Savannah Wealth Group

We provide Comprehensive Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Investment Management, and Business Valuations.

Yes. Coastal Georgia is home to one of the Army's largest installations at Fort Stewart–Hunter Army Airfield, and we work with active-duty soldiers approaching retirement, retirees in their second careers, and surviving spouses. The military system — TSP, BRS, SBP, VA benefits — has its own vocabulary, and we speak it. Savannah Wealth Group is not affiliated with the DoD or any government agency.

Largely yes, starting with the 2026 tax year. Legislation signed in May 2025 raised Georgia's exemption on military retired pay to $65,000 per year at any age — previously, retirees under 62 could exempt far less. Combined with no state tax on Social Security and Georgia's general retirement-income exclusion at 62+, a military pension now goes a long way here. For a retiree choosing between staying near Fort Stewart and moving to another state for tax reasons, the math just changed meaningfully in Georgia's favor. Verify current amounts with the Georgia Department of Revenue when you file.

First, know that you don't have to do anything — and staying put is often a strong choice, because the TSP's investment costs are among the lowest of any retirement plan in existence. Reasons to consider rolling to an IRA include broader investment choice, more flexible withdrawals, and easier coordination with the rest of your plan. Two cautions: money rolled to an IRA generally waits until 59½ for penalty-free access (while TSP allows penalty-free withdrawals if you separate in or after the year you turn 55), and any Roth TSP dollars need to land in Roth accounts. This is a compare-the-tradeoffs decision, not a default.

High-3 (legacy) pays 2.5% per year of service times your highest 36-month average basic pay — 50% at 20 years. The Blended Retirement System pays 2.0% per year — 40% at 20 — but adds TSP matching (up to 5% of pay: 1% automatic plus up to 4% matching) and mid-career continuation pay. Most careers no longer get to choose — the system chose for you by your entry date — but the planning implication matters: a BRS retiree's TSP balance is a bigger share of retirement, so TSP decisions carry more weight.

SBP pays your surviving spouse 55% of your covered retired pay for life, for a premium of 6.5% of the covered amount — and premiums stop after 30 years of payments and age 70. The alternative most families weigh is life insurance. SBP's strengths: inflation-adjusted, lifetime, and immune to insurability problems. Insurance's strengths: flexibility and a benefit even if your spouse predeceases you. The right answer depends on health, ages, other income, and whether the survivor needs income for life or capital for a season — model it before the election, because it's largely locked at retirement.

VA disability compensation is tax-free, and under CRDP (concurrent receipt), retirees with a 50%+ VA rating generally receive both their full retired pay and VA compensation. Combat-related conditions may qualify for CRSC instead, which can be more favorable. The planning point: your effective tax picture in retirement depends heavily on the mix of taxable pension, tax-free VA compensation, and everything else — which changes Roth-conversion math and Social Security timing.

A military pension usually strengthens the case for patience. Claiming at 62 permanently reduces the benefit by roughly 30% versus full retirement age (67), while delaying past FRA earns about 8% per year to 70 — and because survivors keep the larger of a couple's two checks, the higher earner's delay protects a spouse for life. With pension income covering the floor, many military retirees bridge with TSP withdrawals and let Social Security grow. The right answer is a household calculation, not a birthday reflex.

Capture the new employer's full match before anything else — it's an instant return no market can promise. Then decide where old balances live: TSP accepts roll-ins if you want everything in one low-cost place, or the new plan or an IRA may fit better depending on options and your withdrawal timeline. Watch the details: Roth versus traditional buckets, beneficiaries after every life change, and the fact that your pension plus a salary can push you into brackets where Roth contributions beat pre-tax.

SGLI ends shortly after separation; you can convert to VGLI without medical underwriting within a window — valuable if your health makes commercial insurance hard to get. If you're healthy, term life insurance is often significantly cheaper for the same coverage. Price both before the VGLI window closes, sized to what your family actually needs once the pension, SBP election, and VA benefits are in the picture.

Yes, and gently. Between SBP, DIC, Social Security survivor benefits, SGLI proceeds, and the TSP, a surviving military spouse faces a stack of decisions at the worst possible time. Our standing advice: beyond immediate bills, no major irreversible moves in the first months — get the benefits flowing, then plan deliberately.

