Retirement · 5 min
Boeing Pension: Lump Sum vs. Annuity — How to Decide
Boeing employees face one of the most consequential financial decisions of their careers. Shane Cloninger breaks down the real trade-offs.
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SC Financial Group · Articles
Plain-language analysis from advisors who actually run the strategies.
Retirement, taxes, equity comp, estate, business — the questions Pacific Northwest families are working through, in the format we'd use in a meeting.
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Top Story · Planning
Planning · 5 min read · April 16, 2026
How Much Should Your Family Spend on Housing? The 25% Rule
Rumesh Senanayake explains the 25% housing rule and how to build a cash-flow system around your family's biggest expense.
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Tax Planning · 5 min
Mega Backdoor Roth: The Complete Guide for Tech Professionals
The mega backdoor Roth lets high earners contribute up to $69,000+ annually to a Roth account. Alex Carter, CFP® explains how it works and who qualifies.
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Retirement · 5 min
When Should You Claim Social Security? A Complete Timing Guide
Learn how claiming Social Security at 62, 67, or 70 affects your lifetime benefit. Shane Cloninger of SC Financial Group walks through the real math.
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Tax Planning · 5 min
RSU Tax Planning: What Amazon and Microsoft Employees Need to Know
Alex Carter, CFP® explains the RSU withholding gap, multi-year tax strategy, and diversification timing for tech professionals in Bellevue and Seattle.
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Business · 5 min
Small Business Succession Planning: A Practical Guide for Owner-Operators
Robert Davis explains how small business owners can protect their life's work through a practical succession plan, regardless of whether they plan to sell.
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Reading Paths
Where do you want to go first?
Pick the situation that looks most like yours. We'll point you at the articles, the advisor, and the next step that fits.
If you're approaching retirement
Shane Cloninger
Retirement & Income
Social Security claiming, pension lump-sum vs. annuity, healthcare bridge, the Roth conversion window, and the income strategy that ties them together.
If you have RSUs or equity comp
Alex Carter, CFP®
Equity Comp & Tax
RSU vesting and withholding, mega backdoor Roth, ESPP qualifying vs. disqualifying, multi-year tax planning, and concentration-risk diversification.
If you own a business
Robert Davis
Business & Legacy
Succession planning, key person insurance, SEP / SIMPLE / Solo 401(k) comparison, buy-sell agreements, and the personal financial plan that stands on its own.
From the Desk of Shane Cloninger
What we're watching this quarter.
A signed note from Shane Cloninger · Bellevue, WA
Shane Cloninger
LPL Registered Principal
Host of Retirement Freedom Radio · 14+ years on Sirius XM Family Talk
The Roth conversion window between retirement and Required Minimum Distributions is the most undervalued real estate on most retirement balance sheets. With TCJA sunsetting and SECURE 2.0 pushing the RMD age out, the optimal strategy in 2026 doesn't look like it did three years ago.
Most pre-retirees we sit down with believe they'll have a leisurely runway to think about Roth conversions once they stop earning. The math says otherwise. The lower-bracket window is short, it's closing, and it's being squeezed from both sides — by tax law on one end and by the SECURE 2.0 widening of the RMD threshold on the other.
The clients who get this right don't make a single big-bang conversion in their first year of retirement. They build a multi-year ladder that fills the 22% bracket each year, leaves room for IRMAA cliffs, and pulls forward enough taxable income that what's left at 73 fits inside the lower brackets even with the 10-year inheritance rule on the other side. That's the work, and it's the work most of our radio show questions are really about — even when the caller doesn't use those words.
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