Retirement planning has changed, and today’s pre-retirees need a broader, more defensive playbook that extends well beyond investments, said Phil Huff, a partner at Golden Reserve, LLC.
“When I think pre-retiree, I think someone six months to four years from retirement,” Huff said during an appearance on Live in the D. “First, let’s make sure we’ve done enough to retire - have we saved enough? The second is, do we have the right team to get us through retirement?”
Huff said too many plans rely on traditional, market-centric models that can nudge retirees to hold back rather than live fully. “The risk actually is that people don’t do enough in retirement,” he said. “More times than not, people can spend more, they can do more. Don’t follow that traditional type of model.”
Instead, Huff argues for a coordinated plan that balances income, liquidity, risk, taxes and legacy - and is managed by a team built for retirement, not accumulation. Golden Reserve combines an in-house elder law firm for estate planning and long-term care, a CPA firm focused on IRA tax timing, and a financial arm geared to preservation.
“We want to have a plan that has the legal aspect to avoid probate, the accountants to build a tax plan for IRAs and a financial firm that’s focused on protecting what you’ve worked hard to save,” Huff said. “It’s all about balance.”
Flexibility is nonnegotiable, he added. “Life’s going to change. Things are going to happen. You want to be able to adjust,” Huff said, noting Golden Reserve revisits tax and income plans annually. “We want to update it every single year.”
Huff said the firm’s Roadmap for Retirement starts by answering the basic question - “Have you done enough?” - then layers protections around market risk, taxes and long-term care so a downturn like 2000 or 2008 won’t force a lifestyle change. “Let’s have a plan for market risk so we don’t have to change our lifestyle,” he said.
To watch the segment, click on the video above. To learn more, call 313-888-8884 or visit GoldenReserve.com.
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