There's a Tax Bill Hiding Inside Your IRA. Most People Never See It Coming.

The IRS is a silent partner in your traditional IRA, and they get to set their rate later, when you have the least control. In about three minutes, see what that could cost you over your lifetime, and how a Roth conversion could put hundreds of thousands back where it belongs. Yours, and tax-free.

Run My Numbers

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Bob Burakiewicz

Independent Retirement Advisor Specializing in Roth Conversion Strategy

"My team has worked with over a thousand clients, so there is not much we have not seen. Like a doctor, I ask the important questions first to find out where your financial pain is. Then I show you the math. With a large IRA, the difference between a good plan and no plan is often measured in millions."

We Run Your Numbers First

Everything starts with the math. Before we talk strategy, you see your own Roth Blueprint: a clear, side-by-side comparison of what your traditional IRA is likely to cost you over your lifetime versus what a strategic conversion could save. Simple, transparent, and built from your actual numbers. The same analysis behind it has mapped lifetime tax savings for thousands of households. When you can see the difference in real dollars, the decision gets a lot easier.

Focus on Strategic Roth Conversions

This practice is built around a single focus, helping people with substantial traditional IRA and 401(k) balances convert to Roth the smart way. Not all at once, and not in a way that triggers a painful tax bill. We map a multi-year plan that fills the lower brackets without jumping into the higher ones, so you capture the benefit with no risk to your principal and no change to your lifestyle. One thing, done at a level most advisors never reach.

We Point Out the Costs No One Warned You About

A traditional IRA carries hidden costs most people never see coming: required distributions, taxes on your Social Security, higher Medicare premiums, the bill your heirs inherit, and future tax increases on top of it all. With over 30 years and more than a thousand clients behind us, we know where these risks hide. We point them out, even the ones you would not think to ask about, then build the plan to take them off the table.

Most People Think a Traditional IRA Is Safe. Here Is What It Is Quietly Costing You.

Most people believe a traditional IRA is the safest place for their retirement savings. The truth is it comes with hidden costs that slowly erode the wealth you spent a lifetime building. There are seven of them in total. These four do the most damage to people with a large balance, and every one of them can be avoided with the right plan.

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The IRS Is a Silent Partner in Your IRA, and They Set the Rate Later

Every dollar in your traditional IRA has a tax bill attached that has not come due yet. With the national debt climbing and tax policy always shifting, the rate you eventually pay is likely higher than the rate you could lock in today. Staying put is a quiet bet that taxes will fall in the future. That is not a bet your retirement should ride on. A Roth conversion lets you settle up on your terms, at today's known rate, so everything you earn after that is yours and tax-free.

Required Distributions Pull Money Out Whether You Need It or Not

Once required minimum distributions begin, the government forces taxable income out of your account on its timeline, not yours. That forced income can push you into a higher bracket, raise the tax on your Social Security, and trigger higher Medicare premiums through IRMAA, all in the same year. It is a chain reaction most people never see until it has already started. Converting strategically beforehand can shrink the problem, or remove it entirely.

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When One Spouse Passes, the Survivor's Tax Bill Goes Up

This is the cost almost no one plans for. When one spouse dies, the survivor usually files as a single taxpayer the very next year, often on close to the same income. The same money, far less room in the lower brackets, and a noticeably bigger tax bill during one of the hardest seasons of their life. A Roth conversion strategy protects the surviving spouse from that penalty long before it ever arrives.

Your Heirs Inherit the Account and the Tax Bill With It

A traditional IRA does not pass cleanly to the next generation. Under current rules, most heirs have to empty an inherited account within ten years, often during their own peak earning years and at their own higher rates. The legacy you pictured ends up split with the IRS. A Roth, by contrast, can pass to your family tax-free. Over a generation, that difference is often measured in millions.

How our firm helps you

Every situation is different, so I never show up with a product to sell. I start with your full picture, your accounts, your income, your tax exposure, and what you actually want your money to do, then build a plan that connects the pieces toward one purpose: keeping more of what you have built, for you and the people you love. Here is the work that gets us there.

The Roth Blueprint Strategy

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Your Lifetime Tax Savings Analysis

Before anything else, we run your numbers. You see a clear, side-by-side comparison of what your traditional IRA likely costs you over your lifetime versus what a Roth conversion strategy could save. Real figures, not theory.

A Multi-Year Conversion Schedule

Converting all at once is rarely smart. I map a year-by-year plan that moves your money over time, so you capture the benefit without writing one painful check or jumping into a bracket that wipes out the advantage.

Tax-Free Growth You Can Count On

The goal is simple. Once the conversion is done, your money grows tax-free, comes out tax-free, and stays out of reach of future rate increases. That is the whole point of the Blueprint.

Filling Brackets, Not Jumping Them

The art of a good conversion is moving exactly enough each year to use up the lower brackets without spilling into the higher ones. Done right, you convert efficiently and never trigger an unnecessary tax bill.

Protecting Your Social Security and Medicare

Conversions touch more than income tax. I coordinate the plan so we manage the taxes on your Social Security and steer around the IRMAA surcharges that quietly raise your Medicare premiums.

