Matthew R. Harris
I help individuals and families transition from the accumulation phase of retirement to the income phase through structured income planning and tax-smart withdrawal strategies.
What Would Help You Sleep Well at Night?
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Welcome back to Safe Money Weekly, where I share retirement income planning strategies, case studies, and ideas to help you retire with more confidence and less uncertainty. The Three Questions That Should Shape Every Retirement Plan For years, the retirement planning conversation has started in the same place: “How should I invest my money?” I actually think that’s the wrong first question. Before we talk about investments, asset allocation, or even annuities, I think...
The Mindset That Built Your Wealth Isn't the One You'll Need in Retirement
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Welcome back to Safe Money Weekly, where I share retirement income planning strategies, case studies, and ideas to help you retire with more confidence and less uncertainty. The Mindset That Built Your Wealth Isn’t the One You’ll Need in Retirement Most of us spend 30 or 40 years learning how to build wealth. Save consistently. Invest for long-term growth. Ignore short-term market volatility. Stay the course. For most people, that’s exactly the right mindset. In fact,...
Could You Retire 3 Years Earlier Than You Think?
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Welcome back to Safe Money Weekly, where I share retirement income planning strategies, case studies, and ideas to help you retire with more confidence and less uncertainty. One of the most common questions I hear is: “When can I retire?” But there is a better question you can ask: “How much income can my assets safely and predictably generate?” I recently worked with a 59-year-old couple who had always planned to retire at age 65. They had done an excellent job...
Building Wealth is One Challenge. Spending It Is Another.
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Welcome back to Safe Money Weekly, where I share retirement income planning strategies, case studies, and ideas to help you retire with more confidence and less uncertainty. Building Wealth Is One Challenge. Spending It Is Another. Most people think retirement begins on the day they stop working. I don't. I believe retirement actually begins about five years before your retirement date. Because that's when the objective starts to change. For decades, retirement planning...
Would Your Retirement Survive the Great Depression?
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Imagine retiring at age 65 with a $3 million portfolio... Then, within a few years, your portfolio falls to roughly $1 million. Would your retirement plan survive? Most people assume that if their portfolio lost two-thirds of its value, their retirement lifestyle would need to be cut by two-thirds as well. But that's not necessarily true. One of the biggest misconceptions in retirement planning is confusing a portfolio decline with an income decline. A retiree's...
We Have $1.5M Saved. Why Can We Only Spend $5,000/month?
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ This week, I shared a case study involving a 64-year-old couple with roughly $1.5 million saved for retirement. Their advisor recommended spending about $5,000/month from their portfolio. The recommendation was based on traditional retirement planning concepts like: ✅ The 4% Rule ✅ Monte Carlo Analysis ✅ Static spending assumptions None of these tools are inherently bad. But they often answer a very different question than retirees are actually asking. Most retirees...
Why Some Retirees Pay FAR More in Taxes Than Expected
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Most retirees understand the power of compound growth. Invest early. Stay invested. Let time do the heavy lifting. But there’s another form of compounding that many people underestimate heading into retirement: Taxes. For decades, tax-deferred accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s can be incredibly effective wealth-building tools. Your investments grow tax-deferred, contributions may reduce taxable income, and compounding works in your favor during your working years. But...
How Better Income Planning Can Change Your Retirement Timeline
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ One of the biggest misconceptions in retirement planning is that the goal is simply to accumulate “enough” money. But in reality, the real goal is optionality. Because when income is structured properly, retirees often discover they have far more flexibility than they realized: ✅ The ability to spend more confidently ✅ Greater protection from market volatility ✅ More flexibility with investments ✅ Or even the option to retire earlier than planned This week, I worked...
Why $2 Million Still Doesn’t Feel Safe in Retirement
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ One of the biggest surprises in retirement is that hitting a “magic number” often doesn’t create the financial confidence people expected it would. I’ve talked to retirees with $2 million, $3 million, and sometimes far more… yet many still feel uneasy about spending. Because deep down, retirement was never really about the size of the portfolio. It was about whether the income could actually hold up for the rest of their life. That’s what makes retirement so...
How much can you actually spend in retirement?
Happy Friday Reader ☀️ Most people think retirement success comes down to one number: “Do I have enough saved?” $1M… $2M… maybe more. But after everything I shared this week, here’s the reality: 👉 Retirement isn’t funded by your net worth👉 It’s funded by your income More specifically… 👉 How much you can safely spend without running out? Because portfolios don’t create peace of mind—income does. The problem is, most plans are still built around accumulation: Save more. Invest more. Delay...
I help individuals and families transition from the accumulation phase of retirement to the income phase through structured income planning and tax-smart withdrawal strategies.