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Retirement Planning in San Diego, CA

Retirement planning helps coordinate your retirement savings, income sources, investments, taxes, and long-term financial goals into a personalized financial strategy. Since 2009, Imeson Wealth Partners LLC has provided fiduciary retirement planning services to individuals, families, business owners, and retirees throughout San Diego. Led by Garrett Imeson, CFP®, our fee-based planning process delivers objective financial guidance without commissions or product-based incentives.

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At Imeson Wealth Partners, we take a comprehensive approach to retirement planning by bringing retirement income planning, investment management, tax planning, Social Security, Medicare, estate planning, and cash flow management together within one personalized retirement strategy. We tailor your retirement plan to your financial circumstances, retirement timeline, income needs, and long-term financial goals while providing ongoing guidance as tax laws, market conditions, healthcare costs, and life events evolve throughout retirement.

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Planning for retirement in San Diego often involves coordinating income from 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP), CalPERS, CalSTRS, SDCERS, military retirement benefits, and Social Security while managing California income taxes, healthcare costs, housing expenses, and the region's higher cost of living. Whether you are preparing for retirement, transitioning into retirement, or already retired, we help organize these financial resources into a personalized retirement strategy aligned with your income needs, lifestyle, and long-term financial goals.

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Call (858) 215-2955 today to schedule your retirement planning consultation with Imeson Wealth Partners LLC and begin building a retirement strategy designed for your life in San Diego.

Try Our Free Retirement Planning Tools

Retirement planning involves evaluating how today's financial decisions may affect your future retirement income and long-term financial security. Our free retirement planning calculators help San Diego residents explore Roth IRA growth, Roth conversions, retirement savings projections, and other common planning scenarios before meeting with a Certified Financial Planner®. They provide a practical starting point for making more informed retirement planning decisions.

Roth IRA Growth Calculator

Estimate how annual contributions, investment returns, compounding, and your investment timeline may influence the future value of your Roth IRA and potential tax-free retirement income.

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Roth Conversion Calculator

Compare different Roth conversion scenarios by estimating conversion taxes, future tax-free growth, and how Roth conversions may fit within your broader retirement income and tax planning strategy.

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Schedule your free consultation today, and let's start creating the plan you need to live the life you want

Who We Are – Meet Your San Diego Retirement Planning Team

Imeson Wealth Partners LLC is a San Diego fiduciary retirement planning firm dedicated to helping individuals, families, business owners, and retirees make informed financial decisions before and throughout retirement. Founded by Garrett Imeson, CFP®, the firm provides personalized retirement planning that integrates retirement income planning, investment management, tax-aware strategies, Social Security planning, Medicare considerations, estate planning, and wealth management into one coordinated financial strategy. Garrett Imeson’s professional registrations and credentials include FINRA CRD #5693946, California Insurance License #0G82492, and CFP Board ID #256847. Since 2009, the firm has provided transparent, fee-based financial planning based on each client’s retirement goals, financial circumstances, income needs, and long-term priorities rather than product recommendations or commission-based advice.

Our Retirement Planning Services in San Diego

Our retirement planning services help San Diego individuals, families, business owners, and retirees coordinate the financial decisions that shape retirement. From retirement income and investment management to California tax planning, Social Security, Medicare, and estate planning, we develop personalized strategies tailored to your financial circumstances, retirement timeline, and long-term goals. As your needs evolve, we provide ongoing guidance to help you navigate changing tax laws, market conditions, and life events with confidence.

Retirement Income Planning

As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we develop personalized retirement income strategies that convert your retirement savings into sustainable income. Whether your income comes from 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, Social Security, taxable investment accounts, the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP), military retirement benefits, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), or California public retirement systems such as CalPERS, CalSTRS, and SDCERS, we coordinate these income sources into a tax-aware strategy aligned with your financial goals. Our retirement income planning process evaluates when and how to draw income from different accounts while coordinating withdrawal timing, account sequencing, pension income, Social Security claiming strategies, and tax-efficient distribution planning. Where appropriate, these recommendations are coordinated with your broader retirement tax strategy to help support long-term after-tax income.

