Thomas Advisory Services
Independent Retirement Planning for Central Florida Retirees and Pre-Retirees
We're an independent financial advisor in Winter Haven, FL helping retirees and pre-retirees turn a lifetime of savings into income that doesn't run out, combining active market management with lifetime income strategies built for a 25- or 30-year retirement.
30+ years in practice since 1991
Client assets held at Charles Schwab
Author of Wealth Beyond Work
24/7 access for senior clients
Trusted Guidance
Three Decades of Helping Central Florida Retirees Plan With Confidence
Allen Thomas has been practicing in financial services since 1991, and Thomas Advisory Services exists for one reason: to help people in their 60s and 70s answer the question they actually lie awake worrying about.
Will my money last?
We're a small, independent practice in downtown Winter Haven serving retirees and pre-retirees across Polk County and the rest of Central Florida. Allen and Marcie work together with every household, which means you talk to the people running your plan, not a junior associate or a 1-800 routing menu. Our clients are usually within ten years of retirement on either side, and most of them came to us after a frustrating experience with a captive advisor at a big-box firm.
We're not here to pitch products. We're here to build a plan that pays you a reliable paycheck for the rest of your life, manages your investments around what's actually happening in the economy, and keeps a real human reachable when you have a question on a Sunday afternoon.
Trusted Guidance in Retirement Income, Investment Planning, and Wealth Management
How We Build Your Retirement Plan in Three Steps
Step 1
We sit down (in person, by phone, or by video) and walk through what you've saved, what you're worried about, when you want to retire, and what kind of retirement you actually want to live. No pressure, no pitch. The first conversation is about understanding where you are.
Step 2
We build a written plan covering income, investments, taxes, and the insurance pieces that need to be in place. You see exactly how the pieces fit together and what the plan is designed to do in good markets, bad markets, and the surprises in between.
Step 3
Retirement isn't a set-it-and-forget-it decision. We meet with clients regularly to adjust allocations as the economy shifts, update income strategies as needs change, and answer questions as they come up. Including the ones that come up after hours.
Four Areas We Help You Plan For
Whether you're five years out or already retired, we build income strategies designed to cover your needs for the rest of your life. This is our pillar service and the reason most clients find us.
Active portfolio management built around economic fundamentals and your personal risk tolerance, with assets held at
Charles Schwab as an independent custodian.
Coordination with your attorney and tax professional to make sure what you've built passes to your family the way you intend, with as little friction as possible.
Fixed index annuities, life insurance, long-term care strategies, and Medicare supplement planning, structured around how the rest of your retirement plan is built.
Income That Keeps Paying, Even When the Market Doesn't
The two questions almost every client asks in their first meeting are
"What happens if I outlive my savings?" and
"What happens if the market drops 40% the year after I retire?"
We answer both directly. For the income question, we use fixed index annuities with lifetime income riders, contracts structured to keep paying you for the rest of your life even if the underlying account value drops to zero. It's a contractual feature of the annuity itself, not a promise we're making personally.
For the market question, we manage portfolios actively based on what's happening in the broader economy, government policy, interest rates, global events, rather than locking you into a static allocation and hoping for the best. Your money sits at Charles Schwab in your name, and we adjust positioning as conditions change.
We can't predict the next downturn. What we can do is build a plan that doesn't require us to.
Expert Guidance for Retirement Income Planning
A Published Approach to Retirement Income
Allen wrote
Wealth Beyond Work because most of the retirement advice on the market is built around accumulation, the years when you're saving. Decumulation, the years when you're spending what you saved, is a different problem and requires a different plan.
The book lays out the framework we use with clients: how to think about sequence-of-returns risk, when guaranteed income makes sense and when it doesn't, how to coordinate Social Security timing, and how to keep your plan resilient through 25 or 30 years of retirement. We send a free copy to anyone who requests one, no obligation.
What Our Clients Say About Working With Us
Our clients describe us as plain-spoken, faith-aligned, and genuinely available, words that come up again and again in their reviews. We're a newer independent practice, but Allen's experience in financial services goes back to 1991, and many of the people we serve today have been clients for years.
Customer testimonials on Google
Get the Answers You Need for Retirement Planning
Questions Retirees Ask Before Working With Us
Questions Retirees Ask Before Working With Us
The right retirement planner in Winter Haven is the one who specializes in your stage of life, works as an independent fiduciary rather than a captive product seller, and is genuinely reachable when you need them. Thomas Advisory Services has been built around exactly that profile, with 30+ years of practice behind it.
How do I find a financial advisor near me for retirees?
Look for an advisor who works primarily with people in their 60s and 70s, holds your assets at an independent custodian like Charles Schwab, can explain their compensation clearly, and is willing to meet in person before you commit. Retirement-stage planning is a different discipline from wealth accumulation, and you want someone who does it every day.
Are you an independent financial advisor in Polk County?
Yes. Thomas Advisory Services is an independent financial advisor based in Winter Haven and serving Polk County and the surrounding Central Florida region. We're not contracted to push any particular fund family or insurance carrier, which means recommendations are built around your situation rather than a quota.
Are you a fee-based financial advisor?
Yes, we operate as a fee-based financial advisor. We're transparent about how we're compensated in your first consultation, and we walk you through every cost in writing before you decide to work with us.
What makes you a trusted financial advisor for seniors in Polk County?
Three things our senior clients tell us matter most: 30+ years of practice since 1991, client assets held at Charles Schwab as an independent custodian, and direct access to Allen by phone seven days a week. We're a small practice on purpose, so we can stay genuinely available.
Do you work with clients outside of Winter Haven?
Yes. We meet in person with clients across Winter Haven, Lakeland, Orlando, Tampa, and Davenport, and we work remotely by phone and video with clients across the rest of Florida. Many of our newer clients are recent Florida transplants who relocated for tax reasons and needed a Florida-based advisor.
Serving Retirees Across Central Florida
We meet in person at our office in downtown Winter Haven and travel to clients in Lakeland, Orlando, Tampa, and Davenport. For clients elsewhere in Florida, we work by phone and secure video.
A Plan Built for the Retirement You've Earned
Thomas Advisory Services is led by
Allen Thomas, who has practiced in financial services since 1991 and is the author of
Wealth Beyond Work. We operate as an independent fee-based advisor with client assets held at Charles Schwab, and we focus our practice on retirees and pre-retirees across Central Florida.
If you're within ten years of retirement on either side and you want a plan that's been thought through for the long arc of your life, we'd like to hear from you.