A no-obligation conversation at our Savannah office (30 minutes from Hunter AAF), our Statesboro office, or by video. Bring your TSP statement, retirement estimate or orders, and your questions. You'll leave with a clearer picture of your options — what happens next is up to you. Call (912) 999-1805 or email rob@savannahwealthgroup.com.

Yes. From offices in Savannah and Statesboro — both a short drive from Ellabell — we work with HMGMA employees and the supplier workforce (Joon Georgia, Ecoplastic, Hanon Systems, and others) on 401(k) decisions, consolidating accounts from previous jobs, and getting financially established in Georgia. Savannah Wealth Group is not affiliated with HMGMA or any supplier.

HMGMA's recruiting materials advertise a benefits package that includes a 401(k) with a company match. The specific match formula, vesting schedule, and investment menu come from your enrollment portal and plan documents — and supplier companies each run their own separate plans. Whatever the exact formula, the first rule is universal: contribute at least enough to capture the full match. It's part of your pay — leaving it behind is working overtime for free.

You have four options for each old account: leave it, roll it into your new employer's plan (if accepted), roll it to an IRA, or cash out. Cashing out is almost always the worst — taxes plus a 10% penalty before 59½, and the compounding is gone forever. Consolidation usually wins on simplicity: fewer statements, one investment strategy, beneficiaries you can actually keep current. Which destination is right depends on fees, investment options, and your age — a 30-minute review sorts it.

A useful rule of thumb: the lower your current tax bracket, the stronger the case for Roth — you pay a modest tax rate now and never again on the growth. Early-career production employees are often ideal Roth candidates; higher-earning managers and engineers may prefer pre-tax now with Roth conversions later. Many plans let you split contributions. What matters most at the start isn't perfecting the mix — it's the percentage and the auto-escalation.

Your own contributions are always 100% yours. Employer matching dollars may vest over a schedule — leave before you're vested and some or all of the match goes back. Check your plan's schedule and factor it into any job-change timing; in a corridor where suppliers actively recruit from each other, a few months' difference in a move can be worth real money.

A short list: update your address with old plan providers so statements and tax forms follow you; file for Georgia's homestead exemption if you bought a home; revisit your tax withholding (Georgia has a flat state income tax); update beneficiaries and any estate documents drawn under another state's law; and build the emergency fund before optimizing anything else — three to six months of the new household budget.

It can, but it's genuinely situation-specific. The U.S. and Korea have tax and social-security coordination agreements, and factors like your visa status, assignment length, employer plan terms, and how each country treats the accounts at departure all matter. Capturing a full employer match is often still worthwhile, but cross-border situations deserve coordinated advice from a financial planner and a tax professional familiar with expatriate issues before you commit large sums.

Three things deserve attention: a Health Savings Account if you choose a high-deductible plan (the most tax-favored account in America — deductible in, tax-free growth, tax-free out for medical); enough life and disability coverage if anyone depends on your paycheck; and the beneficiary forms on everything — they override your will.

A durable target is 15% of gross income toward retirement, counting the employer match. Can't start there? Start at the match, turn on auto-escalation of 1% a year, and bank half of every raise — most people reach 15% within a few years without ever feeling a cut. The Metaplant's wages run well above the area's historic averages, which makes this the single best moment in most employees' lives to lock the habit in before the lifestyle absorbs the paycheck.

Prioritize whichever employer match is richer, then fill from there. Coordinate Roth versus pre-tax across the household rather than per-person, keep beneficiaries synchronized, and if one income is variable, size the emergency fund on the steadier one. Two-plan households often leave money on the table simply because nobody ever looked at both plans side by side — it's a 30-minute fix.

Yes. With an office in Statesboro minutes from campus (and one in Savannah near the Armstrong campus), we work with USG faculty and staff on exactly these decisions: what to do with ORP balances at retirement, TRS pension elections, supplemental 403(b)/457(b) accounts, and the tax planning around all three. Savannah Wealth Group is not affiliated with Georgia Southern or the University System of Georgia.

TRS is a traditional pension (defined benefit): you contribute 6%, and after vesting your retirement benefit follows a formula based on years of service and your highest 24 consecutive months of pay — the risk and the investing are the system's problem, and full vesting takes 10 years. The ORP is a 401(a) defined-contribution plan: you contribute 6%, USG contributes 9.24% (2026 rate) to your own account with your chosen provider — Corebridge, Fidelity, or TIAA — you're vested immediately, and the balance at retirement is whatever contributions plus markets produced. Exempt employees choose within their first 60 days, and the choice is generally irrevocable.

