Case Studies

Meet Mark & Susan

Approaching retirement, they wanted confidence that they could stop working without second-guessing every financial decision.

Mark and Susan are in their early 60s and live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. After decades of saving, raising a family, and building successful careers, retirement finally felt close enough to become real.

Mark works in engineering and Susan spent much of her career in education. They had been diligent savers, lived within their means, and accumulated several investment and retirement accounts over the years. On paper, they felt like they had done “the right things.”

But as retirement approached, they realized that saving for retirement and actually retiring are two very different challenges.

They were no longer asking, “Are we saving enough?”

They were asking:

How do we turn everything we’ve built into a retirement plan that actually works?

Mark and Susan Were Five Years From Retirement

Mark hoped to retire around age 65. Susan was considering retiring a year or two earlier, but they were not sure whether that would create unnecessary pressure on their plan.

Their financial life had become more complicated than they expected. Between old 401(k)s, current employer plans, taxable investment accounts, cash savings, Social Security decisions, Medicare timing, and questions about taxes, they wanted help bringing everything together.

They were not looking for someone to simply manage investments.

They wanted a clear plan.

They wanted to know whether they could retire comfortably, how much they could spend, where their income would come from, and what they should be doing in the years leading up to retirement to avoid costly mistakes.

Most importantly, they wanted to make decisions with confidence instead of guessing.

The Challenge

Mark and Susan had done a good job saving, but they did not yet have a coordinated retirement strategy.

Like many people nearing retirement, they had accumulated wealth across several different places:

• Mark’s current 401(k)

• Susan’s 403(b)

• Traditional IRAs from prior jobs

• Roth IRA accounts

• A joint taxable brokerage account

• Cash savings

• Home equity

• Future Social Security benefits

Each piece made sense on its own. But they had never stepped back to see how all the pieces worked together.

They had important questions:

• Can we retire when we want to?

• How much can we safely spend each year?

• Which accounts should we withdraw from first?

• Should we consider Roth conversions before required minimum distributions begin?

• When should each of us claim Social Security?

• How do we avoid paying more taxes than necessary in retirement?

• Should we pay off the mortgage before retiring?

• Are we invested appropriately for this next stage of life?

• How should we plan for healthcare before and after Medicare?

Their biggest concern was not one specific issue. It was the uncertainty.

They did not want to enter retirement with a collection of accounts and assumptions. They wanted a thoughtful, personalized plan that helped them make confident decisions.

The Haven Approach

For Mark and Susan, the goal was to create a retirement plan where each decision supported the others.

At Haven Financial Advisors, we believe retirement planning should be thoughtful, personal, and coordinated. For Mark and Susan, that meant looking beyond investments alone and building a strategy around income, taxes, healthcare, Social Security, risk, and their long-term goals.

Their plan focused on five key areas.

1. Retirement Readiness

The first step was answering the question that mattered most:

Can we retire with confidence?

We reviewed their income sources, savings, spending needs, debt, insurance, and long-term goals. Then we modeled different retirement timelines to help them understand how retiring at 63, 65, or 67 could affect their plan.

This gave Mark and Susan a clearer picture of what was possible and what tradeoffs they needed to consider.

Instead of relying on a single retirement date, they were able to compare multiple scenarios and make a more informed decision.

2. Retirement Income Planning

Saving for retirement is one phase. Creating income from those savings is another.

Mark and Susan needed a strategy for turning their investment accounts into reliable retirement income. We helped them evaluate which accounts to use first, how much cash to keep available, and how to coordinate withdrawals with Social Security and future required minimum distributions.

The goal was to create a retirement income plan that felt structured but flexible.

They wanted to enjoy retirement, travel, help their children when appropriate, and give generously to causes they cared about. At the same time, they did not want to overspend early or create unnecessary tax problems later.

A clear income plan helped them understand how their money could support their life, not just sit on a statement.

3. Tax Planning

Taxes were one of the most important parts of Mark and Susan’s retirement transition.

During their working years, most of their income had been predictable. But retirement would create new planning opportunities and potential tax traps.

We reviewed opportunities such as:

• Roth conversions before required minimum distributions begin

• Tax-efficient withdrawal sequencing

• Managing capital gains in taxable accounts

• Coordinating charitable giving with their tax strategy

• Avoiding unnecessary Medicare premium surprises

• Planning around future Social Security taxation

The years between retirement and required minimum distributions can be especially valuable. For Mark and Susan, those years could provide an opportunity to intentionally recognize income at lower tax rates and reduce future tax pressure.

Rather than focusing only on this year’s tax bill, we helped them think about their lifetime tax picture.

4. Investment Alignment

Mark and Susan had several accounts invested in different ways. Some accounts were more aggressive than they realized. Others held overlapping funds. Their portfolio had grown over time, but it was not fully aligned with their retirement income needs.

We reviewed their investment allocation across all accounts and helped create a more intentional strategy.

The objective was not to avoid risk entirely. Retirement can last decades, and long-term growth still matters. But the type of risk they took needed to match their goals, timeline, and income needs.

