Derek J. Delaney - PharmD Financial Planning LLC

Derek J. Delaney - PharmD Financial Planning LLC Welcome to PharmD Financial Planning. I am a flat-fee, fiduciary, and location-independent retirement planner.

My mission is to help my clients give themselves permission to retire. To learn more about PharmD FP, check-out the firms disclosures here 👇
https://pharmdfp.com/disclosures

06/01/2026

Medicare planning is one of those retirement decisions that sounds simple…

Until you actually get close to it.

Then come the questions:

-Should I enroll at 65 if I’m still working?

-Can I keep contributing to my HSA?

-Should I choose Medicare Advantage or a Medigap plan?

-How will my prescriptions be covered?

-Could my income cause higher Medicare premiums?

-What happens if I retire before age 65?

And suddenly, Medicare feels less like a benefit and more like a part-time job with acronyms.

But these decisions matter.

A poorly timed Medicare decision can lead to penalties, higher premiums, coverage gaps, or surprise costs that may have been avoided with better planning.

It also overlaps with tax planning.

Roth conversions, capital gains, IRA withdrawals, pensions, Social Security, and other income events can potentially increase Medicare premiums through IRMAA.

That does not mean you should avoid good planning.

It means you should understand the ripple effects before making big retirement decisions.

The goal is not to become a Medicare expert.

The goal is to coordinate Medicare with your retirement income, tax strategy, healthcare needs, and overall plan.

Because retirement planning is not just about investments.

It is about making sure all the pieces work together.

If you are within five years of retirement, Medicare should be part of the conversation before you are staring at enrollment forms, wondering why retirement came with homework.

05/27/2026

Most people don’t need a financial advisor who “does everything.”

They need one who deeply understands their stage of life.

For someone nearing retirement, the financial questions become more connected:

Can I retire now?

Where should income come from first?

How do I avoid paying more in taxes than necessary?

Should I convert to Roth?

When should I claim Social Security?

How much can I safely spend?

What happens if markets fall early in retirement?

These are not isolated decisions.

They are moving pieces in one retirement puzzle.

That is why specialization matters.

When your advisor focuses on retirement planning, they are not starting from scratch every time a new question comes up. They have seen the patterns. They understand the tradeoffs. They know how one decision can quietly affect five others.

Continuity matters too.

Retirement planning is not a one-time report that gets printed, filed, and forgotten.

Your plan should evolve as tax laws change, markets move, health needs shift, spending changes, and life inevitably throws a few curveballs.

The advisor who helped you prepare for retirement should also be there to help you live through it.

Because the real value is not just building the plan.

It is having someone who knows your plan, knows your goals, knows your history, and can help you make confident decisions year after year.

Retirement is too important to keep re-explaining your life to someone new.

Work with someone who specializes in where you are going and is committed to walking with you once you get there.

If you are within 5 years of retirement and want a clearer plan for income, taxes, and long-term confidence, let’s talk.

05/26/2026

Most people don’t want to “figure out retirement” on the first day they stop working.

That’s a little like trying to learn how to fly the plane after takeoff.

The best retirement decisions are usually made before retirement begins.

Why?

Because before you retire, you still have options.

You may still be able to:

-Adjust how much you save.

-Build a smarter tax strategy.

-Decide which accounts to draw from first.

-Plan Roth conversions before RMDs begin.

-Create a retirement income plan before the paycheck stops.

-Stress-test your portfolio before you depend on it.

-Make Social Security decisions with the full picture in mind.

-Think through health insurance, Medicare, taxes, estate planning, and cash flow before they become urgent.

Retirement planning is not just about answering, “Can I retire?”

It’s about answering better questions:

“What will my income look like?”

“How much can I safely spend?”

“How do I avoid paying more tax than necessary?”

“What happens if the market drops early in retirement?”

“How do I give myself permission to enjoy the money I worked so hard to save?”

The closer you get to retirement, the more costly mistakes can become.

The good news?

