Tax Planning in Retirement: Keep More of What You’ve Earned

If you’re close to retirement, taxes may quietly become one of your biggest expenses.

Not because tax rates changed.

  • Because your income—and where it comes from—changes.

Most people don’t realize:

You can do everything right saving and investing…
…and still lose a meaningful amount to taxes simply because the decisions weren’t coordinated.

At Keil Financial Partners, we help you make tax decisions as part of your full retirement plan—so you keep more of what you’ve built.

No pressure. Just a conversation to see if we can help.

Tax Planning isn’t about finding one tax strategy for the rest of time

This page isn’t about one tactic.

It’s about how your tax decisions work together over time.

Because in retirement:

It’s not one decision that matters
It’s a series of decisions that build on each other

Tax planning isn’t about finding one perfect answer

A lot of people want the perfect tax strategy.

  • The exact right Roth conversion amount
  • The perfect withdrawal plan
  • The optimal lifetime outcome

But that’s not how retirement works.

As I wrote in Retire Today:

  • The goal isn’t a perfect plan
  • The goal is making better decisions over time

“The planning is more important than the plan.”

Tax planning works the same way.

The goal of tax planning isn’t to pay zero taxes

  • It’s to pay the right taxes over time

Many advisors focus on:

“How do we reduce taxes this year?”

We focus on:

“How do we reduce your taxes across your entire retirement?”

Because the biggest tax mistakes we see aren’t obvious in the moment.

They show up later:

  • Larger RMDs than expected
  • Higher Medicare premiums
  • Losing Affordable Care Act ACA premium tax credits
  • More Social Security taxed
  • Fewer options later in retirement

Where most advisors stop short

Many advisors focus on investments.

Some focus on retirement planning.

But very few coordinate how tax decisions affect everything else:

  • When you take income
  • Which accounts you draw from
  • How your pension and Social Security are timed
  • How your taxes evolve over time

These decisions don’t happen in isolation.

And when they’re not coordinated, that’s where small gaps can turn into meaningful costs later.

Why taxes in retirement are different

In retirement, your tax bill depends on two things:

  1. When you take money
  2. Where you take it from

Because not all accounts are taxed the same:

  • Traditional IRA withdrawals are fully taxable
  • Roth withdrawals are generally tax-free
  • Brokerage accounts are taxed based on activity
  • Savings accounts (non-IRA) are tax-free on withdrawals

That means:

  • Taking $100,000 from one account could create a large tax bill
  • Taking $100,000 from another might create little to none

And those decisions ripple into:

  • Social Security taxation
  • Medicare costs (IRMAA)
  • ACA health insurance costs
  • Future tax brackets

Roth conversions: powerful—but easy to get wrong

Roth conversions are one of the most talked-about strategies in retirement.

And one of the most misunderstood.

You’ve seen this firsthand.

In Retire Today, I shared how a past client converted too much in one year:

  • It pushed them into higher tax brackets
  • And cost them an extra ~$23,000 in taxes

The Golden Rule of Roth conversions is simple:

  • Choose the right year
  • Choose the right amount

Not too little.
Not too much.
And very likely, not all at once.

Want to see what that looks like in your situation?

No pressure. Just a conversation to see if we can help.

The most important tax planning window people often miss

The years between retirement and RMDs are often your best opportunity.

Why?

  • Income is often lower
  • You have more control
  • Future taxes haven’t been “locked in” yet

This is when you can:

  • Do strategic Roth conversions
  • Control your tax bracket
  • Reduce future RMDs

But without a plan, this window passes quickly.

How tax planning fits into your Retirement Master Plan

We don’t treat tax planning as a separate service.

It’s part of your full plan.

In our framework:

  • Spend — what you need
  • Make — where income comes from
  • Keep — how you reduce taxes over time
  • Invest — how your money supports your plan
  • Leave — what happens later

Tax planning lives in the Keep step.

But it affects every other step.

Common tax mistakes we help you avoid

  • Doing Roth conversions without a strategy
  • Waiting too long to start planning
  • Ignoring how withdrawals affect taxes
  • Missing the early retirement tax window
  • Focusing only on this year’s tax return

Most of these don’t feel like mistakes when you make them.

But over time, they can have a meaningful impact.

Why tax planning matters

You’ve already done the hard part:

  • You built your career
  • You saved consistently
  • You made smart decisions

Now you’re at the stage where:

  • The decisions matter more
  • And the margin for error is smaller

Tax planning isn’t about beating the IRS.

It’s about:

  • Keeping more of what you’ve earned
  • Creating flexibility in your plan
  • Making your retirement decisions work together

Let’s make sure you’re making the right tax decisions

You don’t need to have everything figured out.

But it helps to know:

  • Where the opportunities are
  • What mistakes to avoid
  • How your decisions fit together

No pressure. Just a conversation to see if we can help.