is not merely an estate-planning exercise. It is an important part of the current withdrawal strategy.
The accounts used during retirement affect what is eventually transferred to beneficiaries.
Traditional retirement accounts generally carry an income-tax obligation for the beneficiary. Many non-spouse beneficiaries are required to distribute inherited retirement accounts within a defined period,
subject to detailed rules and exceptions.
Taxable investments may receive different basis treatment at death, while qualified Roth distributions may provide beneficiaries with tax-free income, although inherited Roth accounts remain subject to distribution requirements.
This does not mean retirees should preserve every asset for heirs at the expense of their own lifestyle.
It does mean the withdrawal sequence may consider:
An account that is tax-efficient for the retiree to preserve may not always be the most tax-efficient asset for the beneficiary to inherit.
A retirement withdrawal strategy does not mean:
The best strategy may change as tax laws, markets, health, spending, family circumstances, and personal priorities change.
Consider a married couple who retires at age 65.
They have:
Their employment income has ended, but required minimum distributions will not begin for several years.
An automatic strategy might tell them to spend the taxable account first and leave the IRAs untouched.
A coordinated strategy might instead recommend:
This approach may intentionally create some taxable income during the early retirement years.
However, it may also reduce future RMDs, build tax-free assets, provide greater flexibility after Social
Security begins, and improve the financial position of the surviving spouse.
The best outcome cannot be determined by looking at the first year’s tax bill alone.
Retirement withdrawals affect several parts of the financial plan at the same time.
A Roth conversion may affect Medicare premiums. An IRA distribution may increase the taxable portion of Social Security benefits. A taxable-account sale may create capital gains. A charitable distribution may satisfy part of an RMD. A portfolio withdrawal may also serve as a rebalancing transaction.
These decisions should be evaluated together.
At Foothills Investments, retirement withdrawal planning is integrated with investment management, tax considerations, Social Security, cash-flow needs, charitable goals, and estate-planning considerations.
The objective is not simply to determine which account should be used first.
It is to build a flexible, sustainable strategy designed to provide the income retirees need while managing taxes, investment risk, and the financial decisions that arise throughout retirement.
Retirement should not require making financial decisions one withdrawal at a time.
A coordinated plan can help determine how much to withdraw, which accounts to use, when to recognize taxable income, how to respond to changing markets, and how today’s decisions may affect future years.
Schedule a discovery meeting with Foothills Investments to discuss how a coordinated retirement withdrawal strategy may support your income needs and long-term financial goals.
This material is provided for general educational purposes only and should not be considered individualized investment, tax, accounting, insurance, Social Security, Medicare, estate-planning, or legal advice. Tax laws, retirement rules, Medicare provisions, and individual circumstances are complex and subject to change. Consult the appropriate professionals regarding your individual circumstances.
Any examples are hypothetical, are provided solely for illustrative purposes, and do not represent any particular client or guarantee a specific result.
Foothills Investments, LLC is a Colorado-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
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