Retirement planning has evolved far beyond saving enough to stop working. For CPAs, this shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity to guide clients through a personal transition that requires more than just financial expertise. Today’s retirees are living longer, working later and reimagining what this phase of life looks like. It’s our role to help them clarify not just how much money they’ll need, but what they want the rest of their life to look like — and how to finance it with precision.
Moving Beyond the Numbers
Traditional retirement planning focused on building a nest egg and then drawing it down in a predictable way. But clients now face a different reality. Retirement often lasts 20 to 30 years —or more — and includes varying stages of health, productivity and financial needs. Retirement is no longer a one-size-fits-all milestone — it’s a personal, evolving journey that demands flexible, tailored planning.
As trusted advisors, CPAs can facilitate a new kind of conversation — one that helps clients set specific goals for their post-career life, define what gives them purpose and assess how their resources can support that vision. We still need to calculate income projections, tax implications and investment strategies. But first, we need to understand what our clients want their retirement to look like.
Helping Clients Define Their Vision
Purpose-driven planning begins by asking clients the right questions:
- Which dreams or passions are you ready to pursue?
- How do you want to use your time, skills and energy?
- What impact do you want to have on your family, community or the world?
- What legacy do you want to leave, and how will you start now?
Helping clients explore personal goals can reveal new interests — from travel and volunteering to starting a business, part-time work or creative pursuits. These choices affect finances and shape a meaningful retirement plan.
CPAs can guide this process using tools like vision statements or bucket list exercises to align financial strategies with what matters most to each client.
Planning with Precision
Once the client’s goals are clear, the financial plan can take shape. Retirement today involves managing multiple risks: longevity, inflation, market volatility and rising healthcare costs. CPAs are uniquely positioned to integrate tax strategy, income planning and investment analysis into a comprehensive retirement roadmap.
Key considerations include the following:
- Income streams: Coordinate Social Security benefits, required minimum distributions (RMDs), pension payouts and annuities. Evaluate timing strategies to maximize benefits and reduce tax exposure.
- Spending projections: Categorize needs using frameworks like the “4 Ls:” Longevity (basic living costs), Lifestyle (discretionary spending), Liquidity (emergency reserves) and Legacy (estate or charitable giving).
- Investment strategy: Recommend decumulation strategies that maintain flexibility and mitigate sequencing risk. Encourage clients to remain partially invested for growth while planning safe withdrawal rates based on current market conditions.
- Health and care planning: Address potential costs of long-term care, assisted living and healthcare. Health saving accounts (HSAs), long-term care insurance and strategic use of home equity may play important roles.
- Tax efficiency: Structure account withdrawals and asset location to optimize after-tax income. Consider Roth conversions, catch-up contributions and the impact of capital gains or Medicare surcharges.
Behavioral Support and Emotional Readiness
Even financially prepared clients can feel uncertain as they adjust to life after work. The loss of routine, purpose and social connection can be disorienting. As trusted advisors, CPAs can help clients navigate this shift by framing retirement as a new phase of opportunity, not an end. By addressing both the financial and personal sides of the transition, we offer support that goes beyond the numbers.
Regular Reviews and Flexibility
Retirement planning doesn’t stop at retirement. As goals, markets and life circumstances change, annual reviews should reassess spending, risks and priorities.
CPAs add the most value when we go beyond the numbers to understand what clients want from this next chapter. By combining financial expertise with meaningful conversations, we help clients define success and live it with purpose.