A Zoop Benefits retirement education series
Great Retirement
Rescue
Stop worrying about running out, keep more of what you've built away from the IRS, and protect it for the people you love.
Would it be crazy to see your own numbers before you decide anything?
The six fears
You did everything right. These six still keep people up at night.
01
Running out
Outliving the money, never fully retiring, or cutting back on the life you planned — and feeling guilty about spending at all.
02
The roller coaster
Four market drops of 25% or more since 2000. Losses hurt most once you're the one withdrawing.
03
The tax bill
RMDs, IRMAA surcharges and deferred taxes that can take about half of each dollar in top brackets — with the national debt above $40 trillion.
04
The health event
Medicare generally doesn't cover long-term custodial care. A private nursing home room runs about $129,575 a year.
05
The legacy
Income tax for your heirs on inherited IRAs, and a 40% federal estate tax above $15 million per person.
06
The Social Security guess
Conflicting advice, a friend's rule of thumb, a hunch. Claiming at a less-than-ideal time costs households about $111,000 in lifetime income, on average.
Take out the guesswork →Sources: S&P 500 peak-to-trough declines; Joint Economic Committee (Sept 2026); Medicare.gov; CareScout 2025 Cost of Care Survey; IRS 2026 estate tax exemption; United Income, The Retirement Solution Hiding in Plain Sight (2019).
The four myths
Four old rules your retirement plan may still believe
Myth #1
Stocks and bonds balance each other out
−19%Stocks−13%Bonds
Both fell in the same year, 2022. The cushion didn't show up when it was needed most.
Myth #2
To earn more, you must risk more
0%
With a contractual floor, a down year's index loss becomes a zero credit instead of a loss.
Myth #3
The 4% rule keeps you safe
3.3–4.7%
The range of "safe" withdrawal rates the experts themselves have published since 2021.
Myth #4
You just have to pay the taxes
8.2%
The estimated average federal income tax rate paid by America's 400 wealthiest families. Same tax code as the rest of us. The difference is a plan: legally reduce what's owed, then pay the rest with strategy — ideally Zero Out Of Pocket.
Sources: S&P 500 price index and Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (2022); Morningstar, State of Retirement Income; W. Bengen (2025); White House Council of Economic Advisers and OMB (2021), 2010–2018 average counting unrealized gains as income. Caps, floors and charges vary by product.
Get the full story at a free seminar →The scorecard
Nine risks every retirement plan has to answer
Not most of them. All nine — in writing, with a strategy, not a hope.
Sources: Society of Actuaries; CareScout Cost of Care Survey; U.S. Administration for Community Living; SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0.
The Zoop Way
Every professional on your side of the table
Your advisor, your CPA and your insurance agent can each be right from their own seat and still leave you confused. Our Fractional Family Office puts tax strategists, attorneys, investment advisers and insurance specialists on one team, with one intention: your best interest.
1
Shrink the tax first
Legal tax strategies, designed around your actual returns, lower what a Roth conversion costs. In some cases, overlooked deductions from the last three years can be recovered.
2
Reposition with The Waterfall Strategy
Three buckets, each with one job: protect, stay liquid, and grow.
3
ZOOP: Zero Out Of Pocket
Strategic leverage designed so the conversion tax doesn't come out of your pocket today, with the balance paid down over a handful of years.
Leverage works in both directions, and results depend on interest rates, crediting rates and market performance. That's why we model your plan with your real numbers before anything moves. Already have a CPA, attorney, financial advisor, or agent you trust? We're glad to work alongside them in your best interests.
Attendee bonus
Your Social Security moment, by the math — not a guess
Most people get conflicting advice on when to claim. Too often it comes down to a guess, or a friend's very different situation. With your permission, we use your actual IRS data and the math to find your best moment to turn on Social Security — and the changes around it designed to lower taxes, RMDs and IRMAA and make the most of your lifetime income.
Would you be against letting the math pick your date instead of a guess?
- AttendJoin a Great Retirement Rescue seminar or webinar.
- Take the 3-minute assessmentRate your confidence on the nine retirement risks and pick your top three concerns.
- Talk it throughA 1:1 to answer your questions and see whether we can help. If there's a fit and you're comfortable, you can then let the IRS share your records with us, and we run the math.
Complimentary for Great Retirement Rescue attendees
Seminars and webinars
45 minutes. Plain English. Nothing sold in the room.
Live online every other Wednesday at noon Arizona time, starting October 28. In-person dates are being scheduled now.
Live online
Every other Wednesday at noon Arizona time on Google Meet, with live Q&A. Next: October 28.
In person
At a local venue: about 45 minutes, then time for your questions. Dates coming soon.
Private Review
Rather skip the room? Go straight to a one-on-one look at your own numbers.
Book a Review
Your host
"In a nuclear reactor, you don't hope the backup works. You design for the failure before it happens. That's how we build retirement plans."
Robert Johnson is a U.S. Navy veteran who served as a nuclear power plant operator. He started in financial services in 1992 and today runs an insurance agency, a tax strategy firm and an SEC-registered investment advisory firm with his wife, Hannah, supporting more than 100 advisors nationwide.
Love · Integrity · Relentlessness
Is it a bad idea to get a second opinion before the IRS gets the first one?