Key Takeaways
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Your clients no longer view retirement as a static phase; they want flexible strategies that reflect how their lives actually evolve.
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Building plans that adapt over time isn’t just possible—it’s expected, and it gives you an edge over advisors still using one-size-fits-all approaches.
Retirement Isn’t a Single Stage Anymore
You’ve likely seen the shift firsthand: clients no longer treat retirement as a defined end point. Instead, they think of it as a dynamic life phase with multiple transitions—semi-retirement, encore careers, caregiving responsibilities, or even business ventures. Retirement today spans decades, and clients are planning for uncertainty, not just leisure.
Clients expect retirement to unfold in stages—each requiring its own set of financial tactics. One-size-fits-all projections don’t resonate with today’s audience. Instead, your clients are asking: “What happens when I stop working, start consulting, and then decide to care for a family member?” If your plan doesn’t already include answers to questions like these, your value diminishes.
A retirement strategy that works in 2025 needs to do more than cover the basics. It has to account for change, not resist it. And that’s where you come in—as the one who crafts a strategy with built-in flexibility that still offers clarity and confidence.
The New Client Mindset: Flexibility Over Finality
Clients aren’t just asking if they’ll have enough to retire—they’re asking what happens when life changes after they’ve retired. Their priorities are different:
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They want more control over timing. Many clients don’t want a set retirement age. They want options to scale back gradually or shift their priorities.
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They anticipate income volatility. Part-time work, business income, or phased withdrawals require plans that can flex year to year.
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They need room for non-financial shifts. Divorce, grandparenting, relocation, or caregiving duties often come without warning.
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They expect real-time access to plan updates. Clients want the ability to view, test, and edit aspects of their plan without waiting for an annual review.
If your plans only solve for longevity risk or market risk, you’re missing the deeper challenge—designing for life risk.
What Flexibility Actually Looks Like in a Retirement Plan
Flexibility doesn’t mean a plan is vague or unfinished. It means you’ve baked in mechanisms for controlled change, scenario planning, and client re-engagement. Here’s what that can include:
Tiered Income Strategies
Instead of static monthly withdrawals, tiered approaches align income with actual lifestyle stages:
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Go-go years: Higher discretionary spending early on.
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Slow-go years: Lower travel and entertainment costs.
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No-go years: Increased healthcare expenses.
This lets you reallocate client expectations in five- to ten-year bands, so they don’t feel locked into a single withdrawal pattern.
Tiering also gives you more realistic benchmarks for plan performance. Rather than assuming a uniform 30-year income stream, you can test how a 10-15% change in spending affects long-term sustainability.
Integrated Decision Trees
Every major financial decision has a ripple effect. Building visual, client-friendly decision trees around choices—when to claim Social Security, when to downsize, when to convert Roth assets—helps clients explore options now and revisit them later.
Decision trees should also factor in qualitative triggers: the birth of a grandchild, the loss of a spouse, a health diagnosis. These events shift priorities, and the plan should flex accordingly.
Built-In Re-Review Milestones
Don’t just tell clients to “come back if things change.” Make reevaluation part of the plan. Every 18-24 months—or sooner based on triggers—you can initiate updates around:
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Spending levels
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Tax status changes
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Required minimum distributions (RMDs)
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Medicare enrollment decisions
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Changes in caregiving roles or housing needs
Clients trust a plan that expects change more than one that assumes stability. This structured flexibility reassures clients that you’ve already thought through the moments when they’ll need the most guidance.
Income Strategies That Bend, Not Break
One of the most powerful ways to build flexibility into retirement plans is through adaptable income strategies. While you’ll still want to protect clients from longevity and inflation risks, you can do it without rigidity.
Guardrails Over Fixed Drawdowns
Fixed withdrawal strategies can backfire in volatile years. In 2025, you can show clients how a guardrail approach—setting upper and lower income thresholds—offers stability and adjustment.
For instance:
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If portfolios perform well, income increases within limits.
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If portfolios dip, income decreases—but stays within a sustainable floor.
This helps avoid panic selling while still giving clients reassurance they can pivot.
The guardrail method also allows more responsive tax strategies. You can adjust withdrawals to avoid income cliffs or capture tax savings when income dips temporarily.