Retirement Estate Planning

Retirement planning extends beyond building wealth to preserving and transferring it according to your wishes. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we help coordinate estate planning strategies that align your retirement accounts, investment assets, business interests, real estate holdings, and legacy objectives with your overall financial plan. We consider California-specific estate planning considerations, including beneficiary designations, probate avoidance strategies, revocable living trusts, and retirement account distribution planning. Our process includes reviewing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, advance healthcare directives, charitable giving goals, and inherited retirement account considerations to help ensure your retirement and estate plans work together effectively. We also evaluate strategies related to SECURE Act inherited IRA requirements, Transfer-on-Death (TOD) designations where appropriate, trust coordination, and legacy planning in collaboration with your estate planning attorney.

Wealth Management

Effective wealth management helps your investment portfolio continue supporting your retirement objectives throughout every stage of retirement. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we build, manage, and monitor investment portfolios based on your retirement timeline, income needs, risk tolerance, liquidity requirements, and long-term financial goals. Our wealth management process includes evaluating strategic asset allocation, portfolio diversification, investment costs, liquidity, concentrated investment positions, tax-efficient investing, portfolio rebalancing, and overall risk exposure across taxable brokerage accounts, IRAs, Roth IRAs, trusts, and other investment assets. We continuously monitor market conditions and your evolving financial circumstances, making disciplined portfolio adjustments designed to balance long-term growth opportunities with capital preservation while helping your investments remain aligned with your retirement objectives.

Retirement Tax Planning

Our retirement planning process includes comprehensive tax-aware strategies designed to help you understand how retirement income, investment withdrawals, and account distributions may impact your lifetime tax liability. Rather than evaluating each financial account separately, we analyze your Traditional and Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions, brokerage accounts, and California income tax considerations as part of your overall retirement plan. We evaluate retirement tax strategies such as Roth conversion opportunities, Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) planning, Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), Medicare Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) thresholds, capital gains management, and tax-efficient withdrawal sequencing. By coordinating income sources and account distributions, we help identify opportunities to improve tax efficiency throughout retirement while adapting to changing retirement legislation. Where appropriate, we collaborate with your CPA and other trusted advisors to help integrate retirement income planning with your broader tax strategy and long-term financial goals.

Risk Management & Insurance

Unexpected events such as serious illness, disability, long-term care needs, or liability claims can significantly affect your retirement income and long-term financial security. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we evaluate insurance strategies alongside your retirement plan, considering health insurance, Medicare coverage, long-term care planning, life insurance, disability income protection, and California-specific insurance considerations that may affect your financial future. As part of this process, we review emergency reserves, liability exposure, beneficiary designations, policy coverage, and long-term care funding strategies. We also consider Medicare eligibility, California long-term care planning options, advance healthcare directives, and policy provisions while coordinating with your insurance and legal professionals where appropriate to keep your insurance strategies aligned with your retirement goals and evolving financial circumstances.

Social Security Planning

Choosing when to claim Social Security is one of the most important retirement income decisions because it can affect your lifetime benefits and overall retirement income. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we evaluate claiming strategies alongside 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, and California public retirement systems such as CalPERS, CalSTRS, SDCERS, UCRP, and federal or military retirement benefits to determine how each income source fits within your broader retirement plan. Our recommendations consider Full Retirement Age (FRA), delayed retirement credits, spousal and survivor benefits, earnings limits before FRA, taxation of benefits, Medicare enrollment, and how Social Security fits within your overall retirement income strategy. We also evaluate how Social Security coordinates with pension income and other retirement resources where applicable.

