You’ve worked hard to build your career and your wealth. Retirement should feel like freedom, not fear. Yet the closer you get to it, the more anxious you may feel.
You wonder whether your savings will last as long as you do. You imagine what would happen if the market dropped just as you stopped working. You think about how much of your nest egg will really be yours once taxes take their share.
And you may admit to yourself that you feel less in control of your future than you ever expected.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. The truth is, the traditional retirement system wasn’t built to give you clarity or confidence.
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For decades, the financial industry has sold a simple formula: save into a 401(k), defer your taxes, and hope the market grows your account.
At first glance, it sounds reasonable. But under the surface, this model is full of flaws.
It was designed backwards. Traditional planning teaches you to focus on building a nest egg, but never shows you how to safely turn that balance into a predictable income stream.
Most retirees discover too late that the so-called “4% rule” leaves them with a fraction of what they thought they’d be able to spend. Furthermore, it leaves them with the constant risk that a market downturn could wipe out years of progress.
On top of that, deferred taxes turn into a ticking time bomb. Every withdrawal in retirement is taxable, and with national debt at historic levels, higher future rates are almost inevitable.
Now add in decades of fees quietly compounding against your returns, plus penalties and restrictions that keep you from accessing your own money.
It’s no wonder so many people approaching retirement feel uneasy—even after “doing everything right.”
You deserve a plan that feels steady, secure, and under your control.
At Eastman Wealth Strategies, we help families replace the guesswork with clarity by designing retirement income plans that are:
Tax-efficient.
Insulated from market crashes.
Flexible enough to adapt as life changes.
Imagine watching your account steadily grow, even in years when the market crashes.
Imagine knowing your retirement income won’t evaporate because of a poorly timed downturn.
Imagine being able to access your money without worrying about penalties or government restrictions.
That’s what a retirement plan built for control and confidence can deliver.
Instead of placing all of your trust in Wall Street, we design a protected retirement income asset to sit alongside your investments. Here’s how it works in practice:
You contribute with after-tax dollars, which means your growth and withdrawals in retirement are tax-free.
Your money is shielded from losses with a contractual 0% floor. While your account is linked to a market index for growth, you’re never exposed to actual market declines.
When retirement arrives, you draw income through structured withdrawals and policy loans, giving you cash flow that is tax-free for life.
Because this account functions as a buffer, you never have to sell from your volatile investments in a down year. That single adjustment—skipping withdrawals when markets are down—can mean hundreds of thousands more in lifetime income.
Consider two families, each with a $1 million nest egg. The first relies solely on a traditional 401(k).
Following the 4% rule, they limit withdrawals to $40,000 a year before taxes. A market downturn early in retirement cuts their balance, forcing them to tighten their budget just to avoid running out.
The second family works with us to create a distribution-focused plan. By coordinating tax-free withdrawals and using a protected income asset as their buffer, their same $1 million provides $90,000 to $120,000 of annual tax-free income.
Even when the market dips, their spending doesn’t have to. The difference isn’t chasing higher returns. It’s structuring income to last.
The families who benefit most from this approach are those nearing or entering retirement who want predictability over speculation.
They’ve saved diligently, but they don’t want to gamble their future on the hope that markets and taxes will cooperate. They value clarity, control, and a steady income they can count on.
This strategy isn’t ideal for someone chasing maximum upside risk or looking for a quick fix. It requires consistent funding, thoughtful design, and a commitment to long-term results.
But for those who want peace of mind and a clear plan for the decades ahead, it’s often a game-changer.
Every financial strategy comes with tradeoffs, and we believe in being transparent.
By choosing protection, you give up some of the market’s unlimited upside in exchange for security against losses.
Costs are concentrated in the early years, which makes proper design and funding discipline essential.
Loans taken in retirement carry interest, and the plan must be monitored to keep everything in balance.
There’s also health underwriting involved, which is why we encourage families to start the process sooner rather than later.
Handled properly, these tradeoffs are exactly what make the strategy work—providing a foundation of safety and predictability for your retirement years.
Our process begins with a simple Discovery Call where we learn about your goals, concerns, and timeline.
From there, we create a Retirement Income Map that shows how your various accounts, including Social Security, pensions, investments, and protected assets, can work together to fund your lifestyle.
We review the plan with you in simple, understandable terms. We stress-test it against taxes and market downturns.
When you decide to move forward, we handle the details of setup and stay with you through annual reviews to ensure your plan adapts as laws and life evolve.
If you’re approaching retirement, now is the time to evaluate how much control and tax efficiency you really have in your plan. Our Financial Control & Tax Efficiency Scorecard will show you exactly where you stand.
If you’d rather skip the quiz and start the conversation, schedule a relaxed, 20-minute Discovery Call. It’s the easiest way to gain clarity about your options and see if we’re the right fit.
*Disclaimer: Financial Advisors do not provide specific tax/legal advice and this information should not be considered as such. You should always consult your tax/legal advisor regarding your own specific tax/legal situation. Separate from the financial plan and our role as a financial planner, we may recommend the purchase of specific investment or insurance products or account. These product recommendations are not part of the financial plan and you are under no obligation to follow them. Life insurance products contain fees, such as mortality and expense charges (which may increase over time), and may contain restrictions, such as surrender periods.