FAQ
Your Questions, Answered.
We understand that selecting a financial advisor is an important step toward achieving your goals.
This FAQ provides clear answers about Dorval & Chorne, our approach, and the ways we help clients through our Quality of Life Planning® process—aligning your money with your values so you can live the life you want with confidence.
Retirement Income & Withdrawals
The answer depends on more than just the size of your portfolio. A successful retirement plan considers your cash flow needs, taxes, guaranteed income sources like Social Security and a pension, healthcare costs, inflation, investment strategy, and how long your money needs to last. Your money needs to support the quality of life you want throughout retirement. A comprehensive retirement analysis can help provide that answer with confidence.
A Roth conversion can be a valuable tax-planning strategy, but it’s not right for everyone. The decision depends on your current and future tax brackets, retirement income, estate planning goals, and how you’ll pay the taxes on the conversion. Additionally, there are several strategies to convert monies to Roth: filing up Federal tax brackets, converting during market declines, utilizing charitable gifting to offset taxes on the conversion, or converting monies just below the first IRMMA threshold. We help determine whether a Roth conversion fits into your broader financial plan and long-term objectives.
We create predictable retirement income by coordinating withdrawals from your investment accounts, Social Security, pensions, and other income sources. Annuities can be a helpful tool for retirement income, but they are expensive and our clients often do not need those higher costs to sustain their retirement quality of life. That means expensive annuities are rarely part of our retirement income planning. Your plan is designed to provide reliable, tax-efficient cash flow while adapting to market changes, inflation, and your evolving lifestyle throughout retirement.
Many people have heard of the 4% rule, but it might be called the 3-5% rule because of the different interpretations! The 3-5% rule essentially states you can “safely” withdraw about 3-5% from your total investment assets to reduce the risk of running out of money. It is based on static planning assumptions. In reality most of our clients will have a variable rate of withdrawal starting with potentially higher rates when they are early in retirement and dropping to lower rates once they have turned on Social Security and get older. If someone wants to take a consistent amount, our firm goes beyond the 4% rule. We often plan around a 5% annual withdrawal rate with built-in guardrails. This can allow for more spending early in retirement, when many people are healthiest and most active. If withdrawals rise above 6% because of market declines or higher spending, we revisit the plan and may temporarily reduce spending. When conditions improve and withdrawals fall back below 5%, we can consider increasing income again. The goal is flexible, sustainable income, not a rigid rule.
The tax code is incredibly complex! Retirees should be aware of far more than just income tax brackets. They also have to consider required minimum distributions that need to be taken at 73 or 75 depending on your year of birth, taxation of Social Security, which can be up to 85% of your Social Security income, IRMAA surcharges on Medicare premiums, and the tax treatment of withdrawals across different account types.
Taxes matter and should be managed efficiently, but they shouldn’t override decisions about quality of life, income stability, or your broader goals. Retirement income can be made more tax-efficient by coordinating which accounts you draw from and when (taxable, tax-deferred, tax-free), timing Roth conversions, and managing income levels to avoid unnecessary tax brackets or surcharges.
When you retire, we rollover your 401(k) savings into an IRA and set up a distribution stream based on your cashflow needs. We consider your guaranteed income sources first, then supplement your cashflow through IRA distributions which will look and feel like a paycheck. Most of our clients have a systematic monthly withdrawal, but they can supplement income needs with periodic lump sum withdrawals. Our retirement income approach balances sustainability with flexibility.
Pension benefits can make a meaningful difference in creating a successful retirement plan. We often see individuals with pensions guaranteeing $4,000/month or more for the rest of their life! When deciding on what option to choose at the time you claim benefits, we like to use the analogy of life insurance. Much like life insurance, you are essentially paying for the promise that someone will continue to get a portion of your benefit when you die, but it permanently decreases your benefit each month when you claim. While the deduct might seem small, over the course of your lifetime the total cost could be tens of thousands of dollars! If your spouse does not need the life insurance protection to provide for their quality of life when you pass away, then you do not need to claim joint benefits. Generally, once you elect an option you can never change it. We can help you decide what the best option for you and your family is so you feel confident in your pension claiming decision.
