Retirement thinking, written down.
Plain-language guidance on the decisions that shape retirement, written for pre-retirees and retirees across South Jersey.
Maisch Financial Group publishes educational articles on retirement income, tax coordination, choosing an advisor, and the planning process itself. Each one is intended to help you ask better questions, not to recommend a specific product or strategy.
Articles and guides
Investments
How Investment Management Changes at Retirement
The portfolio may not change much. The job it has to do changes completely, and that changes what bonds and cash are for.
Planning Process
Retirement Planning Mistakes in Your Late 50s and Early 60s
The costly mistakes in the last working years are timing mistakes, not investment mistakes. Which decisions close, and when.
Health Care
Retirement Health Care Costs Beyond Medicare
What Medicare leaves to you, and why extended care is a risk to decide about rather than a line item to estimate.
Retirement Income
What Retirement Income Planning Actually Is
Spending down a portfolio is a different discipline from building one. The four risks that only appear once the paychecks stop.
Retirement Income
Social Security Claiming and the Survivor Decision
For a married couple, claiming age is really a decision about what the surviving spouse will live on. Why that usually outweighs the break-even math.
Estate and Legacy
Legacy Planning vs Writing a Will
A will governs only probate assets. How beneficiary designations and account titling override it, whatever the will says.
Retirement Income
401(k) Rollover Options When You Retire
Direct versus indirect rollovers, the 60-day trap, employer stock, and the cases where leaving the balance in the plan is the better answer.
Taxes
How New Jersey Taxes Retirement Income
Social Security and Roth distributions sit outside New Jersey gross income. Pension and IRA income does not, and the exclusion turns on a limit rather than a slope.
Choosing an Advisor
Retiring in Two Years in South Jersey
What changes when retirement is two years out, which decisions are hard to reverse, and how to evaluate an advisor on that timeline.
Planning Process
Coordinating Medicare and Retirement Income
IRMAA links the income you report to the Medicare premiums you pay two years later. How that lag works and how to plan around it.
Choosing an Advisor
Independent Advisors in Burlington County
What independence actually means, what it does not tell you, and the five things worth checking before you engage a firm.
Choosing an Advisor
Retiring in Five Years Near Cherry Hill
What to look for in an advisor five years out, and which decisions belong in each of those years.
Fees and Costs
What a Retirement Planning Advisor Costs
The four fee models, what a comprehensive engagement covers, and how to compare two quotes fairly.
Choosing an Advisor
Independent vs Large Brokerage Advisors
Two business models sit behind the advice you receive. How each is built, how each is paid, and the questions that separate them.
Planning Process
The Purposeful Retirement Planning Process
What a purposeful process involves, and how to tell whether an advisor genuinely works that way.
Choosing an Advisor
Choosing a Fee-Only Advisor in New Jersey
How advisor compensation models differ, what to verify first, and the New Jersey tax rules that matter.
How we approach these articles.
- Education, not recommendation. Articles explain how decisions work. They do not recommend a product, a strategy, or a firm for your situation.
- Written for this stage of life. The focus is the decade either side of retirement, when decisions become interlocking and several are difficult to reverse.
- South Jersey context. Where state rules matter, such as New Jersey retirement income treatment, we say so rather than writing generically.
- Plain about our own structure. Where an article touches on how advisors are paid, we describe how we are paid as well.
- Verify before you act. Tax figures, program thresholds, and regulatory rules change. We point you to primary sources rather than asking you to take our word for it.
If a topic you care about is not covered here, tell us. Much of what we publish comes from questions raised at our retirement workshops across South Jersey.
Frequently asked questions.
Is this content personalized advice?
No. Everything published here is educational and general in nature. It does not account for your income, assets, tax situation, health, or goals, and it should not be treated as a recommendation. For guidance specific to your circumstances, speak with a qualified professional.
How often do you publish new articles?
We publish as topics warrant rather than on a fixed schedule, generally in response to questions that come up repeatedly in client conversations and at our local workshops. Each article shows its publication date so you can judge how current the information is.
Who writes these articles?
Articles are produced by the Maisch Financial Group team in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, and reviewed before publication. Where an article discusses tax, legal, or insurance topics, it is written to explain how those areas work rather than to substitute for advice from a qualified CPA, attorney, or licensed professional.
Can I attend a workshop instead of reading?
Yes. We host local educational workshops for pre-retirees and retirees across South Jersey, covering much of the same material in person with time for questions. There is no cost and no obligation to become a client. Details are on our events page.
The information on this page and throughout these articles is educational only and is not investment, tax, or legal advice, nor a solicitation to buy or sell any product. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Please consult your own financial, tax, or legal professional regarding your circumstances.
About how we are structured. Investment advisory services are offered through Maisch Financial Partners, LLC, a New Jersey state registered investment adviser. Insurance services are offered through Maisch Financial Group, LLC. Our advisors and insurance representatives may offer clients advice and products from each entity, and insurance representatives may receive commissions on insurance products. This is a conflict of interest that is disclosed in our Form ADV. No client is under any obligation to purchase any insurance product.