Kadima Wealth Issues Retirement Planning Guide

Context

Kadima Wealth, a fee-only advisory firm, published a retirement planning brief on April 16, 2026 that identifies three primary concerns for well-off individuals approaching retirement: tax exposure, sustainable income sequencing, and asset protection (Business Insider Markets, Apr 16, 2026). The guidance is targeted at high-net-worth clients who require bespoke tax and liability management rather than generic drawdown models. This publication arrives as demographic pressure and fiscal policy uncertainty are reshaping the retirement landscape: the U.S. population aged 65 and over is projected to rise materially through the end of the decade, with Census projections indicating roughly 74 million people aged 65+ by 2030 (U.S. Census Bureau projection). For institutional allocators and wealth managers, Kadima's note highlights tactical considerations that could alter demand for liability-matching instruments and tax-aware income solutions.

The briefing's timing is notable: published on April 16, 2026, it coincides with ongoing policy debates over tax rates and retirement-account rules. Kadima frames its advice as a set of three actionable risk mitigants, reflecting the firm's fee-only position that prioritizes fiduciary outcomes over product sales. Fee-only firms have increasingly positioned themselves as stewards for affluent clients who face concentrated exposures in stock options, carried interest, or private assets. The document's emphasis on tax planning dovetails with a broader industry shift toward tax-efficiency as a primary driver of net retirement income rather than absolute gross returns.

Institutional investors should view Kadima's publication less as a consumer playbook and more as a sector signal. The three issues it raises — taxes, drawdown sequencing, and asset protection — are drivers of product demand and structural flows. For example, greater client focus on tax-managed withdrawals can increase demand for tax-loss harvesting, municipal bond overlays, Roth conversions, and annuity wrappers. Those tactical shifts have measurable implications for fixed-income allocation, insurance issuance, and the design of bespoke liability-driven investment (LDI) solutions.

Data Deep Dive

Kadima's note explicitly enumerates three retirement planning concerns; the firm did not publish asset-level prescriptions but prioritized process and sequencing (Business Insider Markets, Apr 16, 2026). First, the tax point references ongoing uncertainty around statutory rates. The current top U.S. federal marginal income tax rate has remained at 37% under prevailing law since 2018 (IRS). For high-income retirees, even small increases in taxable distributions or capital gains can move effective tax liabilities across thresholds, creating outsized annual tax volatility relative to retirement spending requirements.

Second, Kadima highlights sequencing risk — the order and timing of distributions from taxable, tax-deferred, and tax-exempt buckets — as a determinant of portfolio longevity. Academic and industry research has repeatedly shown that sequence-of-returns risk materially affects sustainable withdrawal rates, particularly in the first decade of retirement when portfolios are most sensitive to market declines. While Kadima did not publish a numerical model in the press release, the firm's focus aligns with research showing that an adverse first-decade return sequence can reduce portfolio sustainability by multiples, particularly for heavy-equity allocations.

Third, asset protection is emphasized for clients with concentrated exposures to illiquid private assets, equity compensation, or sizable real estate holdings. Kadima's fee-only positioning implicitly underscores the role of trust structures, insurance products, and legal protections for legacy and creditor risk mitigation. These measures are especially relevant given the projected demographic expansion of retirees: the 65+ cohort is expected to grow to ~74 million by 2030, raising aggregate demand for retirement income solutions and increasing systemic exposure to longevity and healthcare costs (U.S. Census Bureau projection).

Kadima's brief should be read against macro policy variables. The firm published its guidance on April 16, 2026; that date is material because tax policy discussions and retirement-account rulemaking have been active across the 2024–2026 window. Changes to carry rules, capital-gains indexing, or Social Security indexing could change optimal distribution sequencing and product suitability. Institutional investors monitoring product demand should track IRS guidance and legislative calendars; the current statutory top rate of 37% (IRS) is a baseline for scenario analysis that wealth managers are using when projecting net retirement income under alternative tax outcomes.

Sector Implications

For asset managers and insurers, Kadima's guidance signals client-level preferences that can influence product design. Demand for tax-aware municipal strategies, Roth-conversion advisory services, and fixed indexed annuities could increase if affluent clients prioritize stable after-tax income. From a flows perspective, firms that can demonstrate integrated tax and distribution planning will likely capture a larger share of incrementally reallocated assets from DIY or commission-based channels. Wealth managers that fail to integrate tax-aware sequencing risk losing fee pools to fee-only advisors who package these services.

Insurance companies and annuity providers stand to benefit if clients prioritize guaranteed income to hedge longevity and sequencing risk. However, the extent of flow depends on the comparative cost of guarantees versus multi-asset solutions; insurers' capacity to underwrite longevity risk is a function of interest rates, regulatory capital, and reinsurance pricing. Kadima's focus on asset protection also elevates the role of structured products and captive insurance solutions for high-net-worth households, which could increase demand for bespoke securitized offerings from boutique structurers.