Generally you have a few options: leave it with your former employer’s plan, roll it into an IRA, roll it into a new employer’s plan, or cash it out. Each choice has different implications for fees, investment options, and taxes. We often suggest consolidating employer retirement plans into an IRA when you retire because an IRA is a more flexible vehicle for taking retirement income. Rolling over a 401(k) is a decision worth discussing individually, since the right answer depends on your full financial picture.
The order you draw from different account types can meaningfully affect how much you pay in taxes over your retirement. A thoughtful withdrawal sequence takes into account your current tax bracket, future required minimum distributions, and long-term goals like leaving assets to heirs. Tax deferred accounts are great for providing consistent monthly income in retirement. This looks and feels like a
paycheck. Roth IRAs and other non-qualified money are better sources for periodic lump sum expenditures like buying a car, home remodeling, vacations, etc.
Social Security
We tell our clients to take Social Security when they need it to maintain quality of life. That means some clients take it earlier than others. For many retirees, delaying Social Security until age 70 can maximize lifetime benefits and provide a powerful hedge to maintain quality of life if you live a long time. If you’re married, we generally recommend the higher-earning spouse delay as long as possible to increase the survivor benefit, while the lower-earning spouse may claim earlier if needed. Remember, the surviving spouse gets to keep the bigger of the two benefits. That means considering survivor benefits is often critical for the surviving spouse to maintain quality of life when their spouse passes away. The best strategy isn’t just a retirement benefit calculator. It depends on your income needs, health, taxes, marital status, and overall retirement plan.
Delaying Social Security past your full retirement age increases your monthly benefit by approximately 8% per year, but it isn’t automatically the best choice for everyone. When you claim depends on cash flow needs, longevity expectations, and how it interacts with other income sources. Wait as long as you can to claim your Social Security retirement benefit but claim when you need it to maintain quality of life.
For married couples, the higher earner’s decision can significantly affect the surviving spouse’s income; this is often a key factor in determining when to claim Social Security. Typically, the spouse with the higher benefit should wait to claim Social Security, if possible, as the surviving spouse will receive the larger of the two benefits.
One thing many married couples do not consider is how to maintain quality of life if one spouse needs expensive long term care. Waiting on Social Security helps pay for those costs, but more importantly, the larger survivor benefit helps a spouse maintain their quality of life if paying for long term care depletes their assets. This is part of the reason why Social Security is such an important retirement income puzzle piece.
Yes. However, if you claim before your full retirement age, your benefits may be temporarily reduced if your earnings exceed the annual limit. Once you reach full retirement age, you can earn any amount without reducing your benefits. Additionally, if your combined income with Social Security is over a certain threshold, 85% of your Social Security benefits could become taxable.
You may be. If you were married for at least 10 years, are unmarried, and meet Social Security’s eligibility requirements, you may be able to receive benefits based on your ex-spouse’s work record. Claiming these benefits does not reduce your ex-spouse’s benefit or affect their current spouse’s benefits. You will receive the larger of your own full retirement benefit or up to 50% of your ex-spouse’s full retirement age benefit (less if you claim before your own full retirement age). If your ex-spouse has died, different survivor benefit rules apply, and you may be eligible for a larger benefit that could be 100% of your ex-spouse’s benefit. The rules can get complicated when a death or divorce happens, which means we can often add value by considering all of your available options.
Healthcare & Insurance
We get this question a lot, and I mean almost every day! individuals often choose to delay retirement until they are 65 and can get on Medicare. While health insurance can represent a meaningful cost for families, it should NOT be the only reason to continue working. Health insurance is an added expense, but through comprehensive financial reviews we often find clients have more than enough resources to comfortably absorb the additional cost. This might mean continuing coverage through COBRA or shopping the online marketplace in their state for a plan that would best fit their needs. The focus should be on your quality of life picture, not just the health insurance puzzle piece.
Healthcare is typically one of the largest retirement expenses, including premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and potential long-term care, this should be built into your income plan, not treated as an afterthought. As a starting point, Medicare premiums can average around $300 to $400 per month for an individual.
Medicare covers a significant portion of healthcare costs but doesn’t cover everything — dental, vision, hearing, and long-term custodial care are common gaps. Many retirees pair Medicare with a supplemental (Medigap) or Advantage plan to help fill those gaps.
If someone relies on your income or would face financial hardship if you passed away, life insurance is likely worth considering. It can help replace income, pay off debts, and provide financial security for your loved ones. The right amount of coverage and type of policy depends on your unique situation, and we can help determine what makes sense for your financial plan.