Cash Flow Management

Maintaining a comfortable retirement depends on more than generating income. It also requires managing spending as your lifestyle, priorities, and financial circumstances change. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we develop personalized cash flow strategies that help align your expected retirement expenses with your long-term financial goals. Our cash flow planning focuses on evaluating essential living expenses, discretionary spending, healthcare costs, housing expenses, travel, charitable giving, emergency reserves, inflation, and major planned purchases to help determine whether your retirement lifestyle remains financially sustainable. Through ongoing cash flow projections, annual spending reviews, and periodic plan updates, we help you adapt your spending strategy as economic conditions, healthcare needs, and personal priorities change, providing greater confidence that your retirement lifestyle can be maintained throughout retirement.

Get To Know From Real Clients

What Is Included in Your Retirement Plan?

Every retirement plan at Imeson Wealth Partners is tailored to your financial circumstances, retirement timeline, and long-term goals. As part of our retirement planning services in San Diego, we coordinate retirement income, investment management, California tax planning, Social Security, Medicare, estate planning, and cash flow into one comprehensive strategy. Your retirement plan also considers current retirement laws, IRS distribution rules, and changing tax regulations so financial decisions remain aligned throughout retirement.

Retirement Income Projections

Your retirement plan includes personalized income projections that estimate how income, spending, savings, and investments may perform under different scenarios. We model retirement age, life expectancy, inflation, investment returns, Social Security, pensions, California living costs, and major expenses to evaluate long-term income sustainability. Because assumptions and market conditions change, projections are planning estimates that should be reviewed regularly.

Roth Conversion and Tax-Bracket Analysis

To determine whether converting assets from tax-deferred accounts to Roth accounts supports your retirement objectives, your retirement plan includes a Roth conversion and tax-bracket analysis. We evaluate current and future tax brackets, retirement income needs, Medicare premium considerations, and long-term planning objectives before making recommendations.

Required Minimum Distribution Planning

Your retirement plan addresses Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) planning by identifying affected retirement accounts, applicable IRS starting ages, estimated distributions, and potential tax implications. We also coordinate RMDs with Social Security, Medicare, Roth conversions, and California tax considerations using current IRS guidance.

Social Security Claiming Analysis

Included in your retirement plan is a personalized Social Security claiming analysis that compares different claiming strategies using current Social Security Administration (SSA) data. We evaluate retirement age, work history, spousal and survivor benefits, expected longevity, pensions, and California public retirement systems to identify a strategy that fits your broader retirement plan.

Investment Portfolio Review

A comprehensive investment portfolio review evaluates asset allocation, diversification, investment costs, liquidity, account types, and overall risk exposure while assessing how your investments support your retirement income strategy and long-term financial goals.

Estate and Beneficiary Review

As part of your retirement plan, an estate and beneficiary review helps keep retirement accounts, trusts, wills, insurance policies, transfer-on-death arrangements, and beneficiary designations aligned with your legacy goals. We also consider estate planning factors while recommending that legal documents be reviewed by a qualified estate planning attorney.

Account Withdrawal and Distribution Strategy

A personalized withdrawal and distribution strategy is developed as part of your retirement plan, coordinating taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts. We evaluate income needs, tax efficiency, market conditions, and long-term portfolio sustainability to develop a withdrawal approach tailored to your retirement goals.

Healthcare and Medicare Cost Planning

Healthcare and Medicare cost planning is incorporated into your retirement plan to estimate Medicare premiums, IRMAA surcharges, supplemental insurance, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and potential long-term care costs. We use current Medicare guidance while testing multiple scenarios to help account for changing healthcare needs throughout retirement.

Written Recommendations and Implementation Plan

To conclude your retirement plan, we provide written recommendations and an implementation roadmap outlining key findings, recommended actions, responsibilities, and target timeframes. We coordinate implementation with you and, where appropriate, your CPA, estate planning attorney, insurance professional, or account custodian to help keep your retirement strategy on track.

