Karey Hensley Rebello, CPA, CFP®
Insurance Sales & Tax PlanningKarey is a CPA and CFP® professional focused on tax planning who has advocated for clients with the IRS and has served as a Fox News tax analyst.
Read full bio →Retirement Tax Planning
It's not how much you save. It's how much you keep.
A tax-focused review of your retirement plan, designed to help you keep more of what you've built.
Is this you?
If any of these sound familiar, this page is for you.
- Most of your savings are in a 401(k) or IRA, and you've never paid tax on them.
- You're worried required minimum distributions will raise your taxes later.
- You were surprised to learn part of your Social Security may be taxed.
- You own a business or are an executive with more moving parts than a typical retiree.
- Your tax preparer files your return, but no one is planning ahead.
What we look at
What a tax planning review covers
Your tax-deferred balances
How much of your savings will be taxed when it comes out, and roughly when.
Required minimum distributions
When RMDs start for you and how they may change your bracket in your 70s and beyond.
Social Security taxation
How your other income affects how much of your benefit is federally taxed.
Medicare premiums
Whether your income could trigger IRMAA surcharges two years later.
Withdrawal order
Which accounts to draw from first, and how that sequence may affect your lifetime tax bill.
Your legacy
How taxes may affect what your heirs receive from inherited retirement accounts.
The tax time bomb
Why taxes can grow in retirement
Money in a traditional 401(k) or IRA has never been taxed. Every withdrawal is generally taxed as ordinary income, and the IRS requires you to start taking required minimum distributions at 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later.
Those withdrawals stack on top of Social Security, pensions and other income. That can make more of your Social Security taxable and, because Medicare looks at income from two years earlier, may raise your premiums through IRMAA.
- RMDs that grow as your balance grows
- Up to 85% of Social Security may be federally taxable
- IRMAA surcharges on Medicare Part B and Part D
- Heirs who may owe tax on inherited IRAs
The Zero Tax Roadmap
A planning approach to help you keep more
The Zero Tax Roadmap is LSF's planning approach for looking at your taxes over your whole retirement, not one year at a time. The goal is to help reduce taxes where the rules allow. It is not a promise of zero tax, and results vary with each person's situation and with tax law.
- Sequencing withdrawals: choosing which accounts to draw from, and when
- Roth strategies: considering conversions in lower-income years
- Tax-advantaged insurance strategies: life insurance and annuity features that may offer tax advantages, subject to policy terms and current tax law
A CPA perspective
A CPA on the team
Karey Hensley Rebello is a CPA and CFP® professional who focuses on tax planning and has advocated for clients with the IRS. She has also appeared as a tax analyst on Fox News.
Having a tax perspective in the room means your retirement decisions are looked at through the lens of what you'll keep. We still recommend you coordinate with your own tax professional, who sees your full return.
Hypothetical example
How sequencing may change the picture
Hypothetical illustration: a married couple, both 64, retired with most of their savings in traditional IRAs. They plan to delay Social Security. In the years before benefits and RMDs start, their taxable income is low.
One approach is to draw only what they need and let the IRAs grow, which may lead to larger RMDs later. Another is to use those lower-income years to take planned IRA withdrawals or Roth conversions, filling a chosen tax bracket while watching IRMAA thresholds. Which approach fits depends on their brackets, health, goals and heirs. This example is hypothetical, is not based on a real client, and doesn't represent any specific result.
The tool
Book a tax-focused retirement review
We'll look at your RMDs, Social Security taxes, Medicare premiums and withdrawal order, and show you where planning may help. Meet in Fort Lauderdale or by video.
Book a tax-focused retirement review
15 minutes to start, at Trafalgar Plaza or by video. We’ll cover:
- Your tax-deferred balances
- Required minimum distributions
- Social Security taxation
- Medicare premiums
Who you’ll talk to
The licensed insurance agents for tax planning
Art Athanas, CFO, COO
Managing PartnerArt focuses on helping clients reduce, and where possible eliminate, their tax burden, including tax-advantaged retirement planning for Fortune 500 executives.
Read full bio →John Petrucco
Licensed Insurance AgentJohn brings 30 years in financial services and tailors strategies to each client's retirement, wealth-protection and legacy goals, including what they keep after taxes.
Read full bio →
As heard on Let’s Talk Safe Money®
Hear Len and Art explain it on the show.
Len and Art host the show on 610 WIOD. Watch more episodes in LSF University.
Watch full episodesQuestions
Common questions about tax planning
How are 401(k) and IRA withdrawals taxed in retirement?
Withdrawals from traditional, pre-tax 401(k)s and IRAs are generally taxed as ordinary income in the year you take them. Qualified Roth withdrawals may be tax-free. Withdrawals before 59½ may also face a 10% penalty unless an exception applies. Florida has no state income tax, but federal tax still applies.
What are required minimum distributions, and when do they start?
RMDs are amounts the IRS requires you to withdraw each year from most tax-deferred retirement accounts. They start at age 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. The amount is based on your account balance and life expectancy, and it's taxed as income. Missing an RMD can lead to a penalty.
Is my Social Security taxable?
It may be. Depending on your other income, up to 85% of your benefit can be subject to federal income tax. Florida has no state income tax, so the state doesn't tax it. IRA withdrawals and other income can increase how much of your benefit is taxed.
Can tax planning lower my Medicare premiums?
It may help. Medicare sets IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D using your income from two years earlier. Planning the timing and size of withdrawals and Roth conversions may help you manage that income. IRMAA thresholds change each year, so check the current figures.
What's the difference between tax preparation and tax planning?
Tax preparation looks back: it reports what already happened on last year's return. Tax planning looks ahead: it considers how decisions like withdrawal order, Roth conversions and Social Security timing may affect your taxes over many years. Most retirees benefit from both.
Do I need a CPA as part of my retirement plan?
Not everyone does, but a CPA's perspective can help when you have large tax-deferred balances, business income or complex decisions. We work alongside your own tax professional, who sees your full return, so your retirement and tax plans line up.
Serving Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade & North Carolina
Call 954.999.0355Trafalgar Plaza, 5310 NW 33rd Ave., Suite 114, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 · In person, or by video from anywhere in the country
Connect with a licensed insurance agent
Book a tax-focused retirement review
15 minutes, no obligation. Pick a time and we’ll call you, or meet us at Trafalgar Plaza or by video.
- Topic set to Retirement taxes, change it if you like.
- Prefer to call? 954.999.0355
Important information. The Zero Tax Roadmap is a planning approach, not a promise of zero tax; results vary with each person's situation and with tax law, which can change. Examples on this page are hypothetical and for illustration only. This is not tax or legal advice for your situation; consult your tax professional. Insurance product features and any tax advantages are subject to policy terms, underwriting, current tax law and the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. CPA and advisory services may be provided through separate firms.