Higher taxable income can cause more of your Social Security to be taxed and can trigger IRMAA surcharges that raise Medicare premiums, both of which we proactively manage.
It depends on your assets, family health history, and how you’d want long-term care needs to be funded in the future. Some retirees self-insure, some purchase dedicated long-term care coverage, and others use hybrid life insurance or annuity/long-term care products. This is a decision worth evaluating as part of your overall plan rather than in isolation.
Investments
More than likely, we will encourage you to rollover any pre-tax accounts (401k/403b) into an IRA and/or Roth IRA if you have a portion that is Roth. Once you consolidate accounts, we can determine what need you might have from the portfolio to maintain the quality of life you want during retirement. We think of this as your retirement “paycheck”. It should feel much like the paycheck you received while working, just without FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes being withheld. We design a reliable, tax-efficient income strategy by coordinating withdrawals from your investment accounts, Social Security, pensions, and other income sources to support your quality of life while helping your assets last throughout retirement.
We view “conservative” as a relative term that means something different to everyone. Typically, a retirement portfolio will be less volatile than an accumulation portfolio but is not automatically the case. Allocation should reflect your income needs, time horizon, and goals, not just age-based rules of thumb. It is the purpose of your investments that drive our asset allocation, not your age.
In many cases, investments do change in retirement. The shift is less about getting “safer” across the board and more about aligning specific assets to specific purposes: near-term spending vs. long-term growth. In retirement, we typically model a growth portfolio and fixed income portfolio as sub-portfolios in your overall investment portfolio with the growth portfolio used to offset inflation and the fixed income portfolio used to provide reliable income. Investments are tools to help accomplish goals. Stocks are a great tool for growing money over long periods of time. Bonds are a better tool for preserving money you have already saved and might need in the relative near future. Bonds buy time for stocks to do their job inside your retirement portfolio.
It depends on your goals and tax situation. Selling investments with large gains can trigger capital gains taxes, but that doesn’t always mean you should avoid selling. We will help you evaluate the tax impact, explore strategies to reduce taxes, and determine whether keeping, rebalancing, or selling investments best supports your long-term financial plan. Appreciated stock can be a great asset for charitable giving because you not only avoid paying the long term capital gains taxes, but you still have the potential for income tax deductions on the gift.
Like many planning questions, it depends. An annuity may be a good fit if you’re looking for guaranteed lifetime income, protection from market volatility, or tax-deferred growth. However, they’re not right for everyone. Because of the guarantees, and potentially other benefits you might add, they can get expensive. We’ll help you determine whether an annuity aligns with your goals, income needs, and
overall financial plan before making a recommendation. In our opinion, annuities tend to be oversold by many advisors with a conflict of interest.
We don’t make decisions based on predicting market direction, but we do base our portfolio construction on relative valuations. Valuations are context, not a trigger for major portfolio shifts. Your goals and time horizon drive your personal investment allocation, but valuation will impact the specific investments we select for that allocation.
Our belief is that quality of life is the primary objective. We manage investments around your goals and quality of life rather than trying to predict markets or adhere to one-size-fits-all withdrawal rules. We believe that taxes matter but should not drive every financial decision.
Inflation erodes purchasing power over time, meaning the same dollar amount buys less in year twenty of retirement than it did in year one. A retirement plan should account for inflation in both your expenses and, where appropriate, your income sources. Inflation is not felt the same by everyone and it is common for retirees to spend more early in retirement when they are young, healthy, and able to be more active.
With proper planning, your spending isn’t directly tied to portfolio performance in the short term. Our proprietary bridging strategies, coupled with appropriate diversification and strategic rebalancing, let your growth investments recover without being sold at a loss. It is our job to help you navigate market declines without impacting your quality of life. We want our retirement income portfolios to always have a good place to pull money regardless of market conditions. That might mean safer holdings like cash or shorter-term bonds during a stock market downturn and it might mean harvesting gains when the market eventually goes back up.
Estate & Legacy Planning
This is a personal decision based on your values, your own retirement security, and family circumstances. There’s no standard amount but your retirement quality of life comes first.
Roth IRAs tend to be a great way to pass wealth to the next generation tax-efficiently as taxes have already been paid. Additionally, you may consider strategic gifting during your lifetime which will enable you to take advantage of the annual gift tax exclusion amount. You may also consider utilizing trusts and choosing which account types go to which beneficiaries.
