The things people ask before they book.

Nothing. The Heard First Session is one hour, by video or phone. You pay nothing, and you owe nothing when the hour is over.

Nothing. No statements, no documents. If a number matters, we will ask for it later, in writing.

We listen first. You tell us what worries you and what you want. Then we ask questions. You leave knowing where you stand. If you want to go further, the plan comes next: we map your picture across the Five Worlds and build one plan. Then the plan goes to work and stays current.

No. The first session is a talk about your plan, not a request to move accounts. If we decide to work together later, that is a separate choice you make on your own time.

Yes, and please bring them. Plans hold better when the people they touch have heard the reasoning first-hand.

People within about five years of retirement, or already retired, with roughly one million dollars or more set aside. If that is not you yet, the library is open to everyone. No session needed.

Often. FERS, the survivor election, and the TSP withdrawal choices carry decisions you cannot undo. So we treat them as their own planning track. Many of the federal employees we meet live around St. Louis and central Illinois.

Yes. In Peoria and across central Illinois, pensions are still common. A pension, Social Security, and a 401(k) are three answers that have to become one income plan.

Yes. Stock plans and deferred pay show up most in our St. Louis office. Untangling them into one plan is a large share of the work there.

Then the order of your withdrawals matters now, not later. We still start with the same hour, and the plan is still built across the same Five Worlds.

Often, yes. Many plans fix pieces: investments here, taxes there, an estate document in a drawer. We start from the life you want and build one plan across all Five Worlds. The pieces stop working against each other.

It is what changes when the five questions of retirement are answered as one plan instead of five separate products. It is a way of working, not a number. It is never a forecast, a performance figure, or a promise of any result.

Yes, when it serves the plan. The plan comes first. The portfolio is built to produce the income the plan calls for.

As often as life calls for it, sometimes more than once a year. The plan is meant to stay current, not sit in a binder.

Gladly. The practice is CPA-led, so we are used to working with the professionals already in your corner, not around them.

Yes. Advisory services are provided through Virtus Wealth Management LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor held to a fiduciary standard. Your interests come first, and that duty is put in writing.

We are paid for advisory work. The fee is disclosed in writing, in plain numbers, before any engagement begins. Form CRS and Form ADV Part 2A describe it in full.

Three. St. Louis, at 9378 Olive Blvd, Suite 102 in Olivette, Missouri. Bloomington, at 306 E. Grove St. in downtown Bloomington, Illinois. Peoria, at 808 West Trailcreek Dr. in Peoria, Illinois, on the north side.

Both. Sessions and reviews run by video or phone as easily as in St. Louis, Bloomington, or Peoria. Pick whichever you will actually keep.

Most of the people we work with live near one of our three offices. If you live somewhere else, ask us in the session.

There is no single number, and a balance alone cannot answer it. The better question is whether reliable income covers your essential spending. That is the income floor. Start by listing essential costs. Subtract Social Security and any pension. Look at the gap that remains.

Any age from 62 to 70. Claiming at 62 cuts the check for life. For anyone born in 1960 or later, that is roughly 70 percent of the full benefit. Waiting past the full retirement age of 67 grows it about eight percent a year, to roughly 124 percent at 70. Health, work plans, and a spouse's benefit all move the answer.

Age 73 for people born 1951 through 1959, and age 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Roth IRAs have no lifetime required distributions. As of 2024, Roth workplace accounts no longer do either. The start age is set by law and does not wait for you to need the money.

An income-based addition to Medicare Part B and Part D premiums. It applies when your income crosses set lines, measured from your tax return two years earlier. One dollar over a line triggers that tier's full surcharge. That is why retirement withdrawals get planned with IRMAA in view.

Sometimes. The years between retirement and the RMD start age can be a low-bracket window where converting is unusually cheap. But conversions raise this year's income, can trigger IRMAA, and cannot be undone. Model it before acting.

Illinois does not tax Social Security, pensions, or withdrawals from an IRA or 401(k). Missouri stopped taxing Social Security in 2024, but it still taxes most IRA and 401(k) withdrawals and some pension income. The rules have limits and they change, so check your own numbers before you act.