The Sherpa Series
Guiding Clients Through Every Stage of Retirement Planning
From the climb to the descent, learn how leading advisors are redefining retirement guidance. Get the two-part whitepaper series.
The Advisor as Retirement Sherpa
The retirement journey includes two critical phases:
THE ASCENT
Building wealth, managing tax exposure, and preparing for the transition from accumulation to income to distribution.
THE DESCENT
Navigating housing decisions, healthcare costs, family support, and preserving legacy amid uncertainty.
Most advisors focus on getting clients to the top. But complexity multiplies during the descent, which is where your guidance matters most. The Sherpa Series gives you the frameworks, language, and tools to guide clients through both phases with confidence, clarity, and care.
What You’ll Learn
The Ascent: From Plan to Permission
- How to crack the government's tax-code puzzle
- Why the 4% rule doesn’t address the spending reality of retirees
- Time-segmentation strategies that eliminate sequence-of-returns risk
- Roth conversion timing and bracket-aware liquidation planning
- The three tax traps every retiree faces (and how to avoid them)
The Descent: The Later Years of Retirement
- From growth to preservation: planning for the "slow-go" and "no-go" years
- When hard choices arrive: housing, healthcare, and family support
- The Longevity Gap Tax Trap (L-Gap Tax Trap©) and how it affects surviving spouses
- Helping clients slow down and make decisions with confidence
- Practical tools for modeling late-life income scenarios