Multi-Bucket Asset Segmentation
Segmenting assets by time horizon remains effective:
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Short-term: Liquid accounts covering 1-3 years of income
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Mid-term: Bonds or conservative assets for 3-10 years
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Long-term: Growth-oriented investments for later phases
The power lies in rebalancing as clients move between life stages—not just market cycles. You also have more latitude to explore tax-loss harvesting or Roth conversions within the growth-oriented bucket without affecting near-term cash flow.
Hybrid Income Sources
Clients in 2025 often use a mix of fixed and variable income streams:
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Pensions or annuities
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Part-time work
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Rental income
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Tax-efficient withdrawals from investment accounts
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Digital royalties or consulting fees
Your strategy needs to manage the interplay—tax coordination, timing of withdrawals, and adjusting for income thresholds that affect Medicare premiums or tax brackets. A flexible income approach doesn’t just optimize—it creates choice.
Tax Planning That Can Flex Each Year
Tax planning in retirement is not a one-time event. In fact, flexibility in tax strategies is where you can offer substantial value each year. The right moves depend on annual shifts in income, spending, healthcare costs, and legislative changes.
Annual Roth Conversion Reviews
You should revisit Roth conversion opportunities every year—not just before RMDs begin at age 73. Conversion opportunities may be optimal when income dips temporarily, or if taxable account balances create large future tax liabilities.
Annual Roth reviews also align with charitable planning and long-term legacy decisions. Clients want to reduce their taxable estate while preserving financial flexibility for heirs.
Dynamic Withdrawal Sequencing
Rather than following a fixed withdrawal order (e.g., taxable then tax-deferred), evaluate what makes sense annually:
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Can you use tax brackets more effectively?
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Should you delay withdrawals to avoid IRMAA brackets?
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Could harvesting capital gains be beneficial in low-income years?
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How does your withdrawal mix affect state income tax exposure?
Sequencing isn’t about perfection—it’s about intentionality. Clients value your guidance on what options are smart for this year, not just in theory.
Medicare and Tax Cliff Awareness
With Medicare Part B premiums and IRMAA brackets tied to income, flexibility in how much income clients realize each year can make a measurable difference. Help clients avoid crossing unintended income thresholds.
Pay attention to the growing number of clients approaching IRMAA brackets due to late-career income or RMD surges. You may need to incorporate bracket management planning into every annual review.
Building Trust Through Optionality
Clients don’t need every answer on day one—but they do want to know you’ve thought through the possibilities. That’s why your communication should emphasize flexibility as a strength, not a weakness.
Reframe the Planning Narrative
When you frame plans around adaptability, clients feel empowered—not uncertain. Try language like:
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“We’ve designed this plan to evolve with you.”
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“We’ll check in regularly to make sure it still works as your life unfolds.”
This positions you as a collaborative guide, not just a financial technician. Optionality becomes your differentiator.
Document Future Choices Now
Use decision logs or pre-approved pathways to document what clients might do under future conditions. Examples:
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“If your spouse passes away, here are the Social Security strategies available.”
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“If rental income stops, we’ll shift to drawing from these accounts.”
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“If you become a caregiver, we’ll explore how that affects your withdrawal mix.”
When future scenarios are already anticipated, you reduce friction and increase client confidence. You also show that planning is continuous—not conditional.
The Real Benefit: Client Confidence
Ultimately, flexibility isn’t about complexity—it’s about resilience. Clients want to know that their retirement plan will work whether life goes according to script or not.
When you build in:
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Scenario-based income models
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Tax strategies that respond to change
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Regular rebalancing timelines
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Preloaded alternatives for known risks
…you’re offering more than numbers. You’re offering peace of mind.
And in 2025, that’s more valuable than ever. Uncertainty is no longer the exception—it’s the norm. Your ability to make clients feel prepared is your most powerful differentiator.
Create Plans That Anticipate Change, Not Just React to It
Flexibility in retirement planning isn’t a trend. It’s the new baseline. Your clients don’t want to make a single retirement decision—they want a framework that helps them make a hundred small ones over time, with your help.
At Bedrock Financial Services, we equip professionals like you with the tools, automation, and training to support these evolving client needs. Our platform helps you:
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Automate review reminders and check-ins
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Visualize plan pathways with easy-to-share tools
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Stay current with regulatory and tax shifts
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Deliver ongoing value, not just annual projections
Sign up today to see how we can help you deliver retirement strategies that are built to bend, not break.
