Turn $1M+ in retirement savings into a tax-efficient income that lasts.
Fee-only fiduciary planning for Bay Area pre-retirees and retirees, built around proprietary withdrawal-tax optimization software.
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The first five years of retirement decide the next thirty.
For Bay Area households with $1 million or more in retirement savings, the transition from accumulating to drawing down is the most consequential financial decision of your life — and the one where most retirees receive the least useful guidance. Decisions made in the first five years of retirement compound across every year that follows. Get them right and you protect three decades of cash flow, taxes, and legacy. Get them wrong and the cost is six or seven figures over a 30-year retirement.
Living in the Bay Area amplifies every variable. Cost of living runs roughly twice the national average. California state income tax stacks on top of federal. Concentrated equity from technology employers creates outsized capital gains exposure. Property values mean estate planning isn't optional. None of this is handled well by retirement rules of thumb developed for the national median household.
Index Gurus, Inc. is a fee-only fiduciary registered investment adviser based in Concord, California. We work directly with pre-retirees and retirees in the Bay Area to build retirement income plans that explicitly model the decisions that matter most — withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion strategy, Social Security claiming, IRMAA management, and sequence-of-returns risk — using proprietary tax-optimization software we developed in-house.
The six decisions that shape lifetime retirement outcomes.
A complete retirement income plan addresses six interconnected decisions. Each interacts with the others; none can be optimized in isolation.
Withdrawal sequencing
The order in which you draw from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts shapes your lifetime tax bill more than almost any other decision. Conventional wisdom (taxable first, then tax-deferred, then Roth) is often suboptimal for $1M+ households.
Roth conversion strategy
The window between retirement and the start of Required Minimum Distributions at 73 is often the highest-leverage tax planning opportunity of your life. The right multi-year conversion size is rarely zero, and rarely "as much as possible."
Social Security claiming
The decision to claim at 62, full retirement age, or 70 has implications across longevity, taxation, spousal and survivor benefits, and household withdrawal timing. "Wait until 70" is not always right.
IRMAA bracket management
For 2026, Medicare IRMAA surcharges begin at $218,000 MAGI for joint filers. The cliff structure means a single dollar over a threshold can cost a couple thousands per year in additional Medicare premiums — for two years.
Sequence-of-returns risk
The order in which investment returns occur during the withdrawal phase affects portfolio survival more than the average return itself. A poor first decade can permanently impair a plan that would have worked under any reasonable long-run assumption.
RMD planning
Required Minimum Distributions begin at age 73 and rise as a percentage of account balances every year thereafter. Without advance planning, RMDs frequently push retirees into permanently higher tax brackets and IRMAA tiers in their late 70s and 80s.
What separates our process: the plan, and the math behind it.
Most Bay Area advisors deliver one half of a retirement income solution: either a financial plan written without the analytical depth to model multi-year tax outcomes, or a software-generated projection that ignores the qualitative half of a real household's life. We deliver both, and we built our own software to do it.
Holistic Retirement Plan
A written, comprehensive plan that addresses the full picture of your household — not just investments. Each engagement covers:
- Income, cash flow, and spending priorities through retirement
- Withdrawal sequencing and Roth conversion strategy
- Social Security claiming, with spousal and survivor analysis
- IRMAA bracket management across the next decade
- Investment allocation and risk management
- Estate, beneficiary, and charitable giving coordination
- Insurance and long-term care considerations
- Coordination with your CPA and estate attorney
DrawDownIQ — proprietary modeling
Software we built in-house specifically to answer the questions standard advisor tools cannot. DrawDownIQ models multi-year retirement-distribution scenarios across:
- Federal ordinary income brackets and capital gains rates
- 2026 IRMAA surcharge tiers, both spouses
- Required Minimum Distributions from age 73
- After-tax cash flow under three competing strategies, side by side
- Year-by-year visualization of tax bracket exposure
Neither component alone is sufficient. A plan without rigorous tax modeling makes recommendations the math doesn't support. Software output without a financial plan around it is just a calculation in search of a context. The combination is what produces decisions you can act on with confidence.
Three different futures from the same starting point.
The most useful question DrawDownIQ answers is also the one most retirees never get a clear answer to: given what I have today, how do different withdrawal strategies actually compare over the next 30 years?
Every retirement income plan we deliver includes a side-by-side comparison of three withdrawal strategies, modeled year by year through age 95. The same household, the same starting balances, the same Social Security claim age — three different futures. The output makes visible what is otherwise invisible: how much is paid in lifetime taxes, how much is left at age 80, age 85, age 90; which strategy is most resilient to market drawdowns in the first five years; which produces the most after-tax income consistently and which produces the most legacy value.
Tax-smart blend
A coordinated draw from each account type each year, sized to fill specific tax brackets without crossing IRMAA thresholds. Often the most tax-efficient over a full retirement, but requires active rebalancing of the withdrawal mix as circumstances change.
IRA-first
Draw down tax-deferred accounts aggressively in the early retirement years to reduce future RMDs, accepting higher taxes today in exchange for materially smaller required distributions and IRMAA exposure later in life.
Strategic 4% Roth taper
Use a measured 4% withdrawal rate while opportunistically converting to Roth in low-income years. Aims to preserve longevity of the portfolio while building tax-free balances for the second half of retirement and beyond.