Estate planning is the natural extension of your income plan, ensuring that what you don’t spend is transferred according to your wishes, efficiently and with minimal complication for your heirs.
Your assets are distributed according to state intestacy laws/probate, which may not reflect your actual wishes and can create delays, added costs, and family conflict.
Most people benefit from having at least a basic will, and many retirees also consider a trust depending on the complexity of their assets, family situation, and goals around privacy or avoiding probate. An estate planning attorney can help determine what’s appropriate for your situation.
Common options include 529 education savings plans, custodial accounts (UGMA/UTMA), and in some cases a Roth IRA for a minor with earned income. Each has different rules around ownership, taxation, and flexibility, so the best fit depends on your goals for the funds.
General Retirement Planning
Readiness is about more than a savings number, it includes your planned spending, healthcare coverage, income sources, and how confident you feel in your plan holding up over time. Retirement is a major life change and you are the only one that knows when it feels like the right time. A comprehensive review can help translate “I think I’m ready” into a clear yes or no.
Retirement is a cashflow puzzle. As a mortgage is typically the largest expense most people have, it is recommended to try to pay off your mortgage before retiring if you plan to stay in your residence throughout retirement. This will help to free up cash flow and alleviate stress from your retirement income. The key to this question is usually if you plan to stay long term or sell your current home.
This is a quality of life decision as much as a financial one. Consider your lifestyle preferences, maintenance, and whether freed-up equity meaningfully improves your plan.
Where you live is all about quality of life and not taxes! Location affects your cost of living, state tax treatment of retirement income, healthcare access, and proximity to family, all of which factor into your overall plan. It might not be as simple, however, as “let’s move to Florida!” Often where a state might have less income tax, there are other costs like insurance or property taxes that are higher. It’s worth running the numbers on any location you’re seriously considering before making a move.
Working with an Advisor
Many people benefit from starting the conversation 5–15 years before their target retirement date, but there’s real value at any stage, whether you’re just beginning to plan or already retired and want a second opinion on your strategy.
These terms are often used interchangeably, but it’s worth asking any advisor about their specific credentials, services, and whether they act as a fiduciary. Look for designations like CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) as a sign of comprehensive planning training. It is often challenging for the general public to know the difference between someone that sells insurance, an investment manager, and someone that truly puts it all together through comprehensive financial planning.
Yes. We are fiduciaries, which means we’re legally and ethically required to put your interests ahead of our own, every time, no exceptions. There’s no fine print here — it’s the standard we hold ourselves to in every recommendation we make. We work for you—not an investment company or insurance carrier. Because we’re independent, we’re free to evaluate a broad range of investment and insurance solutions rather than being limited to proprietary products. And as fiduciaries, we’re committed to providing advice that’s in your best interest, with recommendations based on your goals, not sales incentives.
This is a great and very important question. Fee structures vary — some advisors charge a percentage of assets under management, others charge flat or hourly fees, and some use a combination. Understanding exactly what services are included for that fee is an important question to ask before you begin working with anyone. For example, many firms only offer investment management services, not comprehensive financial planning. We believe investments are the easiest thing for someone to do on their own! The real value comes from partnering with each client to help them align their resources as efficiently as possible to create the life they want to live. That is the goal of financial planning, after all!
We believe compelling value results in exceptional planning, advice, service and support at lower cost than competitors. According to a Kitces fee study in 2024, the average AUM fee for a $2.5m portfolio can be as high as 1.00%. Typically, the more assets you have at any firm the lower your fee. At our firm, our AUM fee for a $2.5m portfolio is .75%. Our firm is also unique in that not only does our fee reduce with each asset level, but also how long you are a client of the firm. Your fee decreases after 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year anniversary partnering with our firm. To give an example of the significance of a lower fee, that $2.5m portfolio over the course of 10 years, assuming a modest 6% growth rate, would pay about ~$235,800 with our firm vs. competitors ~$329,000. It is common for our clients to pay 15%-40% less with our team than they were paying to their prior firm…with a better experience and outcome!
A general starting list includes recent account statements, a summary of income sources (Social Security estimates, pensions), a rough monthly budget, and any existing estate planning documents. Don’t worry about having everything perfectly organized; A good first meeting will help identify what’s needed.