Why plans stop short
Investment advisory services described on this page are offered through Avinci Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser registered in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, and Nevada. This page is general information for educational purposes and is not individualized investment, tax or legal advice. Avinci does not prepare tax returns or draft legal documents.
Some retirement plans focus primarily on investment management, while others incorporate income planning, tax considerations, insurance and estate coordination. Where a plan concentrates on the portfolio, tax, income sequencing, insurance and estate coordination may appear as shorter sections. Understanding which areas your plan addresses can help identify questions worth discussing with your adviser.
That is rarely anyone cutting corners. It often reflects how an engagement was scoped: the investment work sits in-house, and other areas may be referred out. Each professional does their part, and coordination between them depends on how responsibilities were assigned.
The checks below are not a test any firm passes or fails. They are a way of finding out, from the document you already have, where your plan currently stops.
The questions worth asking are usually at the points where one area of planning meets another.
The eleven checks
Open your plan document and look for each of these. Several will take under a minute.
| Check | What you are looking for | Question to ask if missing |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Year-by-year income | A projection showing income by source for each year, not an average or a single ending figure | Does the plan identify years when income needs or tax opportunities may change? |
| 02 Withdrawal order | Which accounts are drawn in which order, and why | Is a withdrawal sequence documented, or decided as each need arises? |
| 03 Tax on those withdrawals | The federal and California tax the stated order produces each year | Are estimated taxes incorporated elsewhere when calculating spendable retirement income? |
| 04 Social Security analysis | Claiming ages compared as scenarios, with reasoning | Were claiming ages compared, or was one assumed? |
| 05 The survivor case | What the income looks like after the first death, for a couple | Has the potential effect of losing a spouse's income been evaluated? |
| 06 Medicare premium effect | Where income crosses premium thresholds two years forward | Does the plan consider possible IRMAA effects of taxable withdrawals and Roth conversions? |
| 07 Health coverage before 65 | How coverage is funded if retirement starts earlier | How would coverage be funded before Medicare eligibility? |
| 08 Insurance reviewed against now | Existing policies measured against current circumstances | When was existing coverage last reviewed against current circumstances? |
| 09 Trust funding status | Whether account titling and beneficiary information has been gathered for the attorney's review | Has an attorney reviewed whether relevant assets and beneficiary arrangements are coordinated with the estate plan? |
| 10 Beneficiary designations | Designations collected and reviewed for coordination with the client's estate-planning attorney, who determines whether they are consistent with the intended legal arrangements | Have beneficiary designations been reviewed with the appropriate professionals? |
| 11 A stated review cadence | How often the plan is revisited, and what triggers an off-cycle review | How often is the plan revisited, and what triggers an off-cycle review? |
A general framework rather than a standard any plan must meet. Which items matter depends on the household.
The joins, where gaps live
Several areas of retirement planning can affect one another, and coordinating them can help you evaluate the broader implications of a decision.
Investments and withdrawals. A portfolio built for growth and a withdrawal plan built separately can conflict in a falling market, because the sequence of returns matters far more once money is coming out than while it is going in. Sequence of returns risk covers why.
Tax and income. Withdrawal order, Roth conversions, Social Security timing and Medicare premiums are four decisions that all run off the same taxable income figure, so a change to one may affect the others. Withdrawal order and conversion mechanics cover the detail.
Estate documents and assets. A trust drafted by an attorney governs only what is actually transferred into it, and beneficiary designations generally operate outside it either way. Trust funding covers the gap, and who handles which part covers the professionals involved.
In-house or referred out
Firms describe coordination differently, and "we handle everything" can mean several arrangements. The useful question is not whether work is done under one roof but who owns the handoffs.
Some things cannot be in-house at an advisory firm. Legal documents and individualized legal determinations should be handled by a qualified attorney, and tax returns should be prepared or reviewed by an appropriately qualified tax professional. A firm claiming otherwise is describing something that should be checked rather than assumed. What an advisor can and cannot do covers where that line sits in California.
What can be coordinated is the financial picture those professionals work from, the sequencing of decisions across the year, and the follow-through afterwards. Ask a firm which of the eleven items above it produces itself, which it refers, and who checks that the referred work came back and matched.
What your answers mean
Finding gaps does not mean the plan is bad or that the advisor did poor work. It usually means the engagement was scoped for investment management and is being judged against a broader standard it was never sold as meeting.
If most items are present, the plan is comprehensive in the sense that matters, and the remaining question is review cadence. If the first three are present and the rest are not, you have an investment plan, which may be exactly what you asked for. If items 9 and 10 are missing, that is worth raising soon, because estate gaps surface at the least convenient time.
And if your situation is genuinely straightforward, a shorter plan may be the right plan. Paying for scope you do not need is its own kind of gap. One-time plan or ongoing planning covers that choice.
How Avinci approaches it
Avinci Wealth Management is a Registered Investment Adviser registered in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, and Nevada, firm CRD #327780, headquartered at 23929 Valencia Blvd, Suite 404 in Santa Clarita, with additional offices in Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills. When providing investment advisory services, Avinci Wealth Management is subject to its fiduciary obligations under applicable investment adviser law.
The Retirement Blueprint is built as one document covering investments, tax, income, insurance and estate coordination, with the assumptions written down so they can be tested at each review. Founder Lindahl Lucas is involved in overseeing the development of Retirement Blueprint planning. Legal documents are drafted by your attorney and returns are prepared by your CPA; what Avinci coordinates is the financial picture they work from and the follow-through afterwards.
Avinci receives advisory fees for investment advisory services. Separately, insurance and annuity products may be offered through our affiliated insurance agency, Lucas Insurance Services, which may receive commissions from issuing insurance companies. This compensation arrangement creates a conflict of interest and is disclosed in our Form ADV, and is covered in full on how advisors are paid.
Important disclosures. This material is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized investment, tax, or legal advice, or as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or insurance product. Consult your CPA or attorney before acting on anything described here.
Registration. Investment advisory services are offered through Avinci Wealth Management, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser, firm CRD #327780, registered in California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, and Nevada. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Our Form ADV Part 2A brochure describes our services, fees, and conflicts of interest, and is available on request and through our IAPD record. The firm can also be verified through the SEC adviser search and, where applicable, FINRA BrokerCheck.
No legal or accounting advice. Avinci Wealth Management, Inc. does not practice law, draft legal instruments, prepare tax returns, or provide tax or legal advice. Those are handled by your own attorney and CPA.
Projections. Financial projections and retirement models described here are hypothetical and illustrative in nature, are based on assumptions provided by the client and on market data, and do not guarantee future results.
Insurance and risk. Insurance and annuity products are offered through our affiliate, Lucas Insurance Services, which may receive commissions from issuing insurance companies on products it places. This compensation arrangement creates a conflict of interest and is disclosed in our Form ADV. Investments involve risk and, unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results.