Your retirement income planning paycheck with Tolleson Wealth Management

Can I turn five accounts into one $7,500 paycheck?

Yes. Tolleson Wealth Management can turn several accounts into a $7,500 monthly paycheck by assigning each account a job and setting spending guardrails before sales begin. A fixed $90K annual draw can fail quietly when a household with no pension, a paid-off house, two 401(k)s, an IRA and a brokerage account treats every monthly sale alike.

The trouble often surfaces after the 1099-R arrives in January. A retiree waived federal withholding on IRA draws to keep each check larger, filed the return, and then faced an April bill. Drawing $5,000 monthly is $60K annually; if about $5,000 of tax is due for illustration, an IRS underpayment penalty may be added because nothing was paid as the income arrived.

Tolleson Wealth Management writes a spending range into the playbook. It begins at the target, then trims or raises spending when the withdrawal rate crosses a stated guardrail. At the annual meeting, compare this year’s withdrawal rate with the two guardrails and confirm federal withholding is set on every account that pays you.

Quick test: if Social Security plus any pension will cover less than half of the monthly paycheck you want, most of your income will come from selling investments. Write the playbook, including its trim and raise points and withholding instructions, before the first withdrawal.

Should we settle taxes, Social Security and the will in the same meeting?

Yes. The Social Security claim age, taxable account withdrawals and beneficiary forms should be discussed together because each affects the size and source of your monthly paycheck. Tolleson Wealth Management advisors put those decisions in the same playbook, while leaving tax returns to your preparer and wills or trusts to an estate attorney.

If Glenn claims Social Security now, his 401(k)s need to provide less of the $7,500 monthly target. If he waits until 70, they need to provide more for four years. The claim-age analysis belongs in a separate Social Security discussion, but the income playbook must use the chosen age.

Under IRS rules, all money you take out of a 401(k) or traditional IRA is taxed as ordinary income. Up to 85 percent of Social Security can be federally taxable, depending on provisional income, so the draw size and the withholding amount need to be set together. Roth conversions can create a tax-free source later, and the IRS requires RMDs beginning at 75 for people born in 1960 or later.

Find the account row that will pay your first monthly draw. It shows why a brokerage account can be useful when spending is trimmed and why beneficiary forms need attention. Beneficiary forms on Glenn’s two 401(k)s and IRA override the will, so Tolleson checks them when writing the playbook and at each annual meeting.

How do I tell a real income playbook from a projection?

A real income playbook says which account pays each month, the withdrawal rate that triggers a trim or raise, and how tax withholding is set. It also states on paper how the firm is paid before money moves. Tolleson Wealth Management gives those operating instructions; a probability-of-success score without directions for a down year is only a projection.

At 55, ten years out, the numbers get real

Turning 50 opens catch-up years. After that, an employer buyout offer, a spouse’s retirement date, an inheritance, a health scare or the first 401(k) statement showing a monthly income estimate can make the paycheck question immediate. Any one of those events gives you enough known numbers to sketch the income need. Bring the new fact to your next annual meeting; don’t hold it until the day you retire.

Six skipped catch-up years, about $275 less a month

For illustration (hypothetical): at 54, Glenn was 12 years from leaving the grocery chain at 66. Using a flat $8,000 catch-up each year for simplicity, he adds $96,000 of extra 401(k) money. Assuming 5 percent a year, for illustration, 12 deposits grow to about $127K: $8,000 × 15.92 = about $127K.

At a 4.5 percent starting withdrawal, $127K × 4.5 percent = about $5,700 annually, or roughly $475 monthly toward Glenn and Monique’s $7,500 target. Had he waited until 60, six deposits grow to about $54K: $8,000 × 6.80 = about $54K. At the same starting withdrawal, $54K × 4.5 percent = about $2,400 annually, or about $200 monthly. The six skipped years cost roughly $275 monthly of paycheck.

Waiting has other costs close to retirement. Default 20 percent withholding on 401(k) payouts can be too much or too little for the tax due. Cash may sit idle in a settlement fund. And claiming Social Security at 62 by default cuts the benefit by 30 percent for life when full retirement age is 67.

After paychecks stop, a fixed draw without guardrails keeps selling the same dollar amount in a falling market, which means more shares leave at lower prices. An account’s value can fall below what was put into it, and the 5 percent return is an assumption for illustration, not a forecast. Tolleson Wealth Management uses the annual meeting to ask whether the actual withdrawal rate still sits inside the agreed range.

From 60 to 63 the catch-up rises to $11,250

For 2026, the IRS limit for 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457 and TSP employee deferrals is $24,500. The age-50 catch-up is $8,000, for $32,500 total; at ages 60 through 63, the catch-up is $11,250, so $24,500 + $11,250 = $35,750 annually. If prior-year FICA wages exceeded $150,000, the catch-up must be Roth, taxed now and available later as a tax-free paycheck source.

IRA room for 2026 is $7,500 plus a $1,100 catch-up at age 50 or older, or $8,600. Quick test: if you can save more than $32,500 annually in your last decade, a taxable brokerage account becomes the overflow and can later supply flexible cash in trimmed years. At the annual meeting, check that contributions and account choices still match the intended withdrawal jobs.

Bring the numbers behind your first paycheck

Your first conversation with Tolleson Wealth Management covers the monthly paycheck you want, each account’s rough balance, your expected Social Security claim age and any planned retirement date. The client minimum is $500K in investable assets. Most clients meet with the firm through screen-share video or by phone, so the conversation can begin wherever you live.

Bring the latest statement for every 401(k), IRA and brokerage account. Also bring your earnings record and benefit estimates from your online SSA account, last year’s filed return, and the beneficiary forms on file. The firm has no published phone number; the contact page has a request form for reaching it. Tolleson Wealth Management puts its pay arrangement on paper for you before a single account is moved.

Tolleson Wealth Management reports $2.9 billion in client assets. The playbook does not replace a tax preparer or estate attorney, but it gives each of those professionals the income assumptions they need.