Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: What High-Net-Worth Professionals Need to Know Before Leaving the Workplace
The best retirement advice from retirees is often surprisingly consistent: prepare earlier, plan deeper, and don’t underestimate how complex high-net-worth retirement can become.
For professionals in senior leadership roles, finance, law, healthcare, engineering, or tech, the transition into retirement is not just about stepping away from work. It’s about structuring wealth, tax strategy, estate planning, income distribution, and investment risk so your lifestyle is fully protected for 30 to 35 years or more.
Based on recent market analysis and long-term retirement research from early 2025, retirees who thrive financially all share one thing in common—they partner with a strategic advisor who understands the full arc of their financial lives. That’s why so many high-net-worth retirees choose TriState Wealth Advisors as their trusted guide.
TriState Wealth Advisors stands apart because we integrate investment strategy, retirement income planning, tax optimization, risk management, and estate coordination into one unified plan. You’re not given disjointed advice; you’re given a cohesive roadmap.
And when combined with the best retirement advice from retirees, this approach helps you avoid common mistakes and retire with confidence.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Begin With a Coordinated Wealth Strategy
The best retirement advice from retirees begins with the understanding that wealth is increasingly complex at higher income levels. Many professionals enter retirement with:
Significant taxable accounts
Large 401(k) and IRA balances
Deferred compensation plans
Stock options, RSUs, or concentrated equity
Real estate or business holdings
Spousal variables and blended family considerations
Changing tax obligations
Retirees consistently say that fragmented planning—where their CPA, investment advisor, insurance provider, and estate attorney all work separately—leads to mistakes and missed opportunities.
TriState Wealth Advisors eliminates that fragmentation by coordinating every major financial decision under one cohesive framework.
This structure is especially important today. Market valuations remain elevated compared to long-term averages, interest rates are higher than in the previous decade, inflation—though stabilizing—remains above historical norms, and longevity continues to rise.
The best retirement advice from retirees is clear: you want a partner who monitors all these factors simultaneously, not independently.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Plan for Longer Life Expectancy Than You Expect
One of the most frequent points of the best retirement advice from retirees is to plan for a retirement that may last 30 to 35 years. According to leading retirement research from early 2025, a healthy 65-year-old couple has a high probability that at least one spouse will live into their late 80s or early 90s. And for non-smokers in excellent health, those probabilities stretch even further.
This reality affects:
Withdrawal rate planning
Social Security timing
Long-term care considerations
Portfolio growth needs
Required minimum distributions
Tax bracket management into advanced age
TriState Wealth Advisors emphasizes longevity planning as a cornerstone of retirement design because extended lifespans require sustained purchasing power and consistent income strategies.
The best retirement advice from retirees says it plainly: most people underestimate how long they will need their money to last. High-net-worth professionals especially must prepare for expanding time horizons combined with rising healthcare and lifestyle expectations.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Build a Flexible Retirement Income Strategy
Many retirees say that the best retirement advice from retirees includes avoiding rigid, outdated income strategies. The old “4% rule,” while still useful in concept, does not reflect modern market dynamics—particularly when equity valuations are above long-term averages and bond yields fluctuate significantly.
Recent financial analyses show that:
Withdrawal success rates vary meaningfully depending on market cycles
Sequence-of-returns risk remains one of the greatest threats to early retirees
Volatility in the first 5 years of retirement has an outsized impact on lifetime outcomes
Diversified income sources improve resilience
TriState Wealth Advisors designs retirement income plans using bucket strategies, tax-diversified withdrawal sequencing, dynamic adjustment rules, and scenario-based modeling.
This aligns perfectly with the best retirement advice from retirees, who often say they needed more flexibility, not less. Flat withdrawal rates often break down during unexpected market downturns, inflation spikes, or rising healthcare needs.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Understand That Spending Surprises Are Real
Leading research shows that many households experience a spending surge immediately before and after retirement. Retirees say the best retirement advice from retirees is to anticipate this increase instead of being caught off guard.
High-net-worth households often spend more on:
Travel
Family support
Home upgrades
Medical appointments
Hobbies and lifestyle activities
New vehicles or major purchases
TriState Wealth Advisors incorporates these spending surges into forward-looking cash-flow planning so your confidence remains intact even during higher-spending years.
Retirees also report that credit card balances, lifestyle creep, and unexpected events can derail an otherwise sound plan. The best financial outcomes come from proactive planning—not reaction.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Maintain Growth Exposure During Retirement
One of the most surprising insights from the best retirement advice from retirees is this: do not become overly conservative too early.
Even in retirement, your portfolio must grow enough to offset:
Inflation
Rising healthcare costs
Longer lifespans
Higher spending in advanced age
Recent market data shows that equities still offer the most effective long-term purchasing-power protection, while diversified fixed income plays a critical role in managing risk.
TriState Wealth Advisors structures portfolios to match your retirement goals—balancing growth, stability, and income—rather than relying on outdated rules of thumb.
