As a fiduciary financial advisor in Ormond Beach, Holland Capital helps you decide how much you can comfortably spend in retirement, which accounts to draw from, and how your home fits into the plan. We work through those decisions first, then invest your savings to support them.
The house is paid for, or close to it. Social Security arrives every month. There are savings in an IRA or two, maybe an old 401(k), maybe a brokerage account.
By most measures, you are in good shape. What you may not have is a clear answer to a simple question. How much can you spend each year and still feel sure the money will last?
Spend too little and you give up years you could have enjoyed. Spend too much and you worry every time the market falls. It is easy to end up somewhere in between, guessing.
We replace the guess with a plan. We work out what you spend, what arrives on its own each month, what your savings can safely add, and how your house fits into all of it. Then we invest to support that plan.
How Much Can You Comfortably Spend?
The number can change. What you can comfortably spend at 68 may not be what makes sense at 78, and a strong market can give you choices that a difficult stretch does not.
The starting point is what comes in without selling anything: Social Security, a pension if you have one, perhaps rent or annuity income. The rest of your spending has to come from savings. We work out what those savings can reasonably provide each year, including what happens if you or your spouse lives longer than expected or the markets have a difficult stretch.
Then the plan gets guideposts. After a strong few years, the plan may show that you can spend more. After a hard year, a small, temporary cut can protect the rest of retirement. Knowing those points in advance takes much of the worry out of a falling market.
Where the money comes from each year changes your taxes. IRA withdrawals are taxed as income. Once you reach 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later, required minimum distributions set part of your taxable income for you. Drawing on a taxable account, or converting some IRA money to Roth in lower-income years, can even out the tax you pay over time. Our retirement withdrawal strategy guide explains the order of withdrawals, and retirement planning covers the whole approach.
When the House Is the Largest Thing You Own
In Ormond Beach, about four of every five homes are lived in by their owners, and one resident in three is 65 or older, according to Census Bureau estimates. If you have owned your home for years, it may now be worth more than any single account you own.
It does not show up on an investment statement, but it shapes the plan. It costs money to keep, from insurance and property taxes to a new roof. It is also money you could use one day, if you choose to.
You may stay for good. You may sell someday and move closer to children or into something smaller. You may want to leave the house to your family. Each path leads to a different plan for the rest of your money.
If you sell, federal tax law generally lets a married couple exclude up to $500,000 of gain on a main home, or $250,000 for a single filer, as the IRS explains in its guide to selling your home. If you buy another Florida home, portability can carry up to $500,000 of your Save Our Homes benefit to the new homestead, but you have to apply for it within the time allowed.
We do not tell you whether to stay or sell. We show you what each choice would mean for your income, your taxes and what you leave behind.
Keeping the Investments in Line with the Plan
Once the spending plan is set, the portfolio has a specific job.
That job goes into a written investment policy statement. It covers what the savings pay for each year, what they may need to cover later, how much market decline the plan can absorb, and the taxes on each account. Retirement may last twenty or thirty years, and inflation will keep raising what you spend. The portfolio is then managed to that policy, with an eye on what you keep after tax for the risk you take.
Accounts are taxed differently, so we decide which investments belong in the IRA, which in a Roth account and which in a taxable account.
What you already own is the starting point. An investment bought decades ago may carry a large gain. The tax on selling it belongs in the decision. Our investment management carries out the plan and adjusts it as your life changes.
Working with Holland Capital
Holland Capital Management is an independent registered investment adviser and a fiduciary. M. Chad Holland, CFA, CFP® works directly with clients and is responsible for the planning and advice.
Recent account statements, your Social Security amounts and your last tax return give us enough to begin. If you have wills, a trust or other estate documents, we can also see whether the accounts and beneficiary forms line up with the plan your attorney created.
We will ask what you spend, what you worry about, and what you want your money to do for you and your family. Then we walk you through what we found, including what we would not change.
If you have a CPA or an estate attorney, we work alongside them, so your accounts, tax return and documents point in the same direction.
The first conversation is free. If there is work worth doing after that, we will define the scope and cost before you decide whether to move forward.
Our offices are in Charlotte, North Carolina and Winter Park, Florida. We work with clients in Ormond Beach primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center at 1616 Concierge Boulevard, a short drive south in Daytona Beach.
For clients whose investments we manage, accounts are held directly at Charles Schwab in the client’s own name. Holland Capital manages the investments but does not take custody of client assets. If a client ever needs in-person assistance from Schwab, the closest branch is in Ormond Beach at 1414 West Granada Boulevard.
We work with clients throughout Florida. You can see the other Florida communities we serve here.
Our what we do page explains how a planning engagement works.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Holland Capital Act as a Fiduciary for My Retirement?
Yes. Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice, which means we are required to act in your best interest.
For someone already retired, that covers the decisions on this page: how much to withdraw, which account to draw from, whether to convert to Roth, and what to do with the house. If a recommendation would also pay us more, for example, moving an account under our management, we tell you before you decide.
Do I Need a Fiduciary Financial Advisor If Social Security Covers Most of My Bills?
Not always. If Social Security and a pension cover everything you spend and your savings are modest, a plan may need little ongoing work.
A fiduciary financial advisor earns a place when there are decisions left to make: how much to withdraw, which account to use, whether Roth conversions or charitable gifts from an IRA make sense, what to do with the house, and how everything passes to your family. The more of those you have, the more a plan can help.
We Signed Wills and a Trust Years Ago. What Should We Check?
Start with the accounts, not the documents. A trust only controls what has been placed in it. Check whether your brokerage accounts and the house are titled in the trust’s name, if your attorney intended them to be.
Then check the beneficiary forms on your IRAs, annuities and life insurance. Those forms usually decide who receives that money, whatever the will says. Finally, make sure the person you named as successor trustee knows where everything is. Your attorney handles the documents. We help make sure the accounts match them, as our guide to estate distribution planning describes.
Is It Too Late for Roth Conversions Once I Am Retired?
Not necessarily. The years between retiring and starting required minimum distributions are often the lowest-income years you will have, which can make them a good time to convert.
Converting adds taxable income in the year you do it, and higher income can raise your Medicare premiums two years later. We run the numbers before recommending an amount. Our guide to Roth conversions explains the trade-off.
Is It a Problem That Your Office Is Not in Ormond Beach?
No. Most planning and review meetings are by video or phone, where we can look at the same statements, tax returns and planning results together.
When sitting down together is useful, we meet by appointment at the Regus center in Daytona Beach.
Photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.5, cropped.
