The Hidden Rules of Retirement.
Ninety minutes with Jim Swiech, CPA on the rules nobody told you about the tax side of retirement. When to claim Social Security and what it does to the survivor. The tax torpedo. The widow's penalty. The Roth conversion window before required withdrawals start at 73 (75 if you were born in 1960 or later). New York's own rules. And the order you spend your accounts. Plain English, real numbers, and the reasoning laid bare.
90 minutes. Free. Register and the workbook we teach from lands in your inbox right away.
What the night covers
The rules that decide your retirement, and almost nobody explains.
Your advisor watches your investments. Your CPA files your return. This is the part that falls in the gap between them: how the tax code treats a retired household, and the handful of decisions that quietly set your bill for the next 30 years.
When each spouse claims Social Security
The timing isn't just about the size of your own check. It sets the income the survivor lives on for the rest of their life. Claim in the wrong order and the widow or widower pays for it for decades.
The tax torpedo
How your other income quietly drags more and more of your Social Security into being taxed, spiking your real tax rate right when you thought you had settled into a low bracket.
The widow's penalty
When one spouse passes, the survivor files single on close to the same income, and the brackets turn brutal. You plan for it now, while you both still can, instead of getting blindsided later.
Roth conversion windows before RMDs at 73 or 75
The low-tax years between the day you retire and your first required withdrawal at 73 (75 if you were born in 1960 or later) are often the best chance you will ever get to move money into a Roth. Miss the window and it closes for good.
New York's own rules
New York does not tax your Social Security at all, and it lets each spouse exclude up to $20,000 of other retirement income every year. Overlook these and you hand Albany money you never owed.
The order you spend your accounts
Which account you draw from first, and in what order, can swing your lifetime tax bill more than almost any other decision you make in retirement. Most people get the order exactly backwards.
Watch the math happen live.
We finish with something you will not see at any other retirement talk. I take an illustrative couple, put their numbers up on the screen, and show you the difference between doing nothing and a coordinated plan, with the math visible the whole way. It runs on planning models I built myself, because off-the-shelf software could not answer the questions that actually decide a retirement. No dollar promises, no client stories. Just an example couple and the reasoning out in the open.
I'll show you the math on the screen, line by line: federal and New York taxes year by year, how much of Social Security gets taxed, IRMAA Medicare surcharges, and required withdrawals as they ramp up.
I'll walk the decisions that actually decide a retirement side by side: when each spouse claims Social Security, how much to convert to a Roth each year, and which account to draw from first.
I plan for the survivor, not just the couple. Most planning quietly assumes you both live to 90. I show the years where one of you is on your own, because that is where the brackets turn hard.
I'll put a number on what doing nothing costs, for an illustrative couple, right next to a coordinated plan, with the reasoning visible the whole way. No dollar promises, no client stories.
You leave understanding the decisions. If you want your own numbers run afterward, that is your call to make.
What to expect.
90 minutes
Plus time for your questions. We respect your evening. Most people stay for the questions because that is where it gets specific.
Teaching, not a pitch
Nothing is sold from the stage. You walk out with the rules, real numbers, and sharper questions, whether or not we ever speak again.
In person or virtual
Held at public libraries, senior centers, and community rooms in the Buffalo and Lockport area, with a virtual option for anyone who would rather join from home.
Save your spot.
Straight answer: the next date is not locked yet. We are scheduling it now at public libraries, senior centers, and community rooms in the Buffalo and Lockport area, with a virtual option. Register and two things happen: the Retirement Ready Workbook, the cash-flow readiness workbook we teach from, lands in your inbox right away, and you will get one email with the date and location before it opens to the public.
That is the only email you will get. We do not call unless you ask us to.
What's the catch?
Nothing gets sold on this call. No annuities, no insurance, no pressure to move your money. If we work together beyond the free session, it's a flat fee quoted in writing before you decide anything. And if your plan is already fine, I'll say so and you're done.
“Highly recommend anyone to sit with them to discuss a roadmap. Your future selves will thank you!”
18+ years helping Western New York families make sense of complex tax and retirement decisions. The whole idea is simple: take the retirement-uncertainty load off your shoulders, in plain English, with the math shown.
Would rather skip the seminar and talk through your own situation one on one?
Schedule a free 30-minute session