Lowering Your Effective Tax Rate

We are not just managing this year. We are working to bring your lifetime effective tax rate down, sometimes dramatically, so the IRS collects far less of what you worked to build.

Tax-Bracket and Income Management

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Legacy and Generational Protection

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Planning for the Surviving Spouse

We build the plan so that if one of you passes, the other is not handed a larger tax bill on top of the loss. Protection for the person who will be managing this money alone someday.

A Tax-Free Inheritance for Your Heirs

A Roth can pass to your children free of income tax, instead of forcing them to drain a taxable account during their highest-earning years. We plan so your legacy reaches your family, not the IRS.

Keeping the Plan Aligned as Life Changes

Tax law shifts. Markets move. Your life changes. I stay with you and keep the conversion strategy adjusted to what is true now, not what was true the day we started.

3 Steps to a Tax-Free Retirement That Actually Fits Your Life

1

Run Your Numbers

Answer ten quick questions about your age, your state, and your retirement savings. It takes about three minutes, costs nothing, and there is no obligation. The moment you finish, your personal Roth Blueprint shows you the lifetime difference between staying put and converting strategically.

2

Review Your Blueprint Together

We sit down and walk through your Blueprint line by line. Your lifetime wealth comparison, your year-by-year conversion plan, the effect on your taxes and your heirs, all of it in plain language. You will understand exactly what we would do and why, with no jargon and no pressure.

3

Execute and Stay the Course

When you are ready, we put the multi-year plan into motion and I stay with you through every step. As tax law and your life change, we adjust. The relationship does not end when the paperwork is signed. That is where it begins.

Run My Numbers

Bob Burakiewicz and Team

Bob Burakiewicz

Owner // Advisor

Professionally

Bob Burakiewicz found his calling in retirement planning in an unexpected way, and he has stayed devoted to it ever since. With more than thirty years of experience and over a thousand clients behind him, there is not much in this business he has not seen. What drives him is simple: taking the stress out of financial decisions and making a complicated process feel clear and manageable for the people he serves.

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Today, Bob focuses on one thing he believes most advisors overlook, helping conservative investors who are near or already in retirement protect their savings from the hidden costs of a traditional IRA. He specializes in strategic Roth conversions, guiding clients with substantial IRA and 401(k) balances through a multi-year plan that shields their wealth from rising taxes, required distributions, and the tax bill their heirs would otherwise inherit. As Bob puts it, his team works like a doctor would. They ask the important questions first to find out where your financial pain is, then build the plan around the answer.

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His goal for every client is the same: smart, well-timed choices that match their retirement vision and lead to a stable, secure, and tax-efficient future.

Personally

Bob is deeply involved in the community that has shaped him. He received the Volunteer of the Year award from Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, and served as a board member for the Milton Delaware Community Foundation, helping move important charity work forward.

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He is also known around town as the unofficial Town Crier for Milton, Delaware, sharing news and events with residents and visitors, and he has taken part in the beloved Milton St. Patrick's Day Parade for sixteen years running. A five-time qualifier for the Senior Olympics in racquetball, Bob has never lost his love for competition. But the activity that brings him the most peace is fishing, where he finds quiet in nature and on the calm water.

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Bob Burakiewicz

Owner // Advisor

"I love being able to help people reduce the stress that can come with planning for retirement."

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Leslie Husarenko

New Business Specialist

Leslie Husarenko has extensive experience working in the financial industry for the past 25 years assisting top producers with client services. She has tremendous experience with Life products and is a registered insurance agent. She is known for her friendliness and knowledge assisting new clients with our onboarding process, she makes it her mission to address and solve customer's questions efficiently.

Leslie is a proud mom of three and has six loving grandchildren, on weekends you will find Leslie cruising around on her boat enjoying the island life.

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Leslie Husarenko

New Business Specialist

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William Hancock

Advisor

William Hancock brings nearly two decades of specialized experience helping individuals and families navigate the complex landscape of Medicare and retirement income planning. A proud native of Roanoke, Virginia, William spent many productive years in Louisville from 1994 until recently returning to his roots in the Roanoke area. He graduated from Cornell University's prestigious School of Hotel Administration in 1988, where he developed the client service excellence that has become a hallmark of his practice.

Since entering the retirement planning field in 2006, William has dedicated his career to serving as both a Medicare specialist and Retirement Income specialist. His approach centers on building comprehensive, customized strategies that address the unique needs and aspirations of each family he serves. William partners exclusively with national and multinational insurance and financial companies known for their sound finances, excellent ratings, and proven track record—ensuring his clients receive solutions backed by institutional strength and stability.

What distinguishes William's practice is his commitment to a holistic team approach. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, he carefully matches each client's specific needs with appropriate specialists who can develop plans aligned with their family's hopes and dreams for retirement. This collaborative method ensures clients receive coordinated guidance across all aspects of their retirement security, from healthcare coverage to income planning.

Outside the office, William has been happily married to his wife Ang for 28 years. Together they have a 25-year-old daughter, Sierra, and share their home with two beloved dogs, Skye and Saint. His long-term marriage and experience raising a family inform his understanding of the real-world concerns families face when planning for their financial future and retirement years.

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William Hancock

Advisor

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