A tax bill you never planned for
Thirty years of pre-tax 401(k) and deferred comp come with a bill attached. Draw it down the wrong way and you can hand back six figures you never had to.
Enjoy Retirement
You built the career.
Keep more of what you earned.
Alo helps successful professionals near retirement pay lower taxes over your lifetime and turn savings into a retirement paycheck, whether you’re planning as a couple or on your own.
Tax-wise. Income-smart. Experience-rich.
Your ideal retirement
Alo Financial Planning helps successful professionals design and enjoy a tax-wise, income-smart, and experience-rich retirement.
Your plan is personal at every step: your lifestyle and goals, your tax and income strategies, your investments and savings. When cookie-cutter doesn’t cut it, we’re here to build the retirement you actually want.
The hard part isn’t saving.
It’s everything after.
You did the responsible thing for decades. But the rules change the moment the paychecks stop, and generic advice can quietly cost you more than any market ever will.
Savings that have to become a paycheck
There's no HR department in retirement. Turning a pile of accounts into steady, dependable income is a different skill than building the pile.
A retirement paycheck is built, not just withdrawn. Which account funds each year, when Social Security turns on, how you protect the early years from a bad market: those decisions determine whether the income lasts, and they all have to work together.
- Social Security timing
- A monthly withdrawal paycheck
- Sequence-of-returns risk
- Pension & deferred comp coordination
One-size-fits-none advice
Most firms run the same playbook for everyone. Your dreams, your tax bracket, your family: none of that fits a cookie-cutter template.
RSUs vesting on their own schedule. A deferred comp election you made years ago. Planning as a couple, or on your own. Real lives don't come in templates, and your plan should start from yours: your actual balance sheet and the retirement you want.
- Stock comp: RSUs & options
- Deferred compensation
- Concentrated company stock
- Planning as a couple or single
How we help
Three ways we put more of your money to work
Meet your guide
Hi, I’m John Nowak
I started my career as a CPA before becoming a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and Retirement Management Advisor®. That tax focus is embedded in Alo’s retirement planning. Here, tax strategy runs through every recommendation instead of being an afterthought.
I’m a member of Ed Slott’s Elite IRA Advisor Group℠, studying the latest retirement tax rules and opportunities twice a year, and CNBC and MarketWatch have featured my insight on many of these changes. Behind our firm sits an institutional partnership with Focus Advisor Solutions. So you get a full suite of wealth management services along with your close, personal advisor relationship to enhance your plan.
Credentials & affiliations
As featured in
Trusted by national press on retirement tax questions
- CNBCApril 2026
Bessent says to adjust your paycheck withholding — but mistakes could trigger a tax bill
Read the article - CNBCOctober 2025
How expiring ACA health insurance subsidies may affect Roth conversions
Read the article - MarketWatchOctober 2025
Should I take the tax hit and withdraw my whole inherited IRA to avoid RMDs?
Read the article - MarketWatchDecember 2025
There are a few weeks left to supersize your Roth conversion without raising your tax bill
Read the article
A simple path
Getting started is easier than you'd think
No pressure, no jargon, and no obligation. Three steps from “I should probably look at this” to a plan you understand.
1
Start with a 20-minute call
A short, no-pressure conversation to hear what's on your mind and see whether we're the right fit. If we're not, we'll point you somewhere better.
No cost. No sales pitch.
2
Get your complimentary retirement assessment
We map your accounts, income, and taxes onto one clear picture, then show you where the real opportunities and risks are: the taxes you could save, the income your savings can support, and the gaps worth closing.
Yours to keep, whether or not we work together.
3
Decide what's next, together
Some people take the assessment and run with it themselves. Others ask us to manage the plan and their investments going forward. Either way, you leave with a clearer path than you came in with.
You choose the level of help.
Who we work with
You'll feel at home here
We do our best work for people at a particular moment in life, married or single. If this sounds like you, let’s talk.
Corporate professionals, roughly 50–65
Directors, VPs, managers, and seasoned experts who have built real wealth through a career and want a strategy for what comes after it. If you have equity or deferred compensation, we help you understand your options, consider strategies, and take next steps.
Couples and singles alike
Married couples planning together, and just as often single, widowed, or divorced professionals who want a partner in the decisions. You'll fit here either way.
$1M+ invested, or $250k+ in income
Once you've built seven figures, or you're earning at a high bracket with stock or deferred compensation in the mix, tax planning stops being optional.
People who value good advice
Clients who want to partner with an advisor, have a clear retirement plan, make thoughtful decisions, and spend their time on things that matter and with people they enjoy.
Simple, transparent pricing
Start at no cost.
Clear pricing if we’re a good fit.
The first step, a full retirement assessment, is complimentary and yours to keep. If we decide to work together in managing your plan, our pricing schedule is simple with no hidden fees.
Start Here
Complimentary Retirement Assessment
No cost
The first step to becoming a client. A clear read on your taxes, income, and plan. Yours to keep whether or not we work together.
- A full picture of your accounts and income, mapped together
- Where you can lower taxes over your lifetime, not just this year
- The income your savings can support
- An honest read on what's working and what isn't
Ongoing Wealth Management
For clients who want us managing the plan and the portfolio over time. One transparent, fee-based schedule on assets we manage. No commissions, no product sales.
First $3M0.80%*
on the first $3,000,000
$3M–$10M0.40%*
on assets from $3M to $10M
Over $10M0.30%*
on assets above $10,000,000
$2,500 quarterly minimum
*Annual advisory fee, billed quarterly on assets we manage. No commissions, no product sales, just a fiduciary fee, plainly stated.
Questions & Answers
Questions people ask before their first call
- It's a clear read on where you stand: your accounts and income mapped into one picture, the tax opportunities and risks we spot, and an honest sense of the income your savings can support. It's the first step to becoming a client, and it's yours to keep whether or not we go further together.
See your retirement clearly, starting with a free assessment
No cost, no obligation, and no sales pitch. Just an honest look at your taxes, your income, and what your plan can really do.