Unlike a pension, the ORP doesn't automatically become income — you decide. Options generally include leaving the balance invested, taking installments or lump sums, rolling to an IRA, or (particularly at TIAA) converting some or all to a lifetime annuity. Each path has different tax, flexibility, and survivor consequences, and TIAA's traditional annuity balances can carry their own payout rules worth understanding before you move anything. This single decision is where most ORP retirees deserve an hour of analysis.

Sometimes. Consolidation, wider investment choice, flexible withdrawals, and easier beneficiary and Roth-conversion management argue for rolling; institutional pricing, plan-specific annuity options, and penalty-free access from a plan after separating in or after the year you turn 55 argue for staying (IRA money generally waits until 59½). The answer depends on your age at retirement, your income plan, and what your specific provider offers — it's a comparison, not a reflex.

TRS of Georgia pays a lifetime benefit of roughly 2% per year of creditable service times your highest consecutive-24-month average salary, with survivor options elected at retirement. Ten-year vesting, and service purchases or unused sick leave can affect the calculation. The retirement-date and beneficiary-option elections are the levers — run your TRS estimate early, and coordinate the election with your spouse's income picture rather than deciding it in the TRS office lobby.

For most USG employees, no — USG positions generally pay into Social Security alongside TRS or ORP. And the old federal reductions that worried public-sector retirees for decades — the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset — were repealed in 2025, which restored full benefits for many affected retirees. If you have prior non-covered government service, it's still worth a review of your actual Social Security record before you build a plan on it.

USG offers both supplemental plans, and they carry separate IRS contribution limits — a high-saving professor in the final stretch can defer into both at once, sheltering roughly twice what a single 401(k) saver can. The 457(b) has a bonus feature: after you separate from service, withdrawals are not subject to the 10% early-withdrawal penalty regardless of age — which makes it a natural bridge account for anyone retiring before 59½.

Financially, many can — the real gatekeepers are health coverage and income sequencing. USG retiree healthcare eligibility has service requirements worth confirming with HR early, and the bridge to Medicare at 65 (retiree coverage, a spouse's plan, COBRA, or the ACA marketplace) should be priced with real quotes. On the income side, the 457(b)'s penalty-free access and the ORP's plan-level rule-of-55 access are the tools that make early retirement work mechanically.

Generally yes. Georgia doesn't tax Social Security, and residents 62 and older can exclude substantial retirement income from state tax — up to $35,000 per person at 62–64 and up to $65,000 per person at 65+ — covering TRS pensions, ORP and 403(b)/457(b) withdrawals, interest, dividends, and capital gains. The years between your last paycheck and required minimum distributions are often the cheapest years of your life to do Roth conversions. That window closes at RMD age.

CAPTRUST's phone-based guidance on plan investments is a legitimate, no-cost resource — use it. Where we add value is the full picture CAPTRUST isn't positioned to manage: coordinating ORP/TRS with a spouse's accounts, Social Security timing, the healthcare bridge, Georgia tax planning, Roth conversion sequencing, and estate coordination — as an ongoing relationship with someone local you can sit across from in Statesboro or Savannah.

Yes. From offices in Savannah and Statesboro, we help Southern Company system employees and retirees — Georgia Power linemen, plant operators, engineers, and office staff across coastal Georgia — with the decisions that cluster around retirement: the Employee Savings Plan, pension payment elections, company stock, the healthcare bridge, and Social Security timing. Savannah Wealth Group is not affiliated with Southern Company or Georgia Power.

Southern Company's published benefits overview describes the Employee Savings Plan as allowing contributions of up to 50% of base pay on a pre-tax, Roth, or traditional after-tax basis, with the company matching a portion of the first 6% you contribute — a maximum employer match of 5.1% of base pay — and immediate eligibility. Plan terms can differ by employee group and change over time, so confirm your own match, vesting, and options in your plan portal. At minimum, contributing at least 6% so you capture the full match is the baseline every employee should hit.