Retirement Planning Considerations for San Diego Residents

Retirement planning in San Diego extends beyond building retirement savings. California income tax laws, public retirement systems, property ownership, and changing retirement regulations can all affect your retirement income and long-term financial security. Our retirement planning process evaluates these California-specific considerations alongside federal retirement rules to help you make informed financial decisions throughout retirement.

California Taxes on Retirement Income

Evaluate how California taxes Traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement account distributions as ordinary income under the California Revenue and Taxation Code, while Social Security benefits remain exempt from California income tax. Tax planning also considers Roth conversion timing, capital gains, and tax-efficient withdrawal strategies to help improve after-tax retirement income.

CalPERS, CalSTRS, and SDCERS Retirement Benefits

Coordinate benefits from California public retirement systems, including CalPERS, CalSTRS, and SDCERS, with your broader retirement income strategy. Planning also considers pension payment options, cost-of-living adjustments, and other retirement benefits where applicable.

Automated asset allocation and rebalancing in line with your goals and risk preference:

We design and manage a portfolio tailored to your risk tolerance and investment goals, with automatic rebalancing to keep your investments aligned with your preferences.

Guided Wealth Portfolios (GWP) is a centrally managed investment program sponsored by LPL Financial LLC (LPL). GWP generates investment recommendations based on model portfolios constructed by LPL. If you are receiving advisory services in GWP from a separately registered investment advisor firm other than LPL, LPL is not an affiliate of such advisor. LPL investment advisors are registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and LPL is also a member of FINRA/SIPC.
 

Who Is It For?

GWP is ideal for those with $5,000+ to invest and seeking a simple, automated, and cost-effective way to grow their wealth. If you want to build wealth over time with minimal effort, this program is for you.

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How It Helps You:

  • Build wealth effortlessly: With automated portfolio management, your investments are taken care of for you, so you can focus on what matters most.

  • Start investing quickly: With low minimums and an easy online setup, you can start building your wealth in no time.

  • Support charitable causes: Every investment you make helps fund important charitable initiatives, giving your wealth-building efforts a positive social impact.

  • Note: An annual small account fee is applied to accounts with less than $10,000 invested.

How Our Retirement Planning Process Works

Our retirement planning process follows a structured approach that begins with understanding your financial circumstances, continues through implementation, and concludes with ongoing reviews. Each step clarifies what information is needed, which financial decisions require attention, and how retirement income, taxes, investments, Social Security, healthcare, insurance, and estate goals work together within one coordinated strategy.

Step 1: Initial Consultation & Discovery

Every retirement plan begins with understanding your financial circumstances, retirement goals, lifestyle expectations, family priorities, and the questions you want answered. During this meeting, we review 401(k)s, IRAs, pensions, Social Security estimates, investment accounts, insurance policies, estate planning documents, tax returns, debts, and monthly expenses to establish a complete financial picture. This discovery process helps identify planning priorities, potential opportunities, and the decisions that require further analysis.

Step 2: Financial Analysis & Goal Setting

After gathering your financial information, our team analyzes how your assets, liabilities, income sources, investment portfolio, taxes, healthcare expenses, and retirement benefits work together. We establish measurable retirement objectives and evaluate different planning scenarios based on retirement age, income needs, inflation, market assumptions, and Social Security claiming strategies. This analysis forms the foundation for every recommendation within your retirement plan.

Step 3: Custom Retirement Plan Development

Using the findings from our analysis, we develop a retirement strategy tailored to your financial circumstances and long-term priorities. Your plan may include retirement income planning, tax-aware withdrawal strategies, Roth conversion analysis, investment allocation, Medicare considerations, estate planning coordination, and cash flow recommendations. We also explain the tradeoffs behind each recommendation so you understand how individual decisions may affect taxes, retirement income, liquidity, and future financial flexibility.

Step 4: Plan Implementation

Once your retirement strategy has been reviewed and approved, the next step is to implement the recommendations. Depending on your plan, this may include adjusting investment allocations, consolidating retirement accounts, updating beneficiaries, implementing withdrawal strategies, completing Roth conversions, reviewing insurance coverage, or coordinating with your CPA and estate planning attorney. Each recommendation is implemented according to an agreed timeline with clear responsibilities for everyone involved.

