Recent retirees simplify retirement decisions with Midflorida Credit Union

Midflorida Credit Union puts the first 5 years on 1 page

The early retirement years are when a few separate decisions can collide: a 403(b) rollover, a pension lump sum or annuity election, 457(b) payout choices, and Social Security timing. Our roadmap shows the accounts you keep, the accounts you may consolidate, and the source of each retirement paycheck.

Before we suggest selling a fund, we calculate the projected tax bill and check what that sale could do to Medicare premiums. Fewer accounts and fewer funds can make that work easier to follow, but consolidation is not automatically worthwhile if an existing account has a valuable feature.

How should accounts fund your retirement paycheck?

The account that pays first should be chosen after looking at taxable income, investment gains, future RMDs, and Medicare, not by emptying accounts in a fixed order. A taxable account may be useful early on, while traditional IRA money may become more important once RMDs begin; the facts on your return decide the order.

A hypothetical radiology technologist has $300K in taxable savings, $500K in a traditional IRA, and $200K in a Roth IRA. Pension income and Social Security leave a $3K monthly gap, so investments need to provide $36K annually ($3K × 12). A starting choice could use some taxable savings, preserving the Roth IRA for later, but large embedded gains or an approaching RMD could change that choice.

Midflorida Credit Union writes the source, amount, and expected tax bill beside each year on the roadmap. A Roth conversion strategy may also fit in a lower-income year, but the added income needs to be weighed against Medicare tiers.

What do RMDs and Medicare add to the picture?

Required minimum distributions generally start at age 73, or age 75 for people born in 1960 or later, and Medicare can charge a higher Part B premium at certain income levels. For 2026, the premium tier uses 2024 modified adjusted gross income, so a large IRA distribution or Roth conversion can affect a later Medicare bill.

The table shows 2026 total Part B monthly premiums by IRMAA tier. It gives you a useful threshold to watch when deciding how much traditional IRA money to take in a year.

How much cash can soften an early market drop?

Keeping 2 years of a portfolio-funded retirement paycheck in cash-like reserves can reduce pressure to sell investments after an early market drop, though it may leave some money earning less than stocks or bonds. The right amount depends on pension income, Social Security, and how steady your spending is.

For a hypothetical household needing $36K annually from investments, 2 years equals $72K ($36K × 2). Midflorida Credit Union can separate that near-term amount from longer-term investments, then review it as spending changes. Markets can fall, and an account can drop below the amount you originally put in.

Beneficiaries, pension elections, and estate papers

Beneficiary designations can determine who receives an IRA or workplace account, so they deserve the same attention as the investments. A retirement date, a divorce, a death in the family, or a new grandchild are all reasons to compare account forms with your estate documents.

If this is you, gather these items before your next review:

• IRA, 403(b), and pension beneficiary forms
• Pension survivor-election paperwork
• Your will, trust, and health care documents