Their investment plan was designed to:

• Improve diversification

• Create a more intentional balance between growth and stability

• Support future withdrawals

• Align with their comfort level and long-term goals

With a clearer portfolio structure, Mark and Susan could better understand why they owned what they owned.

5. Social Security, Medicare, and Healthcare Planning

Mark and Susan knew Social Security would be an important part of their retirement income, but they were unsure when to claim.

We reviewed different claiming strategies and helped them understand how timing could affect their lifetime income, survivor benefits, and tax picture.

Healthcare was another major planning item. Because Susan was considering retiring before Medicare eligibility, we explored how they might bridge the gap and what healthcare costs could look like during the transition.

We also discussed Medicare timing and how future income decisions could affect Medicare premiums.

This helped them avoid treating Social Security, Medicare, and taxes as separate decisions. Each one was built into the broader retirement strategy.

The Results

Mark and Susan moved from uncertainty to a clearer, more coordinated retirement plan.

After going through the planning process, Mark and Susan had a better understanding of where they stood and what steps to take before retirement.

They now had:

• A clearer retirement timeline

• A personalized income strategy

• A more coordinated investment plan

• A tax-aware withdrawal approach

• A better understanding of Roth conversion opportunities

• A Social Security strategy built into their larger plan

• A healthcare and Medicare planning framework

• A prioritized list of action items for the next several years

They still had decisions to make, but those decisions no longer felt overwhelming.

Instead of wondering whether they were missing something, they had a plan they could revisit and adjust as life changed.

That gave them the confidence to focus less on spreadsheets and more on what they were actually retiring to: time with family, travel, serving in their church, and enjoying the freedom they had worked so hard to create.

Disclosure: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual Haven Financial Advisors client. It is provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that any client or prospective client will experience the same or similar results. Individual circumstances vary, and financial planning recommendations should be based on each client’s unique goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, tax situation, and overall financial circumstances.

Meet Linda

Recently retired, financially independent, and ready for a clearer plan for the next chapter of life.

Linda is 69 years old and lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. After a long career in healthcare administration, she retired a few years ago and now spends her time traveling, volunteering, staying active in her church, and enjoying more time with her family and friends.

Linda had always been responsible with money. She saved consistently, avoided unnecessary debt, and built a solid financial foundation. By the time she retired, she owned her home, had accumulated retirement savings, and felt grateful to be financially independent.

But retirement brought a new set of questions.

While working, most financial decisions felt straightforward. She had a paycheck, contributed to her retirement accounts, paid her bills, and saved what she could.

Now, without a paycheck, every decision felt more impactful.

She wondered:

Am I making the right moves to make my money last, reduce taxes, and protect my independence?

Linda Was Already Retired, But She Didn’t Have a Coordinated Retirement Plan

Linda had enough resources to feel comfortable, but she did not feel fully confident.

Her financial life included:

• A traditional IRA

• A Roth IRA

• A taxable investment account

• Bank savings and CDs

• Social Security income

• A modest pension

• Home equity

• Charitable giving goals

• Estate planning documents that had not been reviewed in years

Nothing was obviously “wrong.”

But she did not have a clear strategy for how all the pieces should work together.

She had questions about how much she could safely spend, whether her investments were too conservative or too risky, how future required minimum distributions could affect her taxes, and whether she should be doing anything differently with charitable giving.

She also wanted to make sure that if her health changed later in life, her finances would still support her independence and dignity.

Linda was not looking for a complicated financial plan filled with jargon.

She wanted clarity, organization, and a trusted advisor who could help her make thoughtful decisions as life changed.

The Challenge

Linda had done a great job getting to retirement. Now she needed help navigating retirement.

Many retirees assume the hardest financial work is done once they stop working. But retirement often creates some of the most important planning decisions of a person’s life.

For Linda, the challenge was not simply managing investments.

It was answering questions like:

• How much can I comfortably spend each year?

• Which accounts should I use first?

• How do I reduce taxes on retirement income?

• Should I consider Roth conversions?

• How will required minimum distributions affect me?

• Am I taking the right amount of investment risk?

• How should I plan for healthcare and long-term care needs?

• Can I continue giving to charity in a tax-efficient way?

• Are my estate documents and beneficiary designations up to date?

• Who will help coordinate things if I need support later in life?

Linda also felt the weight of being the primary decision-maker.

Because she was single, she wanted a plan that did not depend on someone else stepping in to figure everything out later. She wanted her finances organized, her wishes documented, and her plan built around maintaining independence for as long as possible.

Her biggest goal was simple:

She wanted to enjoy retirement without constantly wondering whether she was missing something important.

The Haven Approach

For Linda, retirement planning was about creating clarity, confidence, and control.

At Haven Financial Advisors, we believe retirement planning should go beyond investments. For Linda, that meant creating a coordinated strategy around income, taxes, investments, healthcare, charitable giving, estate planning, and future decision-making.

Her plan focused on five key areas.

1. Retirement Income Planning

The first priority was helping Linda understand how her income sources could work together.

