My approach, in one place.

The Five Disciplines, one foundation: retirement sustainability, tax efficiency, wealth transfer, portfolio performance, risk management. Each discipline is present in every meeting. The proportions shift with the client and the moment. The integration is constant, and the integration is where most of the actual value sits. Scroll the whole thing or jump to a section.

01 · Retirement Sustainability — On Video

Why Some Retirees Never Worry About Money

It's not the size of the portfolio. It's the structure underneath it. Guaranteed income that doesn't depend on markets. Flexible spending that acts as a shock absorber. Low fixed obligations that create room to maneuver. When the structure is right, a down market is noise rather than a crisis.

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Your Withdrawal Rate Isn't 4%

The 4% rule was built for a worst-case historical scenario. Your actual safe withdrawal rate could be anywhere from 3% to 7% depending on how your plan is built — your income sources, your flexibility, your sequence risk exposure. Here's what actually determines the number.

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Two Years Within Retirement

The two years before and the two years after you retire are the most consequential stretch in your entire financial life. The decisions made in that window — Social Security timing, Roth conversions, asset allocation, withdrawal sequencing — shape everything that follows.

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02 · Tax Efficiency — On Video

The Roth IRA Loophole High Earners Don't Know About

If your household earns over $240,000 the IRS locks you out of the Roth IRA. But there's a two-step legal workaround that's been sitting in the tax code for 15 years — and most high earners have never used it. This is the closest thing to free money available to people above the income limit.

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You've Been Lied to About How to Use Your HSA

Your HSA has better tax benefits than a 401(k), a Roth IRA, or a traditional IRA — and most people are using it completely wrong. Pre-tax contributions. Tax-free growth. Tax-free withdrawals. No other account does all three. Here's what the people who actually understand this account do differently.

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Save 6 Figures in Taxes

Most CPAs are compliance professionals. They tell you what you owe after the year is done. They're not designed to tell you what to do during the year to change that outcome. That's where the planning lives — and where the largest dollar-value wins usually happen. Tax strategy is a year-round discipline, not a once-a-year conversation in April.

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03 · Wealth Transfer — On Video

How to Make Sure Your Heirs Don't Blow Your Financial Legacy

A landmark 20-year study tracking over 3,000 affluent families found that 70% of family wealth doesn't survive two generations. The cause almost never bad investments. It's heirs who were never prepared for what they received. The transfer that works is the one the family was told about before it happened.

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How to Make Sure You Leave Your Family How They Deserve

The Estate Planning Question Most Couples Have Never Asked

A 401(k) form from 2009 overrides everything your will says. Beneficiary designations are the real estate plan — and most of them haven't been reviewed since the account was opened. When did you last look at yours?

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04 · Portfolio Performance — On Video

The Silent Retirement Killer, Especially for High Earners

I've seen surgeons and executives making $500K a year with nothing saved. The culprit is the same every time — lifestyle expanding to fill income. Lifestyle creep is the most common reason high earners reach retirement with less than they should. Here's how to identify it and what to do about it.

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Are You Counting on Markets Always Going Up in Retirement? Think Again.

One of the most common errors I see among people nearing retirement is assuming today's gains are permanent. A market drop in year two of retirement is not the same as a market drop in year twelve. Here's why the timing matters — and what to do about it before you stop working.

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My Complete Investment Strategy

Every week before any portfolio decision, I run through four layers of market health — economic conditions, market internals, valuations, and sentiment. Each layer gets a score. Those scores combine into a composite that tells me plainly how aggressive or defensive client portfolios should be right now. This is the process, not the hunch.

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05 · Risk Management — On Video

The Cost of an Uninsured Long-Term Care Event

Nursing home care in 2026 runs $10,000 to $12,000 a month. Medicare covers none of it after day 100. A multi-year stay for Alzheimer's or dementia can easily exceed a million dollars — coming directly from the retirement portfolio at exactly the wrong time. This is the most common cause of plan failure I see. Most people have no plan for it.

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The Umbrella Policy Gap Most High-Net-Worth Households Don't Know They Have

You have a $2 million net worth. Your auto insurance covers $300,000 in liability. A serious accident generates a $1.5 million judgment. The gap comes from you — your investments, your retirement accounts, your home equity. A personal umbrella policy costs $200 to $400 a year and closes that gap entirely. Most people are underinsured by a factor of three or four.

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A PUBLIC VERSION OF THE WORK

There's a version of the planning tool I use with clients, available for anyone.

The retirement calculator at plan.johnkoyle.com lets you stress-test your own numbers against sequence risk, tax impact, Social Security timing, and market valuations. Use it before the first conversation, or instead of one.

Open the calculator →