Retirement planning.
Tax planning.
Done carefully.
H. Elliot Associates is a financial planning firm specializing in retirement planning and tax planning for federal employees, individuals, and small-business owners across Maryland, DC, and Virginia.
Retirement and tax, planned together — year round.
Retirement is the longest financial decision most people will ever make, and most of its outcomes are determined years before retirement begins. We work with clients all twelve months on the choices that compound — modeling Roth conversions, mapping Required Minimum Distributions, and analyzing the tax treatment of Social Security and qualified-plan distributions before decisions are made, not after.
Year-round tax planning sits alongside the retirement work, under our principal's federal Enrolled Agent licensure — covering preparation, strategy, and IRS representation. Retirement engagements focus on planning and the tax mechanics of retirement decisions; they do not include the recommendation, selection, or management of securities.
See the full list of servicesTwo specialties. Four services.
Retirement Planning
Roth conversions, Required Minimum Distributions, Social Security benefit taxation, and the tax mechanics of qualified-plan distributions.
Individual Tax Preparation
Federal and multi-state return preparation for W-2 earners, self-employed professionals, and families.
Small-Business Tax Planning
Year-round tax planning for sole proprietors, LLCs, and S-corps — structured around cash flow, not just April.
IRS Representation
As a federally licensed Enrolled Agent, I represent clients before all administrative levels of the IRS — audits, appeals, and collections.
Built for federal employees
and recent retirees.
TSP withdrawals. FERS and CSRS pensions. The Special Retirement Supplement. Social Security with WEP and GPO offsets. State-of-residence questions for Foreign Service Officers and transferring employees.
These are the tax and retirement questions that confuse most CPAs — and the daily reality of every federal worker approaching retirement. Our founder spent twenty years inside the federal compensation system before starting this firm. We don't read about it. We lived it.
Through every season of public service — steady or uncertain — careful planning is what keeps a federal career on course.
Explore the Federal-Employee Practice- TSP withdrawal tax strategy (Traditional & Roth)
- FERS & CSRS pension taxation
- WEP / GPO offsets on Social Security
- Special Retirement Supplement (SRS)
- Foreign Service & overseas-posting tax issues
- Military service-credit (buyback) tax mechanics
- State-of-residence planning for transferring feds
Credentialed where it counts — honest about what's pending.
Harold Hodges, MBA · EA · PMP, brings more than three decades of experience in the federal government and nonprofit sector — including twenty years with the U.S. Department of State — to the practice of tax. He founded H. Elliot Associates in 2012 to deliver year-round tax and retirement planning with the clarity typically reserved for the largest clients of high-fee firms.
He is actively pursuing additional credentials to broaden the firm's services in the future. The status of those credentials is tracked publicly on the Team page.
Read Harold's full profile"A good practice returns more than a refund — it returns clarity. Whether the question is this April's return or the next thirty years of retirement, every decision should be one you understand."
Let's have a first conversation.
A 30-minute introductory consultation at no cost — bring a tax question, a retirement question, or both. We'll review your situation and explain how we can help, or refer you to someone who's a better fit.