She had Social Security, a small pension, and several investment accounts. But she was unsure how much she could withdraw, which accounts to draw from first, and how to balance near-term spending with long-term security.

We helped Linda create a retirement income plan designed to answer:

• What income is guaranteed?

• What income needs to come from investments?

• How much should remain in cash reserves?

• Which accounts should be used first?

• How should withdrawals adjust over time?

• What happens if markets are down?

• What happens if healthcare costs increase?

The goal was not to create a rigid plan.

The goal was to give Linda a practical framework for spending with confidence while still protecting her long-term financial security.

With a clearer income plan, Linda could better understand what she could afford, where her money would come from, and how her plan could adapt over time.

2. Tax Planning and Withdrawal Strategy

Linda had most of her retirement savings in a traditional IRA. That created a future tax issue.

Even though she did not need large withdrawals right away, required minimum distributions would eventually force money out of her IRA whether she needed it or not. Those withdrawals could increase her taxable income, affect Medicare premiums, and reduce flexibility later in retirement.

We reviewed tax planning opportunities such as:

• Coordinating IRA withdrawals with taxable account income

• Evaluating partial Roth conversions

• Managing future required minimum distributions

• Using charitable giving strategies to reduce taxable income

• Avoiding unnecessary capital gains

• Reviewing the tax impact of different withdrawal sequences

For Linda, the goal was not simply to minimize taxes in one year.

It was to make thoughtful decisions that could help reduce lifetime taxes and preserve flexibility.

We helped her think about taxes as part of the retirement plan, not as something to react to every April.

3. Investment Alignment

Linda’s portfolio had been built over many years, but it had not been fully updated for her current stage of life.

Some investments were more aggressive than she realized. Others were overly conservative and could make it harder to keep up with inflation. Several holdings overlapped, and she was unsure whether her investment strategy matched her actual income needs.

We reviewed her accounts together and helped create a more intentional investment plan.

The objective was to balance three priorities:

• Maintain enough stability for near-term income needs

• Preserve long-term growth potential

• Reduce unnecessary complexity

For Linda, the right investment strategy was not about chasing performance.

It was about making sure her portfolio supported her life.

That meant having enough liquidity for upcoming expenses, enough growth potential for a long retirement, and enough structure to avoid making emotional decisions during market volatility.

4. Healthcare, Medicare, and Long-Term Care Planning

As a single retiree, Linda wanted to be especially thoughtful about healthcare and future care needs.

She was already enrolled in Medicare, but she wanted to better understand how her income decisions could affect Medicare premiums and how to plan for costs that may arise later in life.

We reviewed:

• Medicare premium considerations

• Potential IRMAA exposure

• Supplemental insurance considerations

• Emergency reserve needs

• Long-term care planning options

• Aging-in-place goals

• How future health changes could affect her spending plan

Linda did not want fear to drive her decisions.

But she did want to be realistic.

By incorporating healthcare and long-term care planning into her retirement strategy, she felt more prepared for the unknowns that often come with aging.

5. Estate Planning, Beneficiaries, and Legacy Goals

Linda had estate documents in place, but they had not been reviewed in several years.

Because she was single, this part of the plan was especially important. She wanted to make sure the right people could step in if needed and that her wishes were clearly documented.

We helped Linda identify items to review with her estate planning attorney, including:

• Her will

• Financial power of attorney

• Healthcare power of attorney

• Living will or advance healthcare directive

• Beneficiary designations

• Trusted contacts

• Legacy wishes

• Charitable intentions

We also reviewed how her account titling and beneficiary designations aligned with her estate plan.

This helped Linda feel more organized and reassured that her wishes would be easier for loved ones to follow.

Her legacy goals were not only about leaving money behind.

They were about making life easier for the people she cared about and supporting the causes that mattered to her.

The Results

Linda gained a clearer plan for enjoying retirement while protecting her future.

After going through the planning process, Linda felt more organized and more confident about her financial life.

She now had:

• A clearer retirement income strategy

• A more intentional withdrawal plan

• A tax-aware approach to IRA distributions and Roth conversions

• A better understanding of future required minimum distributions

• An investment strategy aligned with her income needs and risk comfort

• A plan for healthcare and potential long-term care costs

• Updated estate planning priorities to discuss with her attorney

• A more organized picture of her accounts, beneficiaries, and financial documents

• A trusted advisor relationship to help her adjust as life changes

The biggest change was not just financial.

It was emotional.

Linda no longer felt like she had to make every decision alone. She had a plan, a process, and someone to help her evaluate important financial decisions as they came up.

That gave her more freedom to enjoy retirement on her terms.

She could travel, give, spend time with people she loved, and live with greater confidence knowing her financial plan was built around her life.

Disclosure: The above case study is hypothetical and does not involve an actual Haven Financial Advisors client. It is provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be interpreted as a guarantee that any client or prospective client will experience the same or similar results. Individual circumstances vary, and financial planning recommendations should be based on each client’s unique goals, risk tolerance, time horizon, tax situation, and overall financial circumstances.