Tactical Investment Advisors, LLC

10/20/2026

During a client meeting today, my 73-year-old client had an IRMAA question. I need $15k more to pay for a golf trip, how will this impact my IRMAA?

The first thing he needed to know:

This year's income impacts 2028 IRMAA. For 2028 premiums, PROJECTIONS suggest that a single filer crosses the first surcharge when MAGI exceeds $113,000 while joint filers don’t start paying extra until $226,000.

His income snapshot is simple:

👉$78,000 from IRAs
👉$43,000 from Social Security
👉$ 3,000 Int Inc

100% of his IRA withdrawals count, but only 85% of his Social Security counts.

His MAGI for 2026 is looking like ~$117k.

As it stands now, his income is barely above the projected first IRMAA tier. In 2028 Tier 2 is projected to start at $143,000. The $15k he wants for a golf trip will put him well below tier 2 of IRMAA.

We did discuss a QCD (qualified charitable distribution). Keep in mind, people can execute a QCD at 70½ even though RMDs don’t start until 73.

The QCD doesn't count towards MAGI.

Have you mapped that for your future income?

If you want the one-page IRMAA snapshot, comment TAX and I’ll send it.

10/14/2026

How much do you get to keep after taxes if you're a high earning W2 employee?

Alex DeBrincat’s new deal is expected to be a seven-year, $91 million extension with a $13 million AAV.

So how much will he keep?

Rough after-tax estimate in Michigan (including other states...pro athletes pay state taxes where they play):

Agent fee: $400,000
Federal income tax: $4,300,000
Combined state + provincial (Michigan + Duty Days + Canada, net of credits): $450,000
Medicare (including additional tax): ~$300,000

That’s roughly $7.5M (54–58%) of the $13M in taxes.

Alex and his family take home about $5.4M of the $13M salary.

THIS IS A BALLPARK, NOT A TAX RETURN. EXACT NUMBER DEPENDS ON RESIDENCY, DEDUCTIONS, SIGNING-BONUS STRUCTURE, AND HOW THE FRONT-LOADED YEARS ARE PAID.

10/13/2026

A Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) can satisfy your RMD and stay out of taxable income. The catch is timing.

For a QCD to count toward your 2026 RMD and stay off your 2026 tax return, the transfer generally must be completed by December 31, 2026. There is no April 15 grace period like there is for IRA contributions.

A few rules that trip people up:

👉You must be at least 70½ on the date of the transfer.
👉The money has to go directly from the IRA custodian to a qualified public charity. Donor-advised funds and most private foundations don’t qualify.
👉The 2026 limit is $111,000 per person.

❗The first dollars out of an IRA in a year are treated as that year’s RMD. If you take a regular withdrawal first, you can’t later relabel it as a QCD. A later QCD can still be tax-free and can cover any remaining RMD, but the earlier withdrawal stays taxable.

If the goal is to cover the RMD without adding income, make the QCD first—or use the QCD itself as the distribution that satisfies the RMD.

If the custodian sends a check payable to the charity, don’t wait until late December. Processing delays are common, and the charity generally needs to receive it by year-end.

Amounts above the RMD can still be excluded from income (up to the annual cap), but they do not carry forward to next year’s RMD.

This is general information, not tax advice. Confirm the details with your IRA custodian and tax professional.

10/08/2026

If you use the Rule of 55 and then take another job, do you have to stop taking money from the old 401(k)?

No.

The Rule of 55 is based on when you left that employer, not on staying unemployed.

If you separated from service in the calendar year you turned 55 or later, you can keep taking penalty-free withdrawals from that employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) even if you start a new full-time job, part-time work, or a business.

What still matters:

>Leave the money in the old employer’s plan.
>Rolling it to an IRA or a new 401(k) usually kills the exception.
>It only applies to the plan from the job you left at 55+, not older 401(k)s or IRAs.
>Your plan has to allow those withdrawals.
>You still pay ordinary income tax. Only the 10% early-withdrawal penalty is waived.
>A new job’s 401(k) is separate.
>You generally can’t use the Rule of 55 on that account unless you later leave that new employer in or after the year you turn 55.

Worth confirming with the plan administrator and a tax pro before you count on it.

10/06/2026

When a financial planner is helping a client with taxes we can't start with a guess.

We start with last year’s 1040.

What changed? What do we subtract, what do we add for the coming year?
A property flip.
Real-estate income.
An annuity distribution.

A one-time capital gain from a sale that already closed. A loss that will not repeat. Subtract those.

That is how you find out whether a small check is harmless or whether it is the dollar that changes Medicare.

For one couple, the line that matters is $274,000.

