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Questions we hear every day.
Answered honestly.
We believe quality financial advice starts with a question. So we have tried to answer as many as we can, right here, before you ever have to ask.
What you can expect from Nolan Wealth Management
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What exactly does Nolan Wealth Management do?
We are an independent wealth services firm that specializes in retirement planning for people aged 50 and older. We bring together three things most advisors keep separate: your retirement income plan, your investment portfolio, and your taxes. Our goal is to give you one clear, coordinated plan that covers all three, with a team that stays actively involved through quarterly meetings, same-day responses, and ongoing adjustments as your life and the tax code change.
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Who is Nolan Wealth Management best suited for?
Our new clients are typically in their 50s, 60s, or early 70s. Some are still working and 5 to 10 years from retirement. Others have already retired and want a more coordinated approach than they have had before. What they share is a desire for real communication, a plan that actually makes sense to them, and an advisor who pays attention. If you have been feeling like a number at your current firm, or you have never had your income, investments, and taxes looked at together, we are built for exactly that.
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How is Nolan Wealth Management different from other financial advisors?
A few things stand out. First, we require quarterly meetings with every client, every year. Most advisors see you once or twice a year if you are lucky. Second, we make tax control strategies a central part of every plan, not an afterthought. Third, we are independent. We are not tied to proprietary products or company quotas. We chose to affiliate with LPL Financial after a multi-year review because it gives our clients access to a strong platform without sacrificing our ability to act in your best interest. And finally, we make a real effort to explain things in plain language and meet you without judgment, wherever you are.
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What does your quarterly meeting process look like?
Four times a year, we sit down with you in person, virtually or via the phone for a structured review. We look at your portfolio performance in the context of your income needs, not just market benchmarks. We check your tax strategy against any law changes. We ask about your life: health, family, spending, goals. Has anything shifted? Does your plan still fit? These meetings are not ceremonial. They are working sessions designed to keep your plan current and give you a clear picture of where you stand.
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What does it cost to work with Nolan Wealth Management?
We are happy to walk through our fee structure in detail during your first conversation. We believe fees should be transparent and easy to understand, with no hidden costs or surprises. We encourage you to bring that question to your Retirement Coordination Consultation so we can give you a complete and accurate answer based on your specific situation.
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Do I need a certain amount of money to work with you?
We work with clients at different stages of wealth building and preservation. The most important qualification is not a minimum account balance. It is fit: Do you want a coordinated plan across income, investments, and taxes? Are you looking for a long-term relationship with an advisor who stays involved? If the answer is yes, we would like to have a conversation.
Retirement Planning
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How do I know if I have enough money to retire?
This is the question we hear most often, and the honest answer is: it depends on far more than a number. It depends on what you spend, when you plan to start Social Security, whether you have a pension, what your healthcare situation looks like, and more. We build out a full retirement income projection that stress-tests your plan across different scenarios so you can see clearly where you stand instead of guessing.
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When should I start taking Social Security?
The right time to claim Social Security is different for every person and depends on your health, your other income sources, your spouse's situation, and your overall tax picture. Claiming early can make sense in some cases. Waiting can be worth significantly more in others. We walk through this decision carefully as part of your retirement income plan because it is one of the most consequential choices you will make.
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What is sequence of returns risk and why does it matter?
Sequence of returns risk refers to the danger of experiencing poor investment returns early in retirement, when you are withdrawing from your portfolio. Unlike during accumulation, the timing of returns in retirement matters as much as the average return. A large drop in the first few years of retirement can permanently reduce your income, even if the market recovers later. We build income strategies specifically designed to manage this risk.
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How do I create income in retirement if I no longer have a paycheck?
This is one of the most important shifts in retirement: moving from accumulating assets to drawing from them. A retirement income plan coordinates all of your sources: Social Security, pensions, investment withdrawals, and any other income. We determine which accounts to draw from first, in what order, and how to structure withdrawals to aim to minimize taxes and extend the life of your portfolio. It is one of the core things we build for every client.
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I am not sure how to draw down my assets. How do you help with that?
This is one of the most common sources of stress in retirement, and for good reason. There is no default setting for how to spend down what you have built. The order you draw from matters: which accounts you use first, how withdrawals affect your tax bracket, and how to pace spending so your money lasts as long as you need it to. We build a specific drawdown strategy for your situation rather than leaving it to guesswork, and we adjust it over time as your needs and the tax landscape change.
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What happens to my plan if the market drops significantly?
A well-built plan accounts for market volatility before it happens. We stress-test your retirement income projection across multiple market scenarios, including significant downturns, so you know in advance what a drop would mean for your plan. We also build portfolios with your income timeline in mind, so that short-term market swings do not force you to sell at the wrong time. And when markets move sharply, we reach out proactively rather than waiting for you to call.
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How worried should I be about inflation eating into my savings?
Inflation is one of the quieter risks in retirement because it does not show up all at once. Over a 20 or 30-year retirement, even modest inflation can meaningfully reduce what your savings can buy if your plan does not account for it. We build inflation assumptions directly into your retirement income projections and position part of your portfolio to help your purchasing power keep pace over time, rather than reacting to it after the fact.
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What if my healthcare costs in retirement are higher than I expect?
Healthcare is one of the most common areas where retirement plans fall short, because costs are easy to underestimate and hard to predict. We build a healthcare cost cushion into your retirement income projections from the start, and we revisit it at every quarterly review as your health, Medicare coverage, long-term care, and any supplemental insurance needs evolve. The goal is for a higher than expected medical expense to be something your plan absorbs, not something that derails it.