A thoughtful plan can turn uncertainty into clarity.

And clarity is what gives people the confidence to retire on purpose, not by accident.

If retirement is approaching, now is the time to start planning.

Not after the farewell party.

Before.

05/21/2026

Most people think retirement planning is about answering one question:

“Do I have enough?”

That matters.

But it is not the only question.

A better retirement plan should also help answer:

Can I afford to retire now, or should I work longer?

Where should my income come from first?

How much can I safely spend without constantly second-guessing myself?

How do I keep taxes from quietly eating away at my retirement income?

What happens if the market has a bad year early in retirement?

How do I adjust if life does not go exactly according to plan?

Because retirement is not just a math problem.

It is a confidence problem.

You have spent decades saving, investing, and making responsible financial decisions.

But when the paycheck stops, the rules change.

Suddenly, the question becomes:

“How do I turn what I’ve built into a life I actually enjoy?”

That is where retirement planning should do its best work.

Not just helping you retire.

Helping you retire with clarity, confidence, and a plan that can adapt when life inevitably throws a curveball.

If retirement is approaching, don’t wait until your last day of work to figure this out.

The best time to build your retirement income plan is before you need it.

05/20/2026

You may spend more years managing retirement income than you spent saving aggressively for retirement.

Think about that.

A person who retires in their early 60s could easily spend 25, 30, or even 35 years trying to turn savings into a dependable income.

That changes the conversation.

Retirement planning is not just:

“Do I have enough?”

It is also:

“How do I turn what I have into income?”

“How do I reduce taxes over the next several decades?”

“How do I invest without taking too much risk at the wrong time?”

“How do I adjust when markets, inflation, health care costs, or life itself changes?”

The accumulation phase gets most of the attention.

But the retirement income phase is where the real strategy begins.

Because once the paycheck stops, every decision feels a little more permanent.

The goal is not just to retire.

The goal is to retire with a plan that helps you spend confidently, adjust wisely, and avoid making costly mistakes when the stakes are highest.

That is where thoughtful ongoing retirement planning can make all the difference.

If retirement is starting to feel less like a distant idea and more like a real decision, now is the time to get serious about the plan.

That is exactly the kind of work we help clients think through.

If you are approaching retirement and want more confidence in your next step, let’s talk.

05/18/2026

The closer you get to retirement, the louder the questions get.

Can I afford to retire?

Am I paying more in taxes than I need to?

Should I claim Social Security now or wait?

How do I turn my portfolio into reliable income?

What happens if the market drops right after I retire?

And maybe the biggest one:

What if I make the wrong decision?

That’s the part of retirement planning that often gets overlooked.

Most people don’t struggle because they failed to save.

They struggle because after decades of saving, investing, and delaying gratification, they suddenly have to make a series of big decisions that feel permanent.

Retirement is not just about having enough money.

It’s about knowing how all the pieces work together:

Taxes. Investments. Social Security. Medicare. Cash flow. Withdrawal strategy. Estate planning. Risk management.

When those pieces are scattered, retirement feels uncertain.

When those pieces are coordinated, retirement starts to feel possible.

The goal is not just to retire.

The goal is to retire with confidence, not second-guessing.

If you’re approaching retirement and wondering whether all the pieces are working together, it may be time to build a real retirement income plan.

Because “I think we’re okay” is not a retirement strategy.

05/12/2026

I’ll take “Retirement Mistakes That Sound Harmless” for $1,000.

Answer: “This happens when someone retires with a large portfolio, no income strategy, no tax plan, and assumes everything will probably work out.”

Question: “What is… winging it?”

With Pop Culture Jeopardy back in the mix, it got me thinking:

Most people spend more time preparing for a trivia night than they do preparing for one of the biggest financial transitions of their life.

And retirement has a lot more categories than people realize:

-Social Security Strategy

-Roth Conversions

-Portfolio Withdrawals

-Tax Brackets

-Medicare Premiums

-Sequence of Return Risk

-How Much Can I Actually Spend?