Yes — Southern Company's published benefits overview describes a traditional pension for eligible employees after one year of service, with retirement possible between 50 and 65 for those with at least 10 years of accredited service, and “several optional forms of payment” at retirement. Which formula and options apply to you depends on your hire date and employee group. Request your official pension estimate well before your target date — every other retirement decision keys off it.

Pension elections are typically irrevocable. The core tradeoff is a single-life benefit (larger check that stops at your death) versus joint-and-survivor forms (smaller check that continues for your spouse), and in some cases a lump-sum alternative. The right election depends on both spouses' health and longevity expectations, other income sources, life insurance in force, and taxes. Model the options side by side — including what the survivor actually lives on under each — before you sign.

The published plan design contemplates retirement as early as 50 with 10 years of accredited service, and many Southern system careers are long enough to qualify. The practical questions are income and health coverage: bridging insurance to Medicare at 65, deciding when the pension starts, and — if you separate in or after the year you turn 55 — using the IRS “rule of 55” for penalty-free withdrawals from the Employee Savings Plan. Money moved to an IRA loses that early-access provision, which is a reason not to rush a rollover if you're retiring before 59½.

Possibly, and it's worth checking before any rollover. If you hold appreciated company stock inside the plan, the tax code's Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) treatment may let you distribute the shares in-kind, pay ordinary income tax only on the original cost basis, and have the growth taxed at long-term capital-gains rates when sold. The rules are strict — a qualifying lump-sum distribution is required, and rolling the shares into an IRA first permanently forfeits the option. Long-tenured utility employees with decades of dividend reinvestment are exactly the profile where NUA can matter.

There are legitimate reasons in both directions. Staying: institutional-class pricing, the rule-of-55 access if you retire early, strong ERISA creditor protection, and any stable-value option. Rolling: consolidation, a wider investment and income-tool menu, flexible withdrawals, and easier coordination of beneficiaries, Roth conversions, and charitable distributions. The stock/NUA question should be answered first — and anyone who gives you a one-size answer before looking at your situation is selling something.

A pension changes the math, not the rules. Guaranteed pension income often means you can afford to delay Social Security — claiming at 62 permanently reduces your benefit by roughly 30% versus full retirement age (67 for those born 1960 or later), while waiting past FRA adds about 8% per year to 70. Because survivors keep the larger of a couple's two checks, the higher earner's claiming decision is also a survivor-income decision. Your pension election and Social Security timing should be made as one coordinated plan.

Ask HR what retiree medical coverage, if any, applies to your group — utility retiree benefits vary by hire date and have changed over the years. Beyond that, the standard bridge tools are COBRA, a spouse's plan, or an ACA marketplace plan, where premiums are driven by your reported income. That last point means your withdrawal strategy and your insurance cost are the same decision — sequenced well, the bridge years get dramatically cheaper. At 65, enroll in Medicare on time to avoid permanent penalties.

Generally yes. Georgia doesn't tax Social Security, and residents 62 and older can exclude a meaningful amount of retirement income from state tax — up to $35,000 per person from 62 to 64 and up to $65,000 per person at 65 and older — covering pensions, retirement-account withdrawals, interest, dividends, and capital gains. Layered with the years between retirement and required minimum distributions, many utility retirees have a real low-tax window for Roth conversions and gains harvesting. It closes at RMD age, so the planning has to happen first.

Savannah Wealth Group operates Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm by appointment only, and is closed on weekends.

They accept Visa, MasterCard, and American Express.

Services include Comprehensive Financial Planning, Retirement Planning, Investment Management, Business Valuations, Life Insurance, and Disability Insurance.

Yes, visits are by appointment only.

The office is located at 7393 Hodgson Memorial Drive, Suite 201, Savannah, GA 31406.

You can reach them by phone at +1 912-999-0432 or email rob@savannahwealthgroup.com.

Nearby places include Code One Training Solutions for first aid classes, Queensborough National Bank & Trust Company for banking needs, and Smith Barid for legal services related to wills and trusts.

Yes, nearby insurance agencies include Mass Mutual Financial Group, AreYou64.com - 64 Insurance Group, and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

Nearby real estate services include Ben Farmer Realty, Kristen Aspaas Realtor, Live Love Savannah Realty, The Smoak Team, and Shannon Hornick Realtor.

Yes, they serve multiple cities including Pooler, Richmond Hill, Tybee Island, Rincon, and Statesboro, as well as areas like Beaufort County and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.