Retirement planning for high-income households is the after-401(k) layer: tax-efficient income design, Social Security timing, and after-tax savings built beyond the standard playbook. K&K quarterbacks the strategy that works at $500K and up, coordinated across wealth, tax, and legacy as one plan.
A real retirement plan answers five questions that usually get handled by five different people.
At Kotini & Kotini, retirement planning sits inside our Wealth Management coordination and touches every discipline of the Virtual Family Office: advanced tax planning, risk mitigation, estate and legacy, and investment strategy quarterbacked with credentialed wealth partners. One plan, one team.
The retirement content on Fidelity, Vanguard, and Schwab isn't wrong. It's written for a household earning $120,000, not $700,000. A few walls you've probably already hit.
The $23,000 401(k) cap covers roughly three percent of your earnings. The other 97% needs a home.
above roughly $161,000 single / $240,000 joint. Direct contributions are off the table.
Bonuses, exit events, RSU vesting, and rentals turn every December into a surprise.
Deferred comp, stock options, business interests, and vesting equity all behave differently when you draw them.
The gap between fine and great isn't about picking better funds. It's about when to fund which account, when to convert, and how to sequence withdrawals so you don't spend your last working decade paying avoidable tax.
Maxing the 401(k) is step one, not the whole staircase. High-income professionals have access to a layered set of vehicles most generalist advisors never mention.
A non-deductible Traditional IRA contribution followed by a Roth conversion gets money into Roth status for earners phased out of direct contributions.
If your 401(k) allows after-tax contributions and in-service conversions, you can shelter tens of thousands above the normal limit.
Practice owners can stack a cash balance plan on top of a 401(k) and shelter six figures of additional contributions annually.
A fully funded, invested HSA is arguably the most tax-advantaged account available: deductible in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for qualified medical expenses.
With tax-loss harvesting, basis step-up, and donor-advised fund gifting, taxable money can behave almost as tax-efficiently as a Roth.
529 plans share the same tax-and-cashflow plumbing as retirement and need to coordinate with it, not compete for the same dollars.
Which vehicles belong in your plan depends on entity structure, marginal rate, and business ownership. That's why we coordinate them with advanced tax planning and personal tax strategies.
Social Security is where small decisions compound into six-figure differences, and where most households claim by default rather than by design.
The real question isn't "when can I file?" It's "when should I file, given everything else in the plan?" K&K doesn't file your claim. We model the claiming decision alongside your other income, quarterback the timing with Roth conversions and taxable withdrawals, and make sure the claiming year doesn't trigger an IRMAA Medicare surcharge or push ordinary income into a higher bracket.
For a high-income professional, the meaningful money doesn't sit in fund selection. It sits in the coordination layer above portfolio management: tax timing, entity structure, insurance design, estate work, and income sequencing.
That coordination layer is where Kotini & Kotini operates. Instead of adding one more person to your roster, we quarterback your existing CPA, attorney, insurance, and credentialed wealth partners inside one proactive plan. Our fee structure varies by engagement scope, income, and complexity, disclosed in full alongside your projected ROI during the Proactive Value Review.
Yes. Standard retirement advice is built around contribution maximums and Social Security; it stops being useful once your earnings outrun the limits. For high earners, the value is in coordinating tax strategy, Social Security timing, estate planning, and income sequencing into one plan.
Treating retirement like an account-balance problem instead of a coordination problem. Most high earners max the 401(k) and hope Social Security fills the gap. What gets missed is the tax plan, the claiming decision, and the withdrawal sequence: the choices that actually move real money.
The 4% rule suggests $500,000 supports roughly $20,000 per year in inflation-adjusted withdrawals over 30 years. It's a rule of thumb built on historical averages, not customized to your tax situation.
A sample allocation: 30% stocks, 30% bonds, 30% real estate, 10% alternatives. Your actual allocation should be built from time horizon, tax situation, and liquidity needs, not a model.
Traditional advisory fees generally range from 0.5% to 1.5% of managed assets annually. The better question is whether you're paying for asset management alone or for coordinated proactive planning. K&K's fee varies by engagement scope, income, and complexity.
Yes, but quality varies enormously. Many advisors focus on portfolio management and leave the tax, estate, and income coordination to whoever else the client knows. K&K's Virtual Family Office quarterbacks all of it.
or call (804) 372-8307. Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST. Richmond, Virginia · Serving clients nationwide.
Important disclosure: Kotini & Kotini coordinates retirement strategy with credentialed RIA partners, CFPs, and CFAs operating in a fiduciary capacity. K&K does not custody assets, execute trades, or provide fiduciary investment advice directly. See our disclosures page for the full description of the coordination model and partner relationships.