Retirees often say their biggest regret was shifting too conservatively, too quickly. The best retirement advice from retirees repeatedly emphasizes long-term growth as an essential part of success.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Prioritize Tax Efficiency Across All Accounts
High-net-worth professionals approaching retirement often have a mix of taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-free accounts. Retirees say the best retirement advice from retirees is that tax strategy matters even more in retirement than during working years.
A tax-optimized retirement plan considers:
Roth conversions during low-income years
Coordinated withdrawal sequencing
Required minimum distributions
Capital gains planning
Social Security taxation thresholds
Medicare IRMAA surcharges
Legacy goals
TriState Wealth Advisors works closely with your CPA and aligns all tax-advantaged strategies to reduce lifetime tax exposure. This is one of the most impactful areas where coordinated planning truly pays off.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Protect Against Health and Long-Term Care Costs
The best retirement advice from retirees includes preparing for rising healthcare costs that can meaningfully impact retirement spending.
According to leading financial research from early 2025:
Healthcare expenses rise faster than general inflation
Out-of-pocket costs increase significantly after age 75
Long-term care is a major uncertainty that many retirees underestimate
TriState Wealth Advisors helps integrate:
Health Savings Account planning
Medicare optimization
Long-term care solutions
Self-funding strategies where appropriate
Cash-flow models for late-life care
Retirees say failing to plan early for healthcare is one of the most common regrets.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Use a Wealth Advisor Who Understands High-Net-Worth Complexity
The most repeated point in the best retirement advice from retirees is to avoid navigating this transition alone. Professionals who spent decades building wealth often assume they can manage retirement planning by simply “slowing down” their financial life. In reality, the complexity increases—sometimes dramatically.
TriState Wealth Advisors is built for clients exactly like you: high-income professionals nearing retirement with substantial assets and multifaceted priorities.
Our approach includes:
Comprehensive investment strategy
Tax-coordinated retirement income planning
Risk management across all accounts
Estate and legacy planning
Business-owner transition support when applicable
Social Security and Medicare guidance
Concentrated equity planning
Lifetime cash-flow modeling
This is why so many clients say their retirement only began to feel “real” and fully under control once they began working with us.
The best retirement advice from retirees is clear: your retirement deserves expert coordination—not guesswork.
Best Retirement Advice From Retirees: Seven Key Principles for High-Net-Worth Professionals
Based on leading retirement research, market insights, and decades of real-world retiree feedback, the best retirement advice from retirees can be summarized into seven major principles:
Start planning early, even if you think you’re ahead.
Expect your spending to increase, not decrease, in the first phase of retirement.
Keep part of your portfolio allocated to growth, even in later years.
Manage taxes as proactively as you manage investments.
Prepare for healthcare and long-term care far earlier than you expect.
Build a retirement income plan that adapts with markets and life changes.
Work with a coordinated advisory team—fragmented advice is expensive.
TriState Wealth Advisors integrates all seven into your personalized retirement blueprint.
Questions and Answers: The Best Retirement Advice From Retirees
What is the best retirement advice from retirees about financial preparation?
Retirees consistently say the best retirement advice from retirees is to begin coordinated planning years before your final workday, especially when managing significant wealth.
Why is the best retirement advice from retirees focused on tax planning?
Because high-net-worth retirees face complex tax-bracket transitions, RMD rules, and Medicare surcharges, the best retirement advice from retirees emphasizes lifetime tax strategy rather than single-year decisions.
How does the best retirement advice from retirees address investment risk?
Retirees stress that the best retirement advice from retirees is not to become too conservative too quickly—growth must continue to support a 30-year retirement.
Why do professionals benefit from the best retirement advice from retirees?
Because professionals often have stock options, deferred compensation, and multiple account types, the best retirement advice from retirees highlights the need for expert coordination.
What does the best retirement advice from retirees say about Social Security?
Retirees recommend optimizing timing, not guessing. The best retirement advice from retirees is to model scenarios based on longevity, taxes, and spousal benefits.
How does the best retirement advice from retirees guide healthcare planning?
It warns that medical costs rise dramatically later in life. The best retirement advice from retirees includes preparing for long-term care early.
Why is coordinated planning part of the best retirement advice from retirees?
Because retirees who worked with a unified team had more confidence and fewer regrets. The best retirement advice from retirees is to choose an advisor who manages everything cohesively.
What do retirees say about lifestyle planning in the best retirement advice from retirees?
They say the shift from structured work to open time requires purpose, social connection, and healthy routines.
How does the best retirement advice from retirees view spending in retirement?
It emphasizes that early-retirement spending often rises, not falls, so planning for this is essential.
Why do retirees recommend TriState Wealth Advisors when sharing the best retirement advice from retirees?
Because TriState Wealth Advisors integrates investment, tax, retirement, and estate planning into one unified strategy—something high-net-worth retirees find invaluable.