Independent retirement planning at every stage of life — whether you're 30 and building the foundation, 50 and mid-stride, or 60 and counting down. Pension math, tax buckets, and protection strategy, built around your specific numbers, not a template.
Just me on the call. No team, no quotas, no scripts.
U.S. Army veteran. Former state-government employee. Independent Retirement Specialist. The person who picks up the phone when you call.
Before this work, I spent years as a public servant in state government — with a public pension of my own. I know what it's like to work hard for years and still wonder whether it'll actually be enough, and to watch big decisions about retirement money get made by people who'll never have to live with the result. That's the reason I do this: too many good people reach retirement and find out no one ever gave them a real plan. My job is to make sure that never happens to you.
My job is to look at your full retirement picture — pension, Social Security, savings, taxes, protection — and tell you what I see. Sometimes that means recommending a product. Most of the time it means helping you understand what you already have.
I'm not going to put you in something I wouldn't put my own family in. My wife and I use the same tax-advantaged retirement strategies I recommend to clients. Our kids are funded in them. I'm not recommending theory — I'm recommending what we do.
I'm independent. I can recommend products from any of the major carriers I'm appointed with, or no product at all. Most of my appointments don't end in a product recommendation — they end with you understanding what you already have.
I'm not paid to plan with you — that part is always free: the conversation, the written snapshot, the strategy session. I'm only compensated if you choose to put a strategy in place, and that compensation comes from the carrier behind the product, never billed to you. Every recommendation comes with the math behind it, so you see exactly why it fits.
Most people approaching retirement have one bucket full, one bucket partly full, and one bucket they didn't know existed. The bucket you're missing usually costs the most in retirement.
Brokerage accounts · Savings · CDs · Interest income
Money that gets taxed every year, whether you touch it or not. Liquid, flexible, and the smallest piece of most retirement plans.
401(k) · Traditional IRA · TSP · Pension · Social Security
Money that grows now, gets taxed when you withdraw it. This is where 90%+ of most retirement accounts live — and where the IRS gets paid the most over a 25-year retirement.
Roth IRA · Roth 401(k) · HSA · Properly-structured cash-value life insurance (7702 Plans)
Money that, when structured correctly, comes out tax-advantaged in retirement. The smallest bucket for most people — and the biggest lever for keeping more of what you've built.
The diagnostic question: If you retired today and had to pull $80,000 a year for 25 years, where would it come from — and how much of it would the IRS get? Most people I talk with have never run the number. Running it together is usually the first thing we do.
Pension math at your real retirement age. TSP allocation review. FEHB-to-Medicare bridge. The 1.1% multiplier at 62. Roth-vs-Traditional TSP optimization. WAEPA / FEGLI review.
Every state runs its own pension system — different formulas, different vesting rules, different retirement windows. The math is rarely as straightforward as the benefit packet makes it look, and the Social Security coordination works differently than it does for federal pensions. We'll work through your actual numbers, not a generic example.
Blended Retirement System (BRS) decisions. Reserve / Guard service-credit planning. Military pension stacking with civilian retirement. Coming off active duty and what to do with your TSP.
You're in your 30s or 40s. Time is on your side, and the strategies that move the needle most happen here. Roth-side contribution optimization while you're in lower tax brackets. Tax-advantaged accumulation policies underwritten at the lowest rates you'll ever see. Compounding works exponentially harder when you start early — the decisions you make in this stretch determine whether retirement is a math problem or a freedom decision.
Income gap analysis. Roth conversion windows. Tax-bucket diversification while you still have earned income. Long-term care planning before premiums get punitive.
Rollover decisions on a 60-day clock. Drawdown sequencing. Pension survivor-benefit election (the decision you can't reverse). Medicare timing. The first 5 years of retirement tax planning.
Setting up tax-advantaged accumulation for kids and grandkids. Generational tax planning. The accounts that compound for 60+ years and pay for college, weddings, first homes, and the next retirement.
You tell me where you are, what you've saved, what you're trying to figure out. I tell you whether I can actually help. About a third of the time the answer is "you're already doing it right" — and that's a fine outcome for both of us.
I build a written breakdown of where you stand — your real pension number, your real tax exposure, your real income gap, and the three or four decisions that move the needle most. No template. Your actual numbers.
We get on a Zoom call, I share my screen, and we walk through the snapshot together. You ask questions. I show you the math. You see exactly how every recommendation is calculated.
If a product makes sense, I help you implement it. If not, you walk away with the planning document and you owe me nothing. Most of my best clients took six months to a year before they implemented anything. The planning conversation has value either way.
Yes. I'm not a captive agent of any single carrier. I'm appointed with multiple insurance carriers and I can recommend products from any of them — or no product at all. The most common outcome of a planning conversation with me is "keep doing what you're doing," not "buy this product."
The planning conversation is free. The snapshot is free. The strategy session is free. I'm not paid to plan with you — I'm only compensated if you choose to put a strategy in place, and that compensation comes from the carrier behind the product, never billed to you. You'll always know exactly what's being recommended, and why, before any decision gets made.
I'm licensed to sell insurance products, so technically yes. But the job is planning first. If we get to the end of our conversations and the right call is "do nothing different," I'll tell you that — and I'll tell you why. I'd rather have an honest non-client than a confused customer.
It's a category of cash-value life insurance policy structured under Section 7702 of the IRS code so the cash accumulation grows tax-advantaged and can be accessed in retirement tax-advantaged. The industry calls it Indexed Universal Life (IUL). For most clients it's a complement to a Roth, not a replacement. We only talk about it when it makes sense for your situation.
I'm licensed in multiple states and add new states regularly. If you live somewhere I'm not currently licensed, tell me on the call and I can usually add the state within a few weeks. NPN 22085756.
Yes. Most of my client conversations happen by Zoom or phone. I share my screen, walk through your numbers live, and you can ask questions in real time. My clients are spread across multiple states.
Yes — and frankly, the earlier you start, the more I can actually help. Most people come to me 5–15 years from retirement, but the highest-leverage strategies happen 20–30 years out. Compounding does exponentially more work over a 25-year horizon than a 10-year horizon. Underwriting on tax-advantaged accumulation policies is at the cheapest rates you'll ever see in your 30s and 40s. Roth conversions are easier when you're still in lower tax brackets. If you're 30 and reading this, you have the single biggest advantage any retirement planner can offer: time.
That's the most common starting point. Most of my best client relationships started with someone who wasn't ready to decide anything — they just wanted to understand where they stood. The planning is its own deliverable. Decisions can wait.
No. If a product doesn't fit, I won't pitch it. If a product does fit, I'll show you the math, give you the document to take home, and let you sit on it. The number of clients I've had say "I'm ready to sign today" on the first product conversation is essentially zero — and that's the way I prefer it.
“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” An old proverb
Retirement planning works the same way. Whatever stage you're in, the most valuable move is the one you make today.
Drop your info and I'll personally follow up — no pressure, no sales script. Tell me roughly where you are and I'll come to the call already thinking about your situation.
Pick any 30-minute slot. No pressure, no obligation, no sales script. Just an honest conversation about where you are and what's possible from here.
Book a 30-minute call
Prefer to talk first? Call or text 785-261-1358
Or email jesse@thompsonretirement.com