On paper, his plan looked solid. But when we asked him to rate how “complete” his retirement strategy felt, he didn’t say 100%. He didn’t even say 90%. His answer? “About 80%.”

The Risks He Could See — And the One He Couldn’t

Don’s biggest fear was the next market downturn. “I’ve taken a lot of hits over the years,” he told us.

“I don’t want the next one to wipe me out.”

Like many retirees, Don focused on the visible risks — bear markets, inflation, and portfolio performance. But lurking in the background was a less obvious danger: Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) starting at age 73.

Don admitted he didn’t know exactly how RMDs worked or what kind of tax bite they might take. And that uncertainty left him uneasy.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

We had sent him our free Retirement Readiness Guide — but the email ended up in his spam folder. “I didn’t see it; could you resend?” he asked. When we re-sent the guide, we also included two targeted resources:

      •   A checklist for managing withdrawals during market downturns

      •   A guide to repositioning assets to reduce RMD-related tax drag

Somewhere between talking about the fall leaves in Woodstock and his excitement over his grandkids’ visit the following week, Don got curious. He started digging into the materials, checking boxes, and scribbling notes. That’s when the lightbulb moment hit: his retirement’s biggest vulnerability wasn’t just market volatility — it was the tax trap built into his own accounts.

The RMD Tax Spike

Like many savers, Don had spent his career contributing to tax-deferred accounts — a smart move at the time. But those same accounts come with a catch: once you hit 73, the IRS requires you to withdraw a certain amount each year, whether you need the money or not. And every dollar counts as taxable income.

For Don, that meant the possibility of being pushed into a higher tax bracket just by following the rules. In a bad year, it could also mean being forced to sell investments when the market was down — locking in losses and shrinking his nest egg faster than expected.

The Strategy That Put Him Back in Control

Through our conversation and the resources we shared, Don learned about strategies to smooth out those tax spikes — including gradually moving money from traditional IRAs into more tax-flexible accounts ahead of RMD age.

This type of proactive planning doesn’t just reduce the tax hit; it also creates a “buffer” of funds that aren’t tied to market performance. That way, withdrawals can be timed more strategically, instead of being dictated by market swings or IRS deadlines.

“It wasn’t the bear market that was my biggest threat,” Don told us. “It was the tax trap of Required Minimum Distributions I never fully mapped out.”

Why This Matters for Every Retiree

Don walked away from our conversation feeling something he hadn’t felt since his retirement day — calm. He still had work to do, but he now knew the right questions to ask and the specific areas to address.

That’s the real goal of retirement planning. It’s not just about saving a certain amount. It’s about understanding how and when to use what you’ve saved — so you keep more of it, and it lasts as long as you do.

If you’re not yet retired, or if you’ve already crossed that milestone but haven’t mapped out your RMD strategy, now is the time. You can start by downloading the same free Retirement Checklist Don used. It’s a simple way to spot potential threats before they become costly mistakes.

Retirement isn’t about guessing. It’s about knowing what comes next — and having a plan for it.