The right strategy is not the one that wins on a spreadsheet by the largest margin — it is the one that wins consistently across the realistic range of outcomes your household might experience: a strong market for the next decade, a weak market, an unexpected long-term care event, a longer-than-expected retirement, a shorter one. We model each of those stress cases against each strategy. The strategy we recommend is the one that holds up across all of them, not the one that wins narrowly under the most optimistic assumption.
This is the answer to the question every retiree quietly carries: will my money last? The honest answer is "it depends on the choices you make." DrawDownIQ makes those choices, and their consequences, visible.
Request a free promo code.
DrawDownIQ is a paid subscription tool that lets you model your own retirement-distribution scenarios across federal taxes, IRMAA, and Required Minimum Distributions. To explore it before deciding whether to subscribe, request a free promo code. Click the button below and your email will open with the request pre-filled — send it and we will reply with a code within one business day.
Email me a promo codeDrawDownIQ outputs are educational and illustrative; they do not constitute personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Promo codes are issued by Index Gurus, Inc.
How an engagement works.
Discovery call
A 30-minute conversation, at no cost, to understand your situation, your most pressing decisions, and what you want from a long-term advisor relationship. By the end of the call we will tell you honestly whether the engagement is a fit.
Financial planning engagement
Standalone planning engagements start at $2,950 and produce a written plan covering withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion strategy, Social Security, IRMAA, investments, estate, and insurance — typically delivered in four weeks across three working sessions.
Ongoing relationship
Households with $1 million or more in investable assets may engage Index Gurus for ongoing investment management and continued planning, billed as an annual percentage of assets under management.
Free guide: tax-efficient withdrawal sequencing in retirement.
A 15-page educational guide for $1M+ pre-retirees and retirees, covering the analytical structure behind a sound multi-year withdrawal plan. Topics include: the five components of a complete plan, common withdrawal-sequencing mistakes, Roth conversion size analysis, IRMAA bracket management, the role of QCDs in charitable giving, and what to expect from a comprehensive engagement.
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Frequently asked questions.
What is retirement income planning?
Retirement income planning is the process of converting accumulated savings across taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts into a sustainable, tax-efficient income stream that supports a retiree's desired lifestyle. It addresses withdrawal sequencing, Social Security claiming, Roth conversions, sequence-of-returns risk, RMDs, and IRMAA exposure as a coordinated whole.
How is retirement income planning different from investment management?
Investment management focuses on portfolio construction and ongoing oversight. Retirement income planning addresses how money flows out of the portfolio: in what order, from which accounts, with what tax consequences, coordinated with Social Security, pensions, RMDs, and other income sources. The two complement each other; a good plan requires both.
What is DrawDownIQ?
DrawDownIQ is proprietary retirement-distribution tax-optimization software developed by Index Gurus. It models multi-year withdrawal scenarios across federal taxes, IRMAA surcharge tiers, and Required Minimum Distributions. Every comprehensive retirement income plan we deliver includes specific DrawDownIQ modeling. A free promo code is available on request to try the tool yourself before subscribing.
When should I start retirement income planning?
Most planning value is created in the years leading up to and immediately following retirement — typically the period between age 60 and the start of Required Minimum Distributions at age 73. Decisions made during this window often shape outcomes for the next 20 to 30 years. Earlier engagement allows more years of Roth conversion runway, more time to manage concentrated positions, and more flexibility on Social Security claiming decisions.
What is withdrawal sequencing?
Withdrawal sequencing is the strategic order in which a retiree draws from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts to fund retirement spending. The conventional rule of "taxable first, then tax-deferred, then Roth" is often suboptimal for $1M+ households because it ignores Roth conversion opportunities, IRMAA bracket management, and the long-term consequences of tax-deferred balance growth on future RMDs.
Do you help with Social Security claiming decisions?
Yes. Social Security claiming optimization is a standard component of every retirement income plan. The decision to claim at 62, full retirement age, or 70 — and the spousal and survivor benefit interactions for couples — is evaluated in the context of the household's full income picture, expected longevity, and tax exposure. We model multiple claiming strategies side by side rather than relying on rules of thumb.
What is the asset minimum to work with Index Gurus?
Standalone financial planning engagements are available without an asset minimum, with fees starting at $2,950. Ongoing investment management engagements are available to households with $1 million or more in investable assets.
Are you a fiduciary?
Yes. Index Gurus, Inc. is a registered investment adviser and operates as a fiduciary at all times, on all accounts, in all aspects of the client relationship. We accept no commissions, referral fees, or third-party compensation. Our only revenue is the fee our clients pay us. Form ADV Part 2A is publicly available and we recommend reviewing it before any engagement.
Where is your office and do you meet remotely?
Our office is at 5350 Paso Del Rio Way, Concord, CA 94521. We meet clients in person at our office, at their preferred location in the East Bay or San Francisco, or via secure video conference depending on preference. We work with households across the entire Bay Area including Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, Danville, San Francisco, and the Peninsula.
Ready to talk?
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute discovery call. We will listen, ask focused questions, and tell you honestly whether the engagement is a fit. No sales pressure, no obligation.
Index Gurus, Inc. is a registered investment adviser. Information on this page is educational and does not constitute personalized financial, tax, or legal advice. Tax laws and IRMAA brackets referenced reflect rules in effect as of publication and are subject to change. Hypothetical examples and modeled scenarios are for illustrative purposes only; individual results vary. DrawDownIQ outputs are educational and illustrative; they do not constitute personalized advice. Please review Form ADV Part 2A for additional information regarding services, fees, and conflicts of interest. Past performance is not indicative of future results.