Retirement Planning for Indiana Families
Will your savings actually last? We help you build a retirement paycheck that doesn't run out.
You spend 30 to 40 years building something. The Other 90 Financial helps Christians turn a lifetime of savings into a reliable, tax-efficient income stream designed to last as long as you do.
"They will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green."
Psalm 92:14
THE PROBLEM ────
Retirement income is a different sport than accumulation.
For your entire working life, the math was simple: save more, invest broadly, ignore the noise, repeat. That strategy built your wealth. It is not the strategy that should distribute it.
The portfolio still has to grow in retirement - but now it also has to produce a paycheck, manage taxes across multiple account types, and survive years when the market gives you nothing or actively takes from you.
That last piece - sequence of returns risk - is what most people don't understand until it's too late. Two retirees can earn the same average return over retirement and end up with wildly different outcomes depending on when the bad years happen. A 30% drop in year 25 is a footnote. A 30% drop in year 2, while you're pulling income, can permanently reduce what your portfolio can ever support again.
A good retirement income strategy holds two problems in tension at once: don't run out of money, and don't lose your spending power to inflation. Neither extreme works. That's the balancing act we help you get right.
A 3% inflation rate cuts your purchasing power roughly in half over twenty-five years. The grocery store costs more every year. So do property taxes, medications, insurance premiums, and visits to the grandkids.
Hold too much in cash and inflation eats you alive. Hold too much in stocks and a bad sequence of market returns can wreck your plan in the first decade. The structure has to hold both problems at once.
THE WAR CHEST METHODOLOGY ───
A structured approach to turning savings into income.
We build a retirement income around a three-bucket framework designed to keep near-term needs met, the medium-term protected, and the long-term growth engine running - regardless of what the market does.
List of Services
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01 - Cash Bucket - 1 to 3 years of spendingList Item 1
A pool of cash and short-term reserves that covers near-term spending without touching equities. When the market is down, income comes from here - not from selling stocks at a discount. This is the buffer that lets the rest of the plan breathe.
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02 - Bond Bucket - the medium-term bridgeList Item 2
A laddered portfolio of high-quality bonds that funds the next several years of income beyond cash. As the cash bucket draws down, bonds refill it. This bridge keeps you from being forced to sell equities at the wrong time - the most common retirement mistake.
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03 - Equity Bucket - the long-term growth engineList Item 3
Globally diversified equities invested for the long term, without the pressure of near-term income needs. The cash and bond buckets create the runway needed for equities to do their job - compound over time - without the panic that forces bad decisions in down markets.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE ──
When retirement planning is working, you'll feel it.
Generosity gets easier - not harder - as you age, because the framework is in place and the friction is gone.
1 You know exactly how much you can spend and sleep well because of it
2 Market downturns don't force you to sell or change your lifestyle
3 Your income strategy accounts for taxes, not just gross withdrawals
4 Inflation is built into the plan - your purchasing power is protected
5 Your surviving spouse has a clear, funded plan if you go first
6 Legacy goals - church, family, charity - are funded alongside lifestyle
COMMON QUESTIONS ──
Frequently asked questions about retirement income planning
What is sequence of returns risk and why does it matter?
Sequence of returns risk is the danger that a significant market decline early in retirement - while you're withdrawing income - can permanently reduce what your portfolio can support, even if long-term average returns look fine. Two retirees with identical average returns can have vastly different outcomes if one experiences bad years at the start and the other near the end. It's the primary reason the accumulation strategy that built your wealth isn't the right strategy for distributing it.
How much can I safely withdraw from my portfolio each year?
The right withdrawal rate depends on your specific situation - portfolio size, asset allocation, other income sources (Social Security, pension, rental), tax structure, spending goals, and longevity expectations. The generic "4% rule" is a starting point for conversation, not a plan. We build a withdrawal strategy around your actual numbers, not a rule of thumb.
What's the difference between the War Chest approach and a simple total return strategy?
A total return strategy pools all assets together and withdraws from whichever bucket makes sense each year. The War Chest approach segments assets by time horizon - cash for now, bonds for the medium term, equities for the long term - creating a behavioral structure that keeps near-term income needs from forcing equity sales at the wrong time. In practice, the two approaches can produce similar results mathematically, but the War Chest structure tends to produce better investor behavior under stress.
How does inflation affect a retirement income plan?
At 3% annual inflation, your purchasing power is cut roughly in half over twenty-five years. A spending plan that looks comfortable at 65 can feel tight at 80 if inflation wasn't built in. We model your plan with realistic inflation assumptions, including the fact that healthcare costs tend to inflate faster than general CPI, and structure the equity component to provide long-term purchasing power protection.
