Merkle Retirement Planning

Merkle Retirement Planning

Founded by an advisor whose name the firm currently withholds from its website, Merkle Retirement Planning has built its reputation in suburban Des Moines through consistent, awards-recognized service. The firm has been voted Best Local Financial Planner in the CityView Best Of Awards from 2022 through 2026, a streak that highlights deep local embeddedness. It serves individuals and high-net-worth families, weaving together financial, estate, and insurance planning with a primary lens on the retirement transition. Merkle’s strategy centers on retirement income engineering rather than accumulation-phase growth. Advisors structure portfolios to mitigate sequence-of-returns risk and optimize Social Security claiming strategies — two levers it emphasizes prominently in public content. The firm does not disclose specific holdings, but its process integrates investment management, tax planning, and health care cost projections into a single plan. It also operates an insurance agency, recognized as Best Local Insurance Agent in 2025 and 2026, which allows it to place annuities and long-term-care products directly. Geographically, the practice draws clients from the Greater Des Moines area and Iowa more broadly. Merkle publishes Retiring Today, a magazine that distributes editorial guidance on topics like tax-efficient wealth transfer and early retirement sequencing. The firm also hosts a community of clients around financial, physical, and emotional well-being — a bundling move that mirrors the “health-wealth” convergence trend in retirement advice. In 2026, it again captured the CityView Best Local Financial Planner award, extending a five-year winning streak that anchors its local brand. The firm’s structural differentiator is its integrated insurance agency, which allows it to combine fee-based planning with commission-eligible product placement under one roof. This hybrid model creates a one-stop retirement shop but also introduces a dual-compensation structure uncommon among pure RIAs, giving the firm flexibility to tailor solutions while requiring careful conflict management.