Defuse the Bomb: Protecting Your Retirement from the Stealth Taxes That Can Blow It Up You did everything right. You saved aggressively. You invested prudently. You delayed taxes. So why does retirement still feel more fragile than you expected? Because the greatest threat to your retirement isn't market risk. It's stealth taxes . Not the tax rates everyone argues about -- but the quiet, compounding penalties that show up years later, after the decisions are already locked in. Medicare surcharges.

Social Security taxation. Required Minimum Distributions. Income stacking that pushes you into higher brackets when flexibility matters most. Defuse the Bomb is written for people who are rich enough to be punished, but not rich enough to be immune . In clear, conversational language, veteran tax strategist and Certified Financial Planner(tm) George McReynolds reveals how retirement taxes really work over time -- and why even successful, disciplined savers are often blindsided. Inside, you'll discover: why you don't actually own 100% of your IRA, how "invisible" taxes quietly drain retirement cash flow, when tax planning matters most -- and when it's already too late, why timing beats guesswork every time, and how to reduce lifetime taxes without gimmicks, fear, or complexity. This is not a book about loopholes, tricks, or aggressive tax schemes. It's a disciplined framework for managing retirement income before pressure arrives -- so the future you worked for stays calm, stable, and predictable.

If you want to stop leaving your retirement to chance, Defuse the Bomb shows you where to start. George McReynolds, CFP® is a veteran wealth manager, tax strategist, and best-selling author with four decades of experience helping successful professionals and retirees navigate retirement income and taxes. His career spans banking, tax preparation, financial planning, and investments, giving him a rare, ground-level view of how small decisions quietly compound into large outcomes over time.