Step 5: Ongoing Monitoring & Adjustments

Retirement planning continues long after your initial strategy has been implemented. Regular reviews allow us to evaluate investment performance, retirement income, required minimum distributions, tax planning opportunities, healthcare costs, cash flow, and changing financial priorities as markets, tax laws, and life circumstances evolve. This ongoing planning process keeps your retirement strategy aligned with your current goals rather than relying on outdated assumptions.

Who We Help – Retirement Planning for San Diego Professionals & Families

Imeson Wealth Partners provides retirement planning services for professionals, families, business owners, and retirees throughout San Diego whose financial lives involve multiple income sources, retirement accounts, tax considerations, and long-term planning decisions. Every retirement strategy is developed around your financial circumstances, retirement timeline, and personal goals rather than a standardized planning approach.

Corporate Professionals

As careers progress, compensation often expands beyond salary to include 401(k)s, employee stock purchase plans, restricted stock units, deferred compensation, bonuses, and taxable investment accounts. Imeson Wealth Partners helps corporate professionals coordinate these benefits with retirement income planning, investment management, tax planning, and future withdrawal strategies, so that workplace benefits continue to support retirement long after employment ends.

Business Owners

For many business owners, the company represents both a source of income and a significant retirement asset. Retirement planning through Imeson Wealth Partners considers business succession, company valuation, liquidity events, buy-sell agreements, retirement plan contributions, and tax implications while integrating business wealth with personal retirement income and long-term financial goals.

Retirees

Leaving the workforce replaces a regular paycheck with multiple sources of retirement income, all of which require ongoing coordination. Our retirement planning process helps retirees manage Social Security benefits, pensions, required minimum distributions, Medicare costs, investment withdrawals, taxes, and cash flow so that retirement income continues to support changing lifestyle and healthcare needs.

Couples Planning For Retirement

Planning for retirement as a couple requires coordination across two financial lives with different retirement dates, benefit histories, income sources, and future goals. Our retirement planning process helps couples align Social Security claiming decisions, pensions, retirement accounts, healthcare planning, survivor income, estate planning, and household cash flow into a single comprehensive retirement strategy.

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Pre-Retirees

The years leading up to retirement often present the greatest opportunity to strengthen long-term financial outcomes. Through personalized retirement planning, clients receive guidance on retirement savings, pension elections, Social Security claiming strategies, Roth conversions, healthcare planning, debt reduction, and projected retirement expenses before retirement income begins.

Attorneys

Variable compensation, partnership interests, qualified retirement plans, deferred income, and taxable investments often create additional planning considerations for attorneys. Imeson Wealth Partners develops retirement strategies that coordinate these financial elements with investment management, tax planning, estate planning, and retirement income objectives.

Physicians

Physicians frequently balance high earnings with practice ownership, hospital retirement plans, student loan obligations, disability coverage, and demanding career schedules. Retirement planning includes coordinating 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457 plans, cash balance plans, investment portfolios, tax planning, and retirement income strategies that reflect both professional and personal financial priorities.

High-Income Earners

Higher earnings often create additional planning opportunities alongside greater tax complexity. We help clients evaluate deferred compensation, concentrated stock positions, charitable giving strategies, Roth conversion opportunities, taxable investments, and retirement account contributions within one coordinated long-term financial strategy.

Individuals Receiving a Windfall or Inheritance

For many San Diego retirees, real estate represents both a major asset and a potential income source. Rental income, downsizing opportunities, and Proposition 19 planning can all influence retirement cash flow. Integrating real estate into a broader income strategy helps diversify retirement resources and strengthen financial resilience. 