Under that, first-tier IRMAA. Over that, the next tie, ~$81 more on Part B and $23 more on Part D.

$1,700 per person per year since both of them if both are on Medicare.

A $10,000 annuity check does not change IRMAA at $262,000 MAGI. It does if that $10,000 is what crosses $274,000.

The distribution is not the question. The band is.

Tax is one job. Cash is another.

The work looks like this:
👉Build this year’s MAGI from last year’s return
👉Mark the one-time items so they do not get counted twice.
👉Check the IRMAA band before a distribution starts.

The goal is not a prettier spreadsheet. It is knowing whether this year’s checks stay in the band you already accepted.

10/06/2026

Hug your kids and remind them to never get in the car with someone who has been drinking.

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- For the second time in as many months, the Traverse City Central School community is mourning the loss of a 17-year

10/03/2026

A typical October weekend:

Friday: work until 4, kids’ sports by 5, snack and recap the day after sports, then crash on the couch watching hockey with my wife.

Saturday: walk the dogs, head out for kids’ sports, back by 6. Repeat Friday night.

Sunday: groundhog weekend.

Wouldn’t change it for anything.

10/02/2026

Friday is usually when people want a market take. Well, there's a 60% chance the market is up on any given week. 70%+ chance it's up during any given year.

The more important conversations I have are about who owns the assets after someone dies.

A couple can have a paid-off house, a solid portfolio, and still leave the survivor and the kids two different problems.

➡️Joint property does one thing.
➡️An IRA does another.

A beneficiary form beats a will on that account, whether you meant it to or not.

After the first death, the surviving spouse is often fine. After the second, the kids step into inherited-IRA rules and a calendar they didn’t pick.

That’s the part that doesn’t show up on your investment statement.

You don’t need a 40-page trust memo to start. You need to know which dollars are meant to keep a spouse independent, and which dollars are meant to transfer. Those are not the same job.

Have you mapped the first death and the second death — or only the net worth number?

If you want the one-page Legacy Protection Audit, comment LEGACY and I’ll send it.

10/01/2026

23 years in the industry and I couldn’t agree more with Jeff.

If you got duped into putting $100,000 A YEAR into a life insurance policy, the only retirement you’re funding is the life insurance agent’s.

I spent almost 20 years as a financial advisor, and whenever somebody pitches life insurance as this magical retirement vehicle, I want to see the illustration AND the commission.

Show me the cost of insurance.

Show me every fee.

Show me the surrender charges.

Show me what’s guaranteed versus what’s just projected.

Show me what happens if the policy underperforms.

Show me the interest charged when you start borrowing against the cash value.

And PLEASE show me what the person selling this thing gets paid.

Because $100,000 a year is serious money.

Invest $100K every year for 20 years at an 8% average return and you’re talking about roughly $4.6 MILLION.

At 10%, it’s roughly $5.7 million.

Does that automatically mean investing wins? Of course not. Life insurance can serve legitimate purposes, and permanent insurance can make sense in certain estate-planning, business, or very high-net-worth situations.

But if your primary goal is retirement and somebody’s first solution is stuffing $100K a year into a life insurance policy, I’d be asking a LOT of questions before signing anything.

And the first one would still be:

“How much are you getting paid if I buy this?”

10/01/2026

Euphoria is fun, but it doesn't last forever. It does make it hard for many people to play defense. This is a reminder that there are multiple periods in history where markets moved everywhere but ultimately nowhere for 13+ years.

From year-end 1964 to year-end 1981 the Dow went from 874 to 875. Price change: basically zero.
During the same time frame, the S&P 500 went from 84.75 to 122.55 — about +45%, or roughly 2% a year on price alone.

Dividends helped. With dividends reinvested, the S&P’s total return was close to 6% a year. The Dow’s total return was to ~ 4% a year. Volatility was prevalent and CPI nearly tripled.

In real terms, price-only investors got crushed. Even dividend reinventors barely treaded water.

If you were already retired, the sequence was ugly. You needed income while prices sat still. Withdrawals sold more shares after every drop. Living costs rose faster than the index.

A 5% or 5.5% draw looks like a paycheck in a good market. It is not a pension. A pension does not care that the S&P crawled and inflation ran.

The companies still grew. Valuations just compressed for a generation. That’s fine if you are still adding money. It is not fine if the same account has to write the grocery check.

The lesson for today isn’t “the 1970s are coming.” It’s this: if the income plan only works in a 1982–1999 tape, it isn’t a plan. It’s a hope.

What covers 2027 spending in your house if stocks go sideways for a long stretch?

If you want the one-page Retirement Protection List, comment SAFE and I’ll send it.