(208) 915-8400 john@redcedarwealth.com
26 Years · Red Cedar Wealth Advisors

A retirement plan that only works when everything goes right isn't really a plan.

I build retirement plans around five foundations. Most advisors only cover one or two. Here's how I think about it.

AIF® · Accredited Investment Fiduciary 26 years in practice Custodied at Charles Schwab Clean FINRA record Verify on BrokerCheck ↗
The Five Foundations

Every retirement plan I build runs through all five of these.

Most people have had one or two of these conversations. Almost nobody has had all five at once, applied to their specific situation. Click each one.

01 Retirement Sustainability
02 Portfolio Performance
03 Tax Efficiency
04 Wealth Transfer
05 Risk Management

Select a foundation to see what questions it answers for your specific situation.

Foundation 01

Retirement Sustainability

Will the money last as long as you do? We run your plan through 500 simulated market futures, including sequences that look like 1929 and 2008, to find exactly where it breaks and what fixes it before it matters.

  • What is your Monte Carlo score across 500 simulated futures?
  • What happens if the market drops hard in year two of retirement?
  • How does your plan hold if inflation runs at 4% for a decade?
  • What is your safe withdrawal rate given your specific situation?

Foundation 02

Portfolio Performance

Not just returns. Risk-adjusted returns that match where you actually are in life. The right allocation for someone three years from retirement is completely different from the right allocation for someone who retired three years ago.

  • Is your asset allocation appropriate for your specific timeline?
  • What are your actual all-in costs including expense ratios?
  • Where are your assets located for maximum tax efficiency?
  • How does your portfolio behave in a lost decade scenario?

Foundation 03

Tax Efficiency

At most asset levels, taxes are the single largest expense in retirement. Withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversions, Medicare surcharges, the RMD time bomb. Most people have never had this mapped year by year. Every client gets it.

  • What does your pre-tax balance force you to pay in RMDs at 73?
  • How much bracket space do you have for Roth conversions each year?
  • Are you drawing accounts in the right order to minimize taxes?
  • What happens to your surviving spouse's tax bracket when you're gone?

Foundation 04

Wealth Transfer

What you've built should go where you want it to go. To the people you choose. Not to the IRS by default. And the next generation should understand what they're inheriting well enough to be good stewards of it.

  • Do your beneficiary designations reflect your current wishes?
  • How does your estate transfer under SECURE Act 2.0?
  • Which assets receive a step-up in cost basis at death?
  • Have you had a real money conversation with your heirs?

Foundation 05

Risk Management

One uncovered event can undo decades of disciplined saving. Long-term care. Liability exposure. The healthcare gap before Medicare. The income cliff when one spouse dies. Planning for these now costs a fraction of what they cost unplanned.

  • What does long-term care cost in your area and how would you fund it?
  • Do you have an umbrella liability policy in place?
  • How do you cover health insurance between retirement and Medicare?
  • What does your surviving spouse's income look like when you're gone?

Most people have had one or two of these conversations. Almost nobody has had all five.

Your numbers. All five foundations. Thirty minutes. That's where we start.

Before You Book

Here's exactly what that 30 minutes looks like.

No sales pitch. No pressure. Just your numbers and an honest conversation about where the gaps are.

The First Call Demystifier
Let's talk

The clients I work with have worked too hard to leave this to someone who's winging it.

If you've been looking for an advisor with a real process and a real point of view, I'd like to meet you. A first call runs 30 minutes, costs nothing, and has exactly zero pressure.

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