Serving Volusia County, FL
Financial Advisor Serving Volusia County, FL
Volusia County has about 606,000 residents and roughly 27 percent of them are 65 or older. That is well above the national rate and above the Florida rate. In practical terms, more than one in four people you pass in this county is at or past traditional retirement age, and a large share of them arrived from somewhere else.
That single fact shapes the work. This is not a market where retirement planning is a niche. It is the main event, and the county is full of people making the same handful of permanent decisions within a few years of each other.
New Smyrna Beach Retirement Solutions is an independent practice at 112 North Orange Street in New Smyrna Beach. Steven L. Rich holds four designations, RICP, NSSA, CLTC, and CF2, and has worked with roughly 350 families over fifteen years. Investment advisory services are offered through Signal Advisors Wealth, LLC, a separate SEC Registered Investment Adviser, and Steven serves as a fiduciary on those accounts.
Steven L. Rich, RICP®, NSSA®, CLTC®, CF2® | 15 years · ~350 families | Independent practice at 112 N. Orange St, New Smyrna Beach
What Is True Everywhere in Volusia County
Four things apply to every household here regardless of which city you live in.
Florida has no state income tax and no state estate tax
Retirement income, Social Security, IRA withdrawals, pension payments, and capital gains are all free of state level income tax. For a transplant from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, or Massachusetts, that is often the single largest recurring change in the household budget.
Homestead and Save Our Homes cap what your primary residence costs you
Florida’s homestead exemption reduces assessed value, and the Save Our Homes provision caps annual assessed value increases at 3 percent or the change in CPI, whichever is lower. Long tenure owners frequently carry an assessed value far below market. That benefit is portable to a new Florida homestead within the statutory window, and people give it up by accident when they move.
Property insurance is a real line item, not a rounding error
Coastal and near coastal Volusia carries meaningful wind and flood exposure, and premiums plus roof replacement cycles have moved significantly in recent years. An income plan built on a stale housing cost estimate understates the true number.
Establishing domicile takes more than a mailing address
Transplants routinely carry a filing obligation in their prior state for years after the move because they never formally severed residency. Driver’s license, voter registration, vehicle registration, the declaration of domicile, and where you actually spend your days all matter.
What Changes by Community
The county averages hide four genuinely different sub-markets, and the planning emphasis shifts with each.
New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater, the coastal south end
Edgewater is one of the most retired places in Florida: roughly 33 percent of residents are 65 or older and about 90 percent of homes are owner occupied, with a median household income near $61,000 and median home value around $256,000. That combination, high homeownership and modest cash income, means Social Security carries more of the load and the survivor benefit decision carries more weight. Home equity is often the second largest asset in the plan.
Retirement planning in Edgewater →
Port Orange and the Spruce Creek corridor
Port Orange runs higher: about 66,000 residents, median household income near $74,400, median home value around $317,200. Add the Spruce Creek Fly In airpark and you get a concentration of retired professionals, business owners, and pilots. The dominant planning question here is the Roth conversion window between the last paycheck and the first required minimum distribution, and the IRMAA surcharge that a poorly sized conversion can trigger two years later.
Retirement planning in Port Orange →
Daytona Beach and the Halifax area
Daytona Beach is the county’s largest city at about 88,000, with the lowest share of residents 65 and over at 22.5 percent, median household income near $52,000, and owner occupancy just under 48 percent. It is a working city anchored by Halifax Health, AdventHealth, Embry-Riddle, and Daytona State, so retirees here are far more likely to be exiting a Florida Retirement System pension, a DROP program, or a 403(b) than arriving already retired.
Retirement planning in Daytona Beach →
West Volusia: DeLand, Deltona, and Orange City
The western side of the county is more inland, more affordable, and increasingly the landing spot for retirees priced out of the coast. AdventHealth DeLand and AdventHealth Fish Memorial in Orange City serve the area, with Halifax Health UF Health in Deltona. Distance to specialist care is a live consideration when comparing Medicare Advantage networks against Original Medicare with a supplement.
The Ten Areas We Work In
Most households need four or five of these working together, not one in isolation.
- Retirement income planning. Turning a balance into a written paycheck, using the BIG Bucket Framework of BANK, INCOME, and GROWTH.
- Social Security claiming strategy. Filing age modeled across both spouses including the survivor scenario. This is guidance on the claiming decision. Signal Advisors does not provide Social Security advice and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any government agency.
- Tax efficient retirement strategies. Withdrawal sequencing, Roth conversion windows, and required minimum distribution management.
- 401(k) rollover. All four options modeled, including net unrealized appreciation and the rule of 55, before anything moves.
- Investment management. The portfolio built to serve the income plan, using the Pyramid of Risk and a scored volatility tolerance assessment.
- Annuity review. Reading the actual contract. Any income features are backed by the claims paying ability of the issuing insurance carrier. Insurance products are offered through New Smyrna Beach Retirement Solutions, not through Signal Advisors Wealth.
- Medicare guidance. Enrollment timing, IRMAA, and how a plan choice interacts with your income decisions.
- Long term care planning. Traditional policies, hybrid contracts, or a deliberate self funded carve out with the number written down.
- Estate and legacy planning. Beneficiary designations, titling, and the SECURE Act ten year clock on inherited IRAs, coordinated with your attorney and CPA. We do not provide legal or tax advice.
- Relocating to Florida. Domicile, timing of income recognition around the move, and homestead portability.
Communities We Serve
New Smyrna Beach, Edgewater, Port Orange, South Daytona, Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach, Holly Hill, Daytona Beach Shores, Ponce Inlet, Oak Hill, DeLand, DeBary, Deltona, Orange City, Lake Helen, Glencoe, and the surrounding areas. Clients also come from Palm Coast in Flagler County, and Titusville and Sanford in neighboring counties.
The office is at 112 North Orange Street in downtown New Smyrna Beach.
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Serving All of Volusia County From New Smyrna Beach
Questions We Get From Across the County
Free Monthly Workshops in Volusia County
Steven teaches free classes on Social Security claiming strategies and taxes in retirement through the American Financial Education Alliance, a non-profit. Sessions run monthly at the Brannon Center in New Smyrna Beach and the Lakeside Community Center in Port Orange. It is a classroom, not a sales presentation. See the workshop schedule.
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Start with a conversation, not a pitch.
Bring what you have and what you are worried about. No cost, no obligation.
Office: 112 N. Orange Street, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 | Hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00
Compliance Disclaimer
The information included on this website is for informational purposes and its contents should not be construed as a recommendation. The information on this site alone should not be used in making investment decisions. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses associated with any investment. Investment advisory services offered through Signal Advisors Wealth, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Adviser.