Banks and custodians servicing high-net-worth households will see operational impacts. Tax-aware withdrawal strategies require richer reporting and aggregation across taxable and tax-advantaged vehicles, which in turn drives demand for enhanced account-level analytics and integrated tax-reporting platforms. Custodial platforms that provide granular lot-level tax basis, realized-gain projections, and modeling across Roth, traditional, and taxable accounts will be more competitive in capturing fee streams from advisors executing these strategies.

Institutional investors in the asset-management ecosystem should also consider peer comparisons: fee-only RIAs and fiduciary advisers have grown in prominence relative to broker-dealers over the last decade, increasing competition for affluent households. Kadima's explicit publication of process-based guidance reflects a broader commercial trend where advisory firms differentiate on tax and liability management rather than headline investment performance alone.

Risk Assessment

There are three principal risks inherent in the recommendations and their market implications. The first is policy risk: any assumption that statutory rates or retirement-account rules remain constant carries political and forecasting risk. If marginal rates rise above 37% or if capital-gains taxation is materially altered, the optimal sequencing and product choices recommended today could produce suboptimal after-tax outcomes tomorrow. Institutional players should run sensitivity analysis across alternative tax scenarios when designing client products.

The second is implementation risk. Translating process-level guidance into client outcomes requires robust operational capabilities — tax-lot accounting, timely execution of Roth conversions, and alignment between investment and estate planning vehicles. Firms that lack these capabilities risk execution slippage, which can erode the value of tax-aware strategies. Third-party operational vendors and custodians with strong tax-integration toolsets may therefore capture distribution opportunities.

Third, market risk associated with sequencing and longevity remains a persistent factor. For portfolios with concentrated equity exposure or illiquid private assets, adverse market moves in early retirement years can materially increase the probability of running out of liquidity when needed for health or legacy purposes. Kadima's note implicitly recommends defensive steps; however, the cost of insurance-style solutions or liquidity buffers must be weighed against potential opportunity cost in growth-oriented allocations.

Fazen Markets Perspective

Fazen Markets views Kadima's publication as an incremental but important signal from the wealth-advice sector rather than a market-moving event. The firm's clear enumeration of three risks — tax, sequencing, protection — crystallizes a trend we've observed across client advisory flows: the migration from product-centric selling to process-centric planning. This process focus is non-obvious in its market implications because it changes what clients pay for: advisors who can credibly deliver integrated tax-aware retirement strategies command higher retention and potentially greater wallet share, which can shift fee pools within the financial ecosystem.

Contrarian insight: while much industry commentary treats higher guaranteed-income products as the primary beneficiary, Fazen Markets anticipates a more nuanced bifurcation. Large institutional managers providing modular overlay services (tax harvesting, account-level aggregation, dynamic withdrawal modeling) will capture the bulk of incremental AUM shifts, while boutique insurers that price guarantees competitively will capture the concentrated demand for annuities. The result is not purely winners in insurance or asset management; rather, it is an ecosystem reallocation where technology-enabled advisers and platforms gain relative share versus legacy distribution channels.

Operationally, the demand for tax-aware retirement solutions increases the importance of custody and reporting vendors that can deliver lot-level tax basis, multi-account modeling, and timely Roth conversion analytics. Firms that invest in these capabilities may see a lower client acquisition cost and higher retention among HNW cohorts. Institutional allocators should therefore consider partnerships and vendor diligence focused on tax and distribution infrastructure as part of their go-to-market strategies.

Bottom Line

Kadima Wealth's April 16, 2026 guide reinforces three practical risk areas—taxes, sequencing, and asset protection—relevant to affluent retirees and the firms that serve them. Institutional investors should treat this as a strategic cue to evaluate product design, operational readiness, and tax-sensitivity in client-facing solutions.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

FAQ

Q: How should institutions quantify the tax-risk Kadima highlights?

A: Institutions should model taxable-distribution scenarios using a combination of current statutory rates (baseline 37% top marginal federal rate, IRS) and stressed scenarios (+3-6 percentage points) to assess the impact on after-tax income. Scenario analysis should include timing of capital gains realization, Roth conversions, and Medicare IRMAA exposure where relevant.

Q: Historically, how have fee-only advisories influenced product demand?

A: Historically, fee-only advisers have shifted demand toward transparent-priced, fiduciary-aligned products — increasing flows into separately managed accounts, tax-aware strategies, and custom annuity wrappers. This structural shift accelerated after the mid-2010s fiduciary emphasis and has continued as HNW households seek integrated planning, not just product placement.