Pre-Retirement
Empty-Nester Eric
VP of Operations · Minneapolis, MN
Kids are gone. House is paid off. Now what?
About Empty-Nester Eric
Eric and his wife Carol both work. Their youngest just left for college. For the first time in 28 years, they have discretionary income and no dependents. Eric wants to retire at 63. Carol wants to work until 65. They have $1.2M across 401(k)s, IRAs, and a taxable brokerage — but they have never had a coordinated plan.
Financial Snapshot
$210,000 (household)
Annual Income
$1,200,000
Net Worth
58
Age
Empty-Nester Eric's Story — 2 Chapters
The Retirement Countdown
Eric runs his retirement model for the first time. At $1.2M and a 4% withdrawal rate, he can sustain $48k/year from savings. Combined with Social Security at 67, the household income in retirement looks comfortable — but the sequence-of-returns risk in the first 5 years is the hidden threat.
Uses: fireThe Roth Conversion Window(Coming soon)
Between retirement at 63 and Social Security at 67, Eric has a 4-year window of low taxable income. His advisor suggests converting $80k/year from Traditional to Roth during this window. The model shows the lifetime tax savings.
Uses: roth-vs-traditional