Client Onboarding for Early Retirement Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide

Why Standard Intake Doesn't Work

Most advisory firm intake forms ask for total portfolio value, income, expenses, and retirement age. That's sufficient for someone retiring at 65 with a pension and Social Security starting immediately. It's not sufficient for someone retiring at 47 with $1.8 million across six different account types, each with different tax treatment and access rules.

Early retirement clients need a more detailed intake because the fundamental challenge is different. They don't just need their money to last. They need to get to their money in the right order, at the right time, with the right tax treatment, while maintaining health insurance eligibility.

The Early Retirement Intake Checklist

Step 1: Account Inventory (Day 1)

You need every account, not just the big ones. For each account, capture the current balance, account type (taxable brokerage, traditional 401k/IRA, Roth IRA, HSA, etc.), estimated cost basis for taxable accounts, monthly contribution amount, and expected growth rate assumption.

The cost basis data is critical and often missing. A $500,000 brokerage account with $400,000 in unrealized gains has very different withdrawal economics than one with $100,000 in gains. For early retirees who will draw heavily from taxable accounts during bridge years, this distinction changes the tax math by thousands of dollars per year.

Account Category	Why It Matters for Early Retirement
Taxable Brokerage (P1)	Primary bridge funding. No penalties, but capital gains tax on withdrawals.
Roth IRA contributions (P2)	Contributions (basis) are penalty-free at any age. Growth is locked until 59.5.
Traditional 401k/IRA (P3)	Locked until 59.5 unless using SEPP 72(t) or Rule of 55.
HSA	Triple tax advantage, but qualified medical expenses only before 65.
Cash/Emergency Fund	Immediate liquidity. Size this for 6 to 12 months minimum.

Step 2: Income Timeline (Day 1)

Map every income source with its start age, end age, and whether it adjusts for inflation. Social Security (both spouses if applicable, with claiming ages), pensions (fixed or COLA-adjusted), rental income, part-time work, and any deferred compensation.

The key insight here is the gap. Early retirees typically have 10 to 20 years between leaving work and their first Social Security check. Everything that happens in that window, from healthcare costs to Roth conversions to capital gains harvesting, depends on this income timeline.

Step 3: Healthcare Mapping (Day 1)

This is where early retirement planning diverges most from traditional planning. Ask: What is their current health insurance situation? What will they use after leaving their employer? Are they eligible for COBRA, and for how long? What's their expected ACA marketplace premium based on projected MAGI? Do they have any chronic conditions that affect plan choice?

Step 4: Spending Profile (Week 1)

Get detailed spending data, not just a total. Break it into fixed expenses (mortgage, insurance, property tax), variable expenses (food, travel, entertainment), and temporary expenses (childcare ending in 3 years, car payment ending in 18 months). Early retirement spending is not flat. It tends to be higher in the first 5 years ("go-go years"), moderate in the middle ("slow-go years"), and lower later.

The First Meeting: Three Scenarios

Don't show up with one projection. Build three scenarios before the first meeting and walk through them together.

Scenario	Parameters	Purpose
Baseline	Planned spending, moderate returns (6 to 7%), planned SS age	Does the math work under normal conditions?
Conservative	Higher spending (+15%), lower returns (5%), earlier SS claim	What's the safety margin?
Aggressive FIRE	Lower spending, higher returns (8%), delayed SS to 70	What's the upside? Where's the flexibility?

The gap between the conservative and baseline scenarios is where the real conversation happens. If the conservative scenario still succeeds at 85%+ in Monte Carlo, the client has significant margin. If it drops below 70%, you have concrete data to discuss trade-offs: work one more year, reduce spending by $500/month, or claim SS earlier.

What to Model in the First Week

Bridge Period Feasibility

Can they fund their spending from retirement date to Social Security start using only penalty-free accounts (taxable brokerage + Roth contributions)? If yes, the core plan is viable. If no, you need a strategy: SEPP 72(t), Rule of 55, Roth conversion ladder, or part-time income.

Tax Bracket Opportunity

During the bridge years, early retirees often fall into unusually low tax brackets. This creates a window for Roth conversions at the 10% or 12% rate. Model how much they can convert each year without triggering IRMAA (in two years) or losing ACA subsidies (this year). This is your highest-value planning opportunity.

Healthcare Runway

Model the full cost of healthcare from retirement to Medicare eligibility (age 65). Include ACA premiums after subsidies, out-of-pocket maximums, and the MAGI threshold that preserves subsidy eligibility. For many clients, this single line item costs $15,000 to $25,000 per year and is the largest variable in the plan.

After the First Meeting

Send the client a summary PDF (branded with your firm if using Pro). Highlight the key numbers: Monte Carlo success rate, bridge period funding gap (if any), estimated tax savings from Roth conversions, and healthcare cost projection. Include the three scenarios you discussed and which one you're recommending as the planning baseline.

Set a 90-day review cadence for the first year. Early retirement planning is iterative. The initial model will change as the client refines spending estimates, market conditions evolve, and life events happen. Each review is an opportunity to rerun Monte Carlo with real data replacing assumptions.