The tricky part?

You don’t get to buzz in after you’ve already made the mistake.

Retirement is not the time to guess your way through the board.

It’s the time to have a plan that helps you turn decades of saving into confidence, income, and peace of mind.

Because “I hope this works” is not a retirement strategy.

If you’re approaching retirement and want to stop guessing, let’s talk.

05/11/2026

The hardest part of retirement isn’t always the money.

It’s believing you’re actually allowed to use it.

For decades, many successful savers have trained themselves to do one thing really well:

-Work hard.

-Save consistently.

-Avoid big financial mistakes.

-Keep building.

Then retirement gets close, and suddenly the goal changes.

Now the question is no longer, “Am I saving enough?”

It becomes:

“Can I really stop working?”

“Can I spend this much?”

“What if the market drops?”

“What if taxes go up?”

“What if I make the wrong decision right before retirement?”

That shift is harder than most people expect.

Because after spending 30 or 40 years building wealth, it can feel risky to finally start using it.

This is why retirement planning is about more than investments.

A good retirement plan should help answer:

-How much can I spend?

-Where should my income come from?

-How do we reduce unnecessary taxes?

-How should the portfolio be invested?

-What happens if life does not go exactly according to plan?

The goal is not just to retire.

The goal is to retire with confidence, not second-guessing.

If you’ve worked hard, saved well, and are within a few years of retirement, don’t leave the biggest financial transition of your life to guesswork.

You don’t need more noise.

You need a clear plan.

If this sounds like the stage you’re in, I’d be happy to help you think through what retirement could look like with more clarity and confidence.

05/07/2026

A lot of people spend decades doing the “right” things with money.

-They save consistently.

-They avoid big mistakes.

-They max out retirement accounts.

-They invest through good markets and bad ones.

-They slowly build financial security one decision at a time.

-Then one day, retirement starts getting close.

And instead of feeling completely free, they feel a new kind of pressure.

Because now the question changes from:

“Am I saving enough?”

to:

“Can I actually afford to stop working?”

That shift is bigger than most people expect.

You’re no longer just growing the portfolio. You’re trying to figure out how to turn it into income, manage taxes, make smart withdrawal decisions, avoid unnecessary risk, and still enjoy the life you worked so hard to create.

That’s where many successful savers get stuck.

Not because they did anything wrong.

But because retirement requires a different kind of planning than accumulation.

The goal is no longer simply to have “enough.”

The goal is to know:

Can I spend confidently?

Can I handle market downturns?

Can I reduce lifetime taxes?

Can I avoid running out of money?

Can I make work optional without second-guessing myself?

That’s the work I love helping people with.

Because after decades of being disciplined, careful, and responsible, retirement should not feel like a guessing game.

It should feel like a plan.

Retire with confidence, not questions.

05/05/2026

“We’ve saved well… but are we actually ready to retire?”

That question comes up a lot.

Not because people failed to save.

Usually, it’s the opposite.

They worked hard for decades.

They lived below their means.

They maxed out retirement accounts.

They built something meaningful.

Then retirement gets close, and suddenly the question changes from: “How much can we save?”

to:

“How do we turn this into a life we can actually enjoy?”

That shift is harder than most people expect.

Because retirement isn’t just about having enough money. It’s about knowing:

-Can we create reliable income?

-Can we reduce taxes over time?

-Can we handle market downturns?

-Can we spend without guilt?

-Can we make work optional without making a mistake we’ll regret?

That’s where retirement planning matters most.

Not as a one-time projection.

But as an ongoing strategy for income, taxes, investments, and confidence.

The goal isn’t just to retire.

The goal is to retire without constantly wondering whether you’re doing it right.

If you’re approaching retirement and asking, “Are we really ready?” That’s exactly the question worth answering before you leave work behind.

It's a good sign that it's time for us to talk.

Address

125 28th Street NE STE #2
Owatonna, MN
55060

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Website

https://event.webinarjam.com/register/2/8zwl5hy

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