Why Choose Imeson Wealth Partners for Retirement Planning in San Diego

Choosing Imeson Wealth Partners for retirement planning in San Diego means working with a fiduciary financial planning firm that helps you bring retirement income, investments, taxes, Social Security, Medicare, estate planning, and long-term financial goals into one coordinated strategy instead of managing each decision independently. Every recommendation is developed around your retirement income needs, tax considerations, investment strategy, Social Security benefits, estate planning goals, and evolving financial priorities through a structured planning process designed to support informed financial decisions before and throughout retirement. Whether you are preparing to retire, transitioning into retirement, or reviewing an existing financial plan, our guidance is tailored to your financial circumstances, retirement timeline, and long-term objectives.

15+ Years of Specialized Retirement Planning Experience

Fiduciary, Client-First Approach

Transparent, Fee-Based Communication

Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®) Led Guidance

Personalized, Tax-Aware Retirement Income Strategies

Serving San Diego Professionals, Families & Retirees Since 2009

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FREE 9 STEP PDF!

The Most Useful Guide to Roth Conversions

The Most Useful Guide to Roth Conversions by Garrett Sorensen.

What Our Clients Say About Working With Us

Elizabeth Hodgkins

​Garrett is so responsive and easy to work with. He listens and works to meet the clients needs, and preferences. Professional and knowledgeable, I strongly recommend him for anyone’s financial advice or management.
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Benefits of Working with a San Diego Retirement Planning Firm

Working with Imeson Wealth Partners provides ongoing fiduciary guidance at every stage of retirement, with regular plan reviews and recommendations that adapt to changes in your financial circumstances, retirement goals, tax laws, and life events. Rather than evaluating retirement income, investment management, tax planning, Social Security, pensions, Medicare, estate planning, and cash flow as separate decisions, our planning process integrates them into a single personalized strategy. This coordinated approach provides a clearer roadmap for retirement, helps improve tax efficiency, aligns multiple income sources, and gives you more time to focus on the people, activities, and priorities that matter most.

A Clear, Personalized Roadmap to Retirement

Coordinated Income Form Social Security, Pensions & Investments

More Time to Focus on What Matters Most to You

Reduced Tax Burden on Retirement Income

Reliable Guidance Through Fiduciary Advice

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Start Your Retirement Planning Journey in San Diego Today

Will your retirement income continue supporting your lifestyle when paychecks stop, healthcare costs increase, and retirement savings become your primary source of income? Imeson Wealth Partners helps you prepare for that transition by bringing together retirement income planning, investment management, tax planning, Social Security, Medicare, estate planning, and cash flow into one personalized retirement strategy that evolves with your financial circumstances and long-term goals.

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Call (858) 215-2955 today to schedule your retirement planning consultation and begin turning decades of retirement savings into a personalized income strategy for San Diego that supports your lifestyle, financial goals, and retirement journey.

Schedule your free consultation today, and let's start creating the plan you need to live the life you want

Resources & Guides

FAQs

Disclosures:

Traditional IRA account owners have considerations to make before performing a Roth IRA conversion. These primarily include income tax consequences on the converted amount in the year of conversion, withdrawal limitations from a Roth IRA, and income limitations for future contributions to a Roth IRA. In addition, if you are required to take a required minimum distribution (RMD) in the year you convert, you must do so before converting to a Roth IRA. 

Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.

This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. We suggest that you discuss your specific situation with a qualified tax or legal advisor.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. 

1, 5, 6- This statement is a testimonial by a client of the financial professional as of 01/23/2026. The client has not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, the client does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing the testimonial. These views may not be representative of the views of other clients and are not indicative of future performance or success.

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2, 3 - This statement is a testimonial by a client of the financial professional as of 02/17/2025. The client has not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, the client does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing the testimonial. These views may not be representative of the views of other clients and are not indicative of future performance or success.​

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4 - This statement is a testimonial by a client of the financial professional as of 02/26/2025. The client has not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, the client does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing the testimonial. These views may not be representative of the views of other clients and are not indicative of future performance or success.​

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