Comprehensive Planning

Retirement Services

Highly Specialized…

Fully Integrated.

Retirement is our singular focus, but that doesn’t mean we’re a one-trick-pony. Your retirement financial plan involves a number of crucial components, and we’re prepared to tackle them all with expertise.

That’s why, as a VanWeelden client, you’ll receive a truly comprehensive, customized plan built around your entire life, not just your investments.

This isn’t just a snapshot; it’s a living document updated annually to reflect your evolving goals, market changes, and “what-if” scenarios. We scrutinize every detail to develop a personal retirement plan that works for every part of your life.

We believe there is no better way to serve our clients than to provide solutions to all of your retirement planning needs under one roof.

Investment Planning

At VanWeelden, we take a different approach to retirement investing. We know that retirement isn’t about averages, it’s about outcomes. Most investment strategies are built on one flawed assumption: that average returns will produce predictable results.

But as John explains in The Real Deal on Retirement, two investors can earn nearly identical average returns and experience opposite outcomes. This is because of the sequence of returns. In retirement, losses hurt far more than gains help. That’s why we’ve built this entirely different approach.

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We believe retirement success is not driven by chasing high returns, but by controlling volatility and protecting income. Our goal is to:

Provide stable, increasing, tax-efficient lifetime income.
Minimize the impact of market downturns.
Maximize your long-term financial security and legacy.

We call this approach Active Risk Mitigation™. Unlike traditional “buy and hold” portfolios, we actively manage your investments with a clear purpose:

Capture Market Upside (With Guardrails)
We utilize a wide range of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to participate in market growth while integrating options-based strategies to help protect against significant losses.
Diversity Beyond Stocks and Bonds
Your portfolio may include equity index strategies, bond and fixed income allocations, commodity exposure, and/or tactical income strategies. We adapt based on the environment, from treasury-based income strategies when rates are favorable to tactical high-yield approaches when necessary.
Actively Manage Risk
Traditional portfolios rely on static allocation. We don’t. We rebalance and reallocate quarterly, adjusting portfolios during periods of volatility. We aim to capture gains and reset downside protection by continuously evaluating market conditions.

In retirement, you don’t have time for averages to work themselves out. Market losses early in retirement can permanently damage your income and lifestyle. Our approach is designed to reduce the impact of major downturns, improve the consistency of outcomes, and help ensure your income plan stays intact.

Retirement isn’t an asset problem; it’s a cash flow problem. That means your investment strategy should deliver reliable income, no matter what the markets do.

At VanWeelden Retirement Advisors, we don’t follow the conventional model. We’ve built a proprietary, actively managed investment process designed specifically for retirees and those nearing retirement, because the rules change when you stop working.

If you’re within five years of retirement or already retired, it’s time to rethink how your portfolio is designed.

Retirement Income Planning

Retirement is a cash-flow problem, not a balance sheet problem. VanWeelden Retirement Advisors will build you a true retirement income plan by evaluating and leveraging your every asset and source of income. Our plans illustrate in depth where all your income will come from every single year, for the rest of your life, so that you can have complete peace of mind.

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Tax Planning

Most advisors will tell you straight out that they cannot, and will not, provide tax planning services. Ironically, most will tell you to seek the advice of your accountant regarding tax planning matters. But there’s an enormous difference between tax planning and tax preparation.

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Healthcare Planning

Healthcare will likely be your second-largest expense during your lifetime, just behind taxes. And like taxes, it’s reasonable to assume healthcare costs will continue to consume an ever-increasing portion of your wealth and income in retirement, unless you happen to know exactly when you’re going to die and can plan accordingly. Planning ahead is essential to ensure your retirement dreams aren’t subverted by the high costs of healthcare.

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Social Security Optimization

Did you know that more than 67 million Americans (22% of the U.S. population) receive some form of Social Security? Public insurance has been laying the foundation for economic security for Americans for more than 80 years, providing financial assistance to retirees and others.

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Survivor, Estate & Legacy Planning

Truly holistic estate planning starts with your vision for your lifetime and your legacy. We believe the perfect estate plan transcends will and trust design, asset titling, beneficiary designations, properly structured powers of attorney, and living wills. Those are all important, but they’re actually just the tools of the trade. That’s why we don’t just hand you the card of an attorney across town and wish you luck.

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Retirement Life Coaching

Retirement is about more than finances; it’s a major life transition filled with both opportunities and challenges. The peace of mind that comes with a solid retirement plan is just the beginning of a well-deserved retirement experience. Certified life coach Diane VanWeelden brings over 30 years of experience in leadership, coaching, and personal development to support retirees as they step into the next stage.

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Comprehensive Advisory Fees

We get paid the same way regardless of the specific investments we recommend. It also ensures we remain agnostic when it comes to our fiduciary duty to act in your best interest.

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Retirement Planning Myths

Our promise to our clients is to provide a solid understanding of their financial situation and all their investment options. Throughout our retirement planning process, we’ll cut through the industry myths that may be holding you back from your full financial potential.

The best investment is the one with the highest rate of return.
It’s worth it to risk losses in retirement if it means I have more to gain.
Financial planning is over my head. I don’t need to know the details, my advisor will take care of it.
If I keep a close eye on major market indexes, I’ll be able to handle my investments myself.
I can either enjoy my retirement to the fullest, or leave something great to my children.
Conservative investors should hold mostly bonds. Riskier investors should hold more stocks.
Asset allocation and diversification are all I need to manage risk in my portfolio.
The market will continue to behave how it always has.
If I don’t use my long term care insurance, I will lose it.
Avoiding probate and estate taxes is far too complicated.

Contact Us

Contact us today to schedule your free, no-strings-attached retirement consultation meeting.
Let’s build your dream retirement together.

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