Decades of Hard Work Earned You Real Benefits. Let's Make Sure They Work for You.

Whether you're an electrician, plumber, pipefitter, or carpenter, your retirement doesn't look like everyone else's. It's built on pensions, union benefits, and decisions that can't be undone.

Talk to an Advisor Who Gets It

You didn't build your career in a boardroom. You built it on job sites, in the field, solving real problems with your hands. Your retirement deserves the same kind of straightforward, no-nonsense planning.

The Reality of Retiring from the Trades

Your Body Has Limits

You've spent decades lifting, climbing, and working in tough conditions. You want to enjoy the good years while you still feel good, not wait until you physically can't work anymore.

Pension Decisions Are Permanent

Single life or joint survivor? Lump sum or monthly payments? Once you make the call, you can't change it. You need to get it right the first time.

Union Benefits Are Part of the Package

Your annuity or supplement plan. Retiree health coverage. Survivor benefits. These aren't extras. They're part of what you earned. But understanding how they all work together? That's the hard part.

Protecting Your Spouse

You've worked hard to build a life together. If something happens to you, you want to make sure your spouse is taken care of with survivor benefits, income continuity, and financial security.

The Healthcare Challenge

When you retire before 65, there's a gap until Medicare kicks in. COBRA is expensive. Union retiree plans vary. The ACA marketplace takes work to navigate. Healthcare becomes one of your biggest expenses in early retirement.

We build that cost into your plan so it doesn't derail your retirement timeline.

What Makes Skilled Trades Planning Different

Most retirement planning follows a standard playbook. But when your income comes from pensions, annuities, and union benefits (not just investment accounts), the planning needs to be different. Here's what matters:

Pensions provide the foundation Your pension provides guaranteed monthly income. We start there and build your investment strategy around that foundation, not the other way around.
Union benefits need coordination Retiree health coverage, COLAs, survivor options. These are part of what you earned. Understanding how they work together with your pension, investment accounts, and Social Security is critical.
Your savings matter and they need a strategy Whether it's called an annuity, supplement plan, 401(k), or something else, your investment account is a critical piece. We manage it with your pension income and benefits in mind, not in isolation.
Physical reality shapes timing Most skilled tradesmen retire between ages 55-62, not 65. Your body is telling you it's time well before traditional retirement age. We plan for the retirement age that makes sense for YOUR body and YOUR benefits, not a desk job timeline.
Simplicity builds confidence You don't need complexity. You need clear answers: Can I retire? When? What do I do with my pension? How do I make sure my spouse is protected? We keep it straightforward.

The Back 9 Blueprint for Skilled Trades

We built a planning process specifically for people in the trades, focused on pensions, union benefits, and making sure you can retire on your terms. If you want to see how it works, we'll walk you through it.

When to Start: The best time to start planning is 3-5 years before you want to retire. That gives us time to optimize your pension election, plan for healthcare, and coordinate Social Security. But even if you're closer than that, we can still help. The important thing is making these decisions with guidance, not guessing.

See the Blueprint for Skilled Trades Schedule Your Call