Income Coordination
Military pension, Social Security, and investment withdrawals need to be modeled together. The sequence and timing of each income source shapes your federal tax exposure and the lifetime value of your Social Security claim.
Roth conversion windows, pension taxation in Florida, and spousal benefit timing all interact. Most advisors model them separately. We do not.
TRICARE & Medicare
TRICARE For Life wraps around Medicare, often reducing out-of-pocket costs to zero. But delaying Part B enrollment triggers a permanent 10% surcharge per year of delay. The window is unforgiving.
Long-term care is not covered by TRICARE. That gap narrows with age, and the cost of addressing it rises every year you wait.
Survivor Benefits & SBP
SBP provides up to 55% of retirement pay to a surviving spouse or dependent child, inflation-adjusted and government-subsidized. For most families, electing SBP for the spouse is clear.
For families with a disabled child, SBP payments can eliminate SSI and Medicaid eligibility dollar-for-dollar. This election is generally irreversible after death. If you have an open SBP decision and a disabled dependent, this conversation cannot wait.
VA Disability & DIC
VA disability compensation is tax-free and excluded from most means tests. CRDP and CRSC programs may allow concurrent receipt with retirement pay, but eligibility rules differ and the right election is individual.
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) for surviving spouses interacts with SBP and estate planning. We model both before recommending an election.