Wealth Strategies
Cornerstone guides organized around the Sporos Doctrine — the six-stage framework behind every plan we build. Start with the framework, then read the strategies it powers.
The Sporos Doctrine: A Life-Centered Framework for Retirement
The six-stage framework behind every plan we build. How vision becomes tax architecture becomes an income engine becomes a generational legacy — and the two non-negotiables that hold it together.
Read the Doctrine →Bedrock
Vision and the soil it grows in.
401(k) Rollover: A Complete Guide to Moving an Old Retirement Account
When to roll over an old 401(k), the four real options (and which one to actually pick), the rules that quietly cost people thousands, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.
Read the strategy →- › 401(k) Force-Out Distributions: What Happens If You Leave a Small Balance
- › 401(k) Loans Before Rollover: The Default-on-Separation Trap
- › After-Tax 401(k) Money: Splitting It at Rollover for a Tax-Free Roth
- › Direct vs. Indirect 401(k) Rollover: The 60-Day Rule and 20% Withholding Trap
- › How to Find Old 401(k) Accounts You Forgot About
- › Inherited 401(k)s and the 10-Year Rule
- + 4 more
Roth Conversion: A Practical Guide for High Earners and Pre-Retirees
When a Roth conversion makes financial sense, how the bracket math actually works, and the watchouts (ACA, IRMAA, the 5-year rule) that quietly determine whether it pays off.
Read the strategy →- › Backdoor Roth IRA: How High Earners Bypass the Income Limits
- › Mega Backdoor Roth: Maxing the After-Tax 401(k) Loophole
- › The Pro-Rata Rule: Why Your IRA Balance Can Wreck a Backdoor Roth
- › The 5-Year Rule(s) on Roth Conversions Explained
- › Roth Conversion Ladder: How Early Retirees Bridge to 59½
- › Roth Conversions vs. Roth Contributions: Which One Should You Prioritize?
- + 4 more
Yield
Distribution, and what comes after.
RMDs and QCDs: The Required-Distribution Rules That Shape Retirement Income After 73
How Required Minimum Distributions are calculated, the SECURE 2.0 changes, the inherited-IRA 10-year rule, and how Qualified Charitable Distributions let charitably-minded retirees skip the tax.
Read the strategy →- › The Inherited IRA 10-Year Rule (and the 2024 Final Regs)
- › What Happens If You Miss an RMD: The 25% Penalty and How to Fix It
- › QCDs: How Charitably-Minded Retirees Skip the RMD Tax
- › RMD Age Changes Under SECURE 2.0: What Pre-Retirees Need to Know
- › RMD Aggregation Rules: One Calculation, One Withdrawal? Not Always.
Social Security Claiming Strategy: When to File and Why It Matters More Than You Think
The math behind claiming at 62, full retirement age, or 70. How spousal and survivor benefits work, the earnings-test trap, and why this decision shapes thirty years of retirement income.
Read the strategy →- › The Earnings Test: How Working Before Full Retirement Age Affects Social Security
- › Spousal and Survivor Benefits: How Couples Coordinate Social Security
- › WEP and GPO Repeal: What the Social Security Fairness Act Changed in 2025
- › When 70 Beats 62: The Social Security Claiming Math Worked Out
- › Claiming Strategy for Widows and Widowers