The turn of the calendar tends to offer a moment to gather intentions, sort priorities, and realign how resources serve a life in progress. Goldstone Financial Group, a client-focused Advisory firm dedicated to retirement and lifetime income planning, frames that moment as an opportunity to move from fragmentary decisions to a cohesive plan. For the firm, the first step is to create a financial plan that draws together investment thinking, income design, tax posture, healthcare readiness, and legacy considerations into an interconnected outlook.
The firm notes that those five complementary pillars, when considered together, may highlight gaps or pressures that a standalone portfolio could overlook. “A durable plan begins with a clear map, not just an account balance,” says Anthony Pellegrino, founder and CEO. He suggests that such a map may help translate intentions into practical steps that can be revisited throughout the year.
Goldstone frames risk as the first lens through which to read the investment landscape. The firm points out that market advances may alter how a portfolio behaves, shifting comfort levels as positions evolve. Pellegrino notes, “Gains from a prior period can quietly reshape your risk exposure if not revisited.” Goldstone’s approach relies on diagnostic stress testing and risk scoring to suggest how holdings might interact under varied market conditions.
In the firm’s experience, those tools often indicate that exposure to swings can extend beyond what clients initially express. Pellegrino characterizes the adjustment as practical: recalibrating allocations so growth assets, income-oriented holdings, cash reserves, and specialized strategies reflect both stated goals and tolerance. He adds that setting or refining a risk profile at the year’s outset provides a reference point for decisions in the months ahead.
With risk parameters clarified, Goldstone turns to another dimension that can significantly influence long-term outcomes: taxes. Rather than viewing taxes as a once-a-year compliance exercise after the fact, the firm encourages clients to consider timing and strategy throughout the year. “Integrating tax awareness into the broader plan early may reveal efficiencies and reduce surprises,” Pellegrino states. Goldstone highlights how distributions, retirement income layers, and withdrawals may interact over time, shaping results beyond the immediate tax bill.
Moreover, Goldstone regards ongoing discipline as a way to sustain progress through the year. The firm portrays a mid-year review as a chance to see whether stated goals still align with changing circumstances and whether portfolio structure continues to reflect the agreed plan. According to Goldstone, that review can open space for practical steps such as modest rebalancing to restore a preferred allocation, selective loss harvesting to offset gains, or adjustments to income sequencing when conditions shift. The company characterizes these measures as routine upkeep rather than sweeping changes, intended to keep the plan workable across different stages of life.
Goldstone presents advanced tax and distribution strategies as potential tools for households with layered needs. The firm suggests that market volatility may create openings for tax‑loss harvesting, while potential incremental Roth conversion opportunities and other paced conversions of tax‑advantaged accounts can help manage exposure to higher brackets. For households with more nuanced tax or distribution considerations, these strategies may be especially useful when applied with deliberation. Tax‑loss harvesting, for example, can help soften the impact of gains realized elsewhere in the portfolio when markets fluctuate.
Roth conversions also fall into this category, and Pellegrino notes that they need not be treated as an all‑or‑nothing decision. “An all‑at‑once conversion can push someone into the highest bracket, but by converting portions over time, tax brackets can be managed more effectively. No two strategies are alike, and this incremental approach may provide significant long‑term benefits,” he adds.
Goldstone’s team evaluates these possibilities within the larger plan, helping clients understand when a paced sequence of conversions may align more naturally with their income patterns, tax thresholds, and long-term objectives. Advisors within the firm look for practical omissions, such as a missing income buffer, an unaddressed healthcare assumption, or a legacy intention that could use clearer articulation. Then, it proposes ways to fill those gaps. The firm’s model leans on collaborative expertise so that investment design is married to tax insight and income engineering, all aligned with the client’s priorities. In this sense, the five pillars are a framework for dialogue that may help convert technical analysis into decisions that feel sensible and sustainable.
Wrapping these threads together is about creating a coherent process. The beginning of the year provides a natural starting line for that process: set a refreshed risk profile, weave tax planning into the design, schedule mid-year reviews, and consider paced advanced strategies where appropriate. “You might have your investments squared away, you might have your taxes squared away,” Pellegrino remarks. “But the real measure of readiness is whether you’ve built a complete plan that incorporates all five core pillars: investment, income, tax, healthcare, and legacy planning.”
Goldstone Financial Group, LLC (“GFG”) is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or qualification. This material is provided for informational purposes only. Opinions expressed herein are solely those of GFG. None of the information presented in this material is intended to offer personalized investment advice and does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit any offer to buy a security or any insurance product and is not intended to be used as the sole basis for financial decisions, nor should it be construed as advice designed to meet the particular needs of an individual’s situation.