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What is a reasonable withdrawal rate in retirement?
The often-cited 4 percent rule is a starting point, not a rule. Your sustainable withdrawal rate depends on your portfolio size, your other income sources, your expected spending, your tax situation, and how long you need the money to last. We run projections specific to your situation rather than applying a generic formula, because your plan should be built for your life, not a textbook average.
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What is the risk of outliving my money, and how do you plan for it?
Longevity risk, the chance of outliving your savings, is one of the most important things a retirement plan needs to address. People are living longer than prior generations planned for, and a 30-year retirement is increasingly common. We build your income plan around conservative life expectancy assumptions, stress-test it against the possibility of living well into your 90s, and structure your withdrawals so your money has the best chance of lasting as long as you do.
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Should I pay off my mortgage before I retire?
There is no universal right answer. Paying off a mortgage eliminates a fixed expense and can reduce the income you need each month. But it also depletes assets that might otherwise generate returns or provide flexibility. The right answer depends on your interest rate, your tax situation, your overall liquidity, and your emotional relationship with debt. We walk through the trade-offs as part of your retirement income plan.
Invesment Management
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What characteristics define your approach to managing investments?
We manage your portfolio in the context of your full financial picture, not just as a standalone account. That means your investment allocation is designed to help support your income needs, align with your tax control strategy, and reflect the level of risk that actually makes sense for where you are in life. We do not manage to a benchmark. We manage to your plan.
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What investment philosophy guides your approach?
We believe in evidence-based, goals-oriented investing. We diversify across asset classes, keep costs reasonable, and resist the temptation to chase performance or react to short-term market noise. More importantly, we coordinate your portfolio with your income timeline, so you are not forced to sell at the wrong time because your withdrawals were not planned in advance.
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How much risk should I take with my investments in retirement?
The appropriate level of risk depends on how much income you need from your portfolio, when you need it, and how much volatility you can withstand without making emotional decisions. Taking too little risk can mean falling short over a 25 or 30-year retirement. Taking too much means you may not have time to recover from a significant loss. We work to help you find the right balance for your specific situation rather than applying a generic age-based formula.
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Do you use actively managed funds or index funds?
We use both, depending on the situation. Our goal is always to select the appropriate vehicle for the appropriate purpose in your plan, keeping costs and tax efficiency in mind. We explain our selections in plain language so you understand what you own and why.
Tax Control
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What does tax control actually mean?
Tax control is our term for a proactive, ongoing approach to aiming to help to minimize your lifetime tax burden in retirement. Rather than treating taxes as something you deal with in April, we build tax strategy into every part of your financial plan: which accounts to draw from and when, whether to convert traditional IRA money to a Roth, how to position assets across different account types with a goal to help to reduce taxable income, and how to time the realization of capital gains. The goal is to keep more of what you have built.
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Should I do a Roth conversion? Is it too late?
A Roth conversion moves money from a traditional IRA or 401k into a Roth IRA, paying income tax now in exchange for tax-free growth and withdrawals later. Whether it makes sense for you depends on your current tax bracket, your expected future tax rate, how long you have for the money to compound, and your estate planning goals. For many people in their 50s and early 60s, there is a window before Social Security and Required Minimum Distributions drive up their income where strategic Roth conversions can make a significant long-term difference. It is rarely too late to benefit from at least some conversion.
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What is asset location and why does it matter?
Asset location refers to the strategy of holding different types of investments in different types of accounts based on their tax treatment. For example, investments that generate regular taxable income, like bonds, are often better held inside a tax-deferred account. Investments with more favorable tax treatment, like certain equities, may be better held in taxable accounts. Done well, asset location can help to reduce your tax drag without changing your overall risk profile.
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What are Required Minimum Distributions and how do I plan for them?
Required Minimum Distributions, or RMDs, are the amounts the IRS requires you to withdraw from traditional IRAs and most employer retirement plans beginning at age 73, but depends on when you were born. These withdrawals are taxable income, and if you have accumulated significant assets in pre-tax accounts, RMDs can push you into a higher bracket, trigger Medicare surcharges, and affect the taxation of your Social Security benefits. Planning for RMDs well before they begin, including potential Roth conversions in earlier years, is an important part of a tax control strategy.
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How do you coordinate with my tax preparer or CPA?
We are happy to work alongside your existing tax preparer or CPA. We focus on the planning and strategy side: what moves to make and when. Your tax preparer focuses on accurate filing. When both sides communicate, the result is a much more complete picture. We keep our clients informed of the tax implications of every major financial decision we recommend, and we will work directly with your CPA if you prefer that level of coordination.
Getting Started
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What happens during a Retirement Coordination Consultation?
It is a conversation, not a pitch. We spend most of the time listening: where you are, where you want to be, and what concerns you most. You are welcome to bring questions, documents, or nothing at all. At the end, you will have a better sense of whether we are the right fit and what working together would look like. There is no obligation and no pressure.
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I already have a financial advisor. Should I still reach out?
Absolutely. Many of our clients came to us after years with another advisor and simply decided they wanted something different: more communication, a coordinated plan that included taxes, or an advisor who actually picks up the phone. A second opinion on your retirement plan costs you nothing and can reveal gaps you did not know were there.
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What should I bring to our first meeting?
Bring whatever you have and feel comfortable sharing: recent account statements, a Social Security estimate, your most recent tax return. But do not let the absence of documents stop you from reaching out. Our first conversation is about understanding your picture. We can gather documents later. The most important thing you can bring is your questions.