Will taxes go up as wealthier retirees bear the brunt? How should people plan for optimal Social Security claiming when the program's finances are so shaky? What role should insurance products and annuities play in the typical retiree's income strategy?
These were just some of the questions asked and at least partially answered by retirement planning experts who presented at the recent Personal Financial Planning Symposium hosted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.
A panel of thought leaders from the tax, retirement planning, personal financial planning and estate planning spheres discussed the most current planning strategies to discuss — and implement — with clients.
Lyle Benson, president and founder of L.K. Benson & Co., facilitated the conversation. He was joined by Michael Finke of the American College of Financial Services, Jeffrey Levine of Focus Partners Wealth, Daniel Rubin of Farrell Fritz and Scott Sprinkle of Sprinkle and Associates.
Recapping the event in a written interview with ThinkAdvisor, Finke said he hoped that the lively and technical talk was informative for attendees.
"One of the key topics was how we felt about changes in future tax rates," Finke said. "This seems like an underreported area and we had a good lively conversation."
Conventional wisdom, as the panel noted, says that typical Americans will see their income tax rate fall in retirement, and that motivates many to use 401(k) plans and traditional individual retirement accounts to accumulate their nest egg.
For account owners older than 59.5, dollars in these accounts are taxed as income only once they are withdrawn. Because the account owner is likely to be in a lower income tax bracket in retirement than in their working years, the tax math says that saving in pre-tax accounts is advantageous.
For many retirement planning experts, however, this is an increasingly shaky assumption in the context of American tax policy.
With tax rates at historical lows, while the United States runs a massive annual deficit, the funding of vital programs like Medicare and Social Security represents a looming hole that will need to be filled in the federal budget.
As it relates to retirement planning, this dynamic raises such questions as to whether it makes more sense to use post-tax Roth-style accounts or even traditional brokerage accounts rather than pre-tax 401(k)s and IRAs.
Some planning experts, then, are advising clients to plan for potentially reduced future Social Security benefits by purchasing more guaranteed income annuities or by marginally increasing salary deferrals into 401(k) plans.
"Levine made the important point that Congress has fallen in love with the Roth, because it helps them trade short-term revenue for long-term revenue since the budget scoring process is limited to 10 years," Finke noted. "For example, [the new policy of] allowing catch-up contributions only in Roth accounts helped reduce the cost of President Trump's tax cuts."
Congress, Finke observed, paid for arguably the most popular feature in the Secure Acts — significantly pushing back the required minimum distribution age — by using "Rothification." So, the panel agreed, Roth-style accounts are likely here to stay and set to become even more popular.
However, as Rubin pointed out, there is legal precedent for changing tax rules retroactively. So, while it may not be a likely outcome, a future Congress could decide that taxing Roth assets is an appealing way to fund the government.
"It may be incorrect to simply assume that shifting wealth to a Roth account will avoid all future tax risk," Finke warned.
Levine, though, suggested that retirement savers shouldn't worry about the taxing of Roth assets. As he explained, any hint that the government would change the rules would immediately reduce the popularity of Roth accounts.
Congress would "kill the golden goose" by threatening to tax Roth accounts, he said.
Sprinkle made the related point that some advisors seem to be using overly negative language around higher future retirement tax rates to scare clients into oversaving in Roth accounts.
The panel also discussed a potential tax scenario that would make Roth conversions much less attractive: continued movement toward higher consumption taxes such as a value-added tax.
"I made the point that we just implemented the largest consumption tax increase in U.S. history in 2025 through tariffs of about $132 billion with no significant negative political consequences," Finke said. "This suggests that Congress may become more reliant on raising taxes through consumption in the future while reducing taxes on seniors, which would negatively impact the value of using Roth strategies since future dollars would buy less stuff."
Pictured: Michael Finke. Courtesy photo
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