Optimizing Retirement Income: Modeling Tax-Efficient Decumulation and Social Security Strategies with Income Lab

As clients enter retirement, the sequence in which they draw income from qualified, nonqualified, and tax-advantaged accounts can significantly affect their long-term financial security. This advanced session demonstrates how to use Income Lab to design and evaluate some of the most tax-efficient decumulation strategies available to financial advisors today.

Dr. Justin Fitzpatrick, Co-Founder and CIO of Income Lab, will show how advisors can model optimal withdrawal sequences across IRAs, Roth accounts, taxable portfolios, annuities, and other retirement vehicles. Using scenario-based planning, Justin will illustrate how advisors can reduce lifetime tax drag, minimize IRMAA surcharges, align withdrawals with effective marginal tax rates, and extend retirement sustainability through more intelligent distribution strategies.

Justin will also demonstrate how Income Lab can be used to evaluate Social Security claiming strategies, quantify the long-term opportunity costs of claiming early versus delaying, and integrate Social Security decisions into a coordinated withdrawal plan.

Participants will learn how to:

• Model tax-efficient withdrawal sequences from qualified, nonqualified, and tax-advantaged accounts
• Assess the interplay between RMDs, Roth conversions, and taxable income management
• Identify strategies for reducing lifetime taxes, smoothing income, and mitigating IRMAA exposure
• Integrate Social Security claiming analysis into a unified retirement income plan
• Quantify opportunity costs associated with claiming early—and demonstrate thm clearly to clients
• Use Income Lab to communicate dynamic retirement income strategies and help clients adapt to changing conditions