Retirement transition
Turning what you have saved into income, with Social Security, taxes, Medicare, and timing decided together rather than one at a time.
Washington, Smyth, Wythe and surrounding counties · VA
Financial Advisor for Southwest Virginia
Southwest Virginia covers a lot of ground: Abingdon and Marion, Wytheville, Lebanon, Wise, and the county seats in between. Our office is in Johnson City, about an hour from Marion and closer to ninety minutes from Wytheville, and David grew up on the Virginia side of the line in Bristol. People usually reach out for the same reason: retirement, taxes, land or a business, and investments are sitting in separate places and nobody is looking at them together.
Fit
Who this page is for
Southwest Virginia families getting close to retirement, owners of land or a small business thinking about who takes it next, and households who want one person handling the plan, the Virginia return, and the investments.
Best-fit situations
- You have built more than most people would guess and you have handled it yourself so far. The decisions are getting bigger, and you would rather talk them through with somebody who knows this side of the line and will give you a straight answer.
- Southwest Virginia households where the decisions have outgrown the pieces: people five or ten years from retirement who want to know when it is actually affordable, families holding land or a business that has to pass to somebody, and working households who want retirement, taxes, and investments looked at together instead of one at a time. The Virginia income tax question belongs inside that plan when it applies.
Local context
David Talley grew up on the Virginia side of the line in Bristol, where his family has been for about a hundred years, and as an Enrolled Agent he prepares Virginia returns for families on this side. The office is in Johnson City, about an hour from Marion and closer to ninety minutes from Wytheville, and there is no Talley Wealth office in Southwest Virginia.
If the question is mainly retirement or business ownership, use the situation-specific path below instead of treating location as the whole answer.
Why people reach out
The wealth here does not always look like a brokerage statement
A good deal of what people have built in this part of Virginia is in things you can walk on: acreage, equipment, a shop or a small operation, a house that has been in the family longer than anyone can remember. The retirement accounts matter, and so does everything sitting around them, which is where a plan built only on the portfolio starts to come up short.
The other question that comes up on this side of the line is the tax one. Virginia taxes pension, IRA, and 401(k) income and Tennessee taxes none of it. Virginia does exempt Social Security and allows an age deduction at 65 that phases out as income rises, so what the difference actually comes to depends on your income mix. As an Enrolled Agent, David can run it both ways with your numbers.
Raised on this side of the line
David grew up in Bristol on the Virginia side, where his family has been for about a hundred years, and as an Enrolled Agent he prepares Virginia returns alongside the financial plan. We meet virtually when that saves you a drive and in person when the conversation deserves it.
Read public reviewsLand, farm, and family business
Thinking through who takes the land or the operation next, what the transfer does to taxes, and how the family members who are not involved get treated fairly.
Virginia taxes inside the plan
The Virginia return prepared by the same person who builds the plan, including a clear look at what retiring across the line in Tennessee would and would not change.
Decision depth
What working together looks like
No pressure and no pitch. A conversation about where things stand, and whether it is worth going deeper.
Everything in one place
Retirement, taxes, investments, land, and estate details reviewed together instead of piecemeal.
Both sides of the line
Because David grew up on the Virginia side and prepares returns in both states, the Virginia versus Tennessee question gets modeled with your actual income instead of a rule of thumb.
Plain answers
You will hear what we would do and why, in regular English. If something does not make sense, that is on us to explain better.
What we coordinate
Use the local page to find the planning work that fits.
- Farm, land, and family business succession planning
- Multi-generational estate planning for Southwest Virginia families
- Virginia income tax planning and Virginia to Tennessee relocation modeling
- Business planning for I-81 corridor owners
- Retirement planning for rural professionals and farming families
- IRS resolution for back taxes or unfiled returns
Representative situation
A Wythe County Farmer Balancing Retirement and Farm Transfer
Situation
A third-generation cattle farmer in Wythe County, age 60, wants to retire in the next three to five years. He needs to transfer 200 acres and the livestock operation to his son without triggering estate taxes or losing the agricultural property tax exemption, while also building enough personal retirement income to live comfortably.
Approach
We might start by separating the farm's value from the family's personal retirement assets, determining how much the parents can live on without depending on farm income. Then we'd work with the family's attorney to evaluate transfer strategies: a family limited partnership, an installment sale to the son, or a combination of lifetime gifting and testamentary transfer. On the financial planning side, we'd build a retirement income projection that includes Social Security, off-farm savings, and a potential lease-back arrangement.
This representative situation is hypothetical and for educational purposes only. It is not based on, and should not be understood as referencing, any specific client or client experience.
Local proof
Where we are
Talley Wealth is based in Johnson City and works with families across the Tri-Cities, in person and virtually.
- Office: 203 Broyles Drive, Suite 301, Johnson City, TN 37601.
- Serving Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol, and nearby communities.
- Reviews mentioned on this site are public Google reviews, not a promise of results.
Related next steps
Choose the page that fits the question.
Who we help
Start with the situation that sounds most like your life right now.
Learn morePre-retirees
For households approaching the retirement transition.
Learn moreBusiness owners
For owners whose taxes and planning need to catch up to the business.
Learn moreAbingdon financial advisor
Washington County, Virginia planning, including how the Virginia income tax fits the picture.
Learn moreBristol financial advisor
For Bristol families on either side of the state line, where the TN and VA question comes up.
Learn moreCommon questions
Local questions worth asking before you choose an advisor.
Do you know this part of Virginia?
David Talley grew up in Bristol, on the Virginia side of the line, where his family has been for about a hundred years, and as an Enrolled Agent he prepares Virginia returns alongside the financial plan. Our office is in Johnson City, about an hour from Marion and closer to ninety minutes from Wytheville, and most meetings happen virtually.
Can you help with farm succession planning?
Yes, this is work we do. Transfer plans that keep the land in the family, provide retirement income for the senior generation, and treat all the heirs fairly usually involve your attorney and sometimes a CPA, and we coordinate with them rather than working around them. The financial planning side is ours: what the parents can live on, what the transfer does to taxes, and how the pieces get sequenced.
Do you work with families in Wytheville, Marion, and Wise?
Yes, we take clients throughout Southwest Virginia. Most meetings happen virtually, which for a lot of families is easier than driving, and we arrange in-person meetings when the conversation deserves it. As an Enrolled Agent, David prepares Virginia returns for families on this side of the line.
Would I save money by retiring in Tennessee instead of Virginia?
It depends on your income mix, and it is worth running the numbers rather than assuming. Virginia taxes pensions, IRA withdrawals, and 401(k) distributions, and Tennessee taxes none of it. Virginia does exempt Social Security and allows an age deduction at 65 that phases out as income rises, so households drawing mostly Social Security see a smaller difference than households drawing large pension or IRA income. We model both scenarios with your actual numbers.
I have back taxes or unfiled returns. Can you help?
As an Enrolled Agent, David is authorized to represent you before the IRS. We help families get caught up on unfiled returns, set up payment plans, and work toward resolving tax problems, and then fold what we learn into the plan so the same thing does not happen again.
Start with the real decisions in Southwest Virginia.
Bring the question that is on your mind. We will use the call to see whether the full Keystone process is useful.