Most people look at a $1,000,000 IRA and think:

“I have $1,000,000.”

Not exactly.

If some of that money has never been taxed, you have an agreement with the IRS.

They let you postpone the taxes while you were working.

Eventually, the agreement changes.

You begin taking money out.

And the IRS gets its share.

The problem is that you know the size of your account.

You don't necessarily know the size of their share.

Because the tax rate you'll pay in the future is still a variable.

And that matters when we're trying to create Spendable Income.

A $10,000 monthly retirement income isn't really $10,000 if $2,000 of it belongs to someone else.

What you get to keep is what supports your life.

So we don't only ask:

“How much income can we create?”

We also ask:

“How much of that income can you actually spend?”

The Goal Isn't to Pay No Taxes.

Taxes aren't necessarily the enemy.

Uncertainty is.

We can't know what Congress will do twenty years from now.

But we can look at what you control today.

Which accounts your money lives in.

When taxable income is recognized.

Which assets you spend first.

Which income sources you create.

And how much of your future retirement income remains exposed to an unknown future tax rate.

The Retire NOW question isn't, “How do I avoid taxes?”

It's:

“Can I turn another retirement variable into a known?”