Written guides
Longer-form answers to the questions that come up before and during a planning relationship: what advice costs, when to hire someone, how Roth conversions, Medicare premiums and required distributions interact, and how the pieces of a household’s finances connect. From Joel Miller, CFP® and Flames Financial Planning.
The articles on retirement tax sit under the retirement tax planning overview, which sets out how the decisions connect and what each membership includes.
A neutral guide to the financial order of operations: a common framework for sequencing employer match, cash reserves, debt, HSA, retirement accounts, equity compensation, and taxable investing, with 2026 limits cited to IRS sources.
A neutral guide to what a CPA or accountant typically handles, what a financial planner typically handles, and how the two roles coordinate for high-income households and corporate employees.
A plain-language guide to qualified and non-qualified dividends: how Form 1099-DIV reports them, the federal rates for tax year 2026, the holding-period test, and how they interact with the net investment income tax and Medicare premium surcharges.
A Roth conversion is a choice about which year to pay tax and at what rate. How to pace conversions against the 2026 brackets, the IRMAA thresholds, a surviving spouse's single-filer rates and heirs' 10-year rule, with a worked example.
The 2026 Medicare Part B and Part D income-related surcharges (IRMAA), tier by tier, with the two-year lookback, what counts as income, how Roth conversions and capital gains trigger a tier, and how to appeal after you retire.
When required minimum distributions begin, what they force onto the return, how they interact with Social Security and Medicare premiums, and the moves that change the outcome in the years before: Roth conversions, qualified charitable distributions and account order.
How to sequence withdrawals across taxable, tax-deferred and Roth accounts in retirement: why the conventional order can cost the most, how to level taxable income across the years before Social Security and required distributions, and how the 2026 brackets, capital-gain rates and Medicare thresholds shape the plan.
Asset allocation decides how much risk a household takes; asset location decides how much of the return it keeps. Which investments belong in a Roth IRA, a taxable brokerage account and a traditional IRA in 2026, how to stay diversified across all three, and how the answer changes when part of the money is meant for heirs or charity.
How long-term capital gains are taxed in 2026 (0% up to $98,900 of joint taxable income, 15% to $613,700, 20% above, plus the 3.8% net investment income tax), how gains stack on ordinary income and compete with Roth conversions, and the moves that manage them: harvesting gains in low-income years, specific-lot selling, giving appreciated stock, and leaving low-basis positions for the step-up.
How Social Security benefits are taxed (up to 85%, above thresholds set in 1993 and never indexed), what delaying to 70 is worth, the 2026 figures, and why the years between retiring and claiming are the most valuable planning window a high-asset household has.
Nearly every retirement tax recommendation, from paying conversion tax out of the portfolio to spending the IRA first, giving appreciated stock or paying off a mortgage, reduces the assets an advisor manages. What that means for a household that pays a percentage of assets, why so many people shopping for Roth-conversion help ask for a flat fee, and how to tell whether the structure is shaping the advice.
Learn how Trump investment accounts for children work, who may qualify, tax considerations, and how parents and grandparents can evaluate them.
Retiring around age 55? Review savings, investment risk, taxes, health insurance, Social Security, and income decisions for the next 5 to 10 years.
Have $1 million saved? Learn when a financial planner can help coordinate retirement income, taxes, investments, risk, and long-term decisions.
Learn what a CFP professional does across retirement, investments, taxes, insurance, estate coordination, and ongoing financial planning.
Next step
A discovery meeting is a conversation about your situation and whether a flat-fee planning relationship fits it.
