Baby Boomers’ Riches Require a Retirement Playbook Rethink

 More money, more problems? Yes and no. 

Even with the criticism leveled at the 401(k) plan industry, it has helped baby boomers accumulate massive retirement wealth. Many spent years doing what they were told: maxing out contributions and leveraging tax-deferred, compounding growth over decades. After years of strong (if volatile) market returns, affluent boomers’ account balances are sky-high. So, too, is the amount of risk they face in retirement, raising the demand for tax-savvy decumulation and longevity planning. Forward-thinking advisory firms are taking note. 

“There’s a big group of baby boomers out there who have found themselves sitting on $3 million, $5 million or even $10 million in net worth, much of it in retirement accounts,” said Debbie Taylor, Carson Group’s chief tax strategist. “Even a decade ago, they couldn’t have dreamt of reaching balances like these. They’re not trained on how to unlock these gains and manage this wealth through their retirement.”

It turns out that many advisors aren’t either, having been solely focused on the accumulation question. That’s why firms across the industry are investing in tax planning capabilities, including Carson and its AI platform, affectionately named Steve. To Taylor, it’s an extremely exciting time to be a tax expert, and one thing is very clear: desirable clients are going to vote with their feet. 

A Modern Tax Planning Strategy 

Taylor’s own firm was formally acquired by Carson Group in 2024, and while it wasn’t the largest deal by any means, Taylor Financial’s specialized tax planning capabilities were expected to make a big difference for both advisors and clients. 

“What’s so exciting about this moment is that the technology has progressed far enough to allow us to be so much more efficient,” Taylor explained. “The old way required advisors to move between three or four different platforms to manually gather client data, and then you’d have a 15-column spreadsheet that you used to generate a thoughtful tax recommendation. Totally not scalable or profitable.” 

What used to be manual and time-consuming is fast morphing into a fluid, efficient planning process for both the advisor and the client across the industry. Rather than simply deferring taxes, the goal is to consider both the accumulation phase and the distribution phase at all times, coordinated at the household level. 

Ante Up. “This type of planning is becoming table stakes for the wealthy baby boomers that many firms want to serve,” Taylor said. “They’re facing large RMDs, they have big questions about estate planning and they don’t know how to structure their income. Distribution planning is so critical, but many firms aren’t giving it the attention it deserves.”