Leawood, KS
Retirement Planning in Leawood
You've got real wealth and real tax exposure, both at once. Executive comp, concentrated stock, and thirty years of maxed-out deferrals build exactly the balance sheet that lands in the top bracket the moment required minimum distributions start. Leawood sits ten minutes east of the Overland Park office, inside the same Johnson County rules. The question isn't whether you can retire. It's how much of that account is actually yours.
Why Leawood
Planning built for Leawood retirees
Johnson County · about 10 minutes east · State Line Road at 135th
Leawood's property values collide with a Kansas rule most people read backwards. The senior and disabled-veteran freeze, Form K-40SVR, tests the home's appraised value at $350,000 or less in the base year (the year you first qualify) and not in any year after. Appreciation afterward does not disqualify you. A home already past $350,000 at 65 never establishes a base year at all.
The other two programs work the opposite way. The Homestead Refund and SAFESR test appraised value in the claim year itself, so a Leawood home that grows past $350,000 ends eligibility. House Bill 2044 would have preserved it for those two programs; the legislature passed the bill in April 2026, the Governor vetoed it, and no override had occurred by August 2026.
Leawood publishes a named, headcounted employer schedule inside its own audited annual report, so these three are city figures rather than county ones. Each puts a different kind of retirement decision in front of someone who spent a career there.
Ascend Learning
Leawood's largest employer at 550 people, 3.0% of city employment for the year ended December 31, 2025. Privately held, files nothing with the SEC, so its plan design isn't public record.
First Busey Corporation
Busey Bank is second at 475 employees. Its plan is unusually well documented: a 100% safe-harbor match on the first 3% of pay, 50% on the next 2%, roughly 3% discretionary profit-sharing vesting at five years, and an employer stock fund.
AMC Entertainment
Third at 470, headquartered on Ash Street. Its one-for-ten reverse stock split took effect August 24, 2023, resetting the per-share cost basis of every AMC position in a taxable account or IRA.
Kansas Taxes
Kansas tax rules for a Leawood retirement
Kansas income tax law as of tax year 2026 · verified August 2026
Kansas exempts Social Security in full since tax year 2024, no income limit. It exempts nothing else you're likely to hold. Deferred compensation, a private pension, a 401(k), an IRA: all absent from K.S.A. 79-32,117's subtraction list, which is exhaustive by design.
The bracket structure removes the usual workaround. For tax year 2024 and after, married filers pay 5.2% on the first $46,000 of Kansas taxable income, then 5.58%. At Leawood's median household income of $185,625, you cross that threshold before the first quarter ends. Kansas is functionally flat here.
- Kansas top rate, TY2024+
- 5.58%
- Social Security, TY2024+
- Fully exempt
- 401(k) & IRA income, TY2024+
- Fully taxable
Sources: KDOR Notice 24-08 · K.S.A. 79-32,117 · KDOR homestead programs
Tax figures on this page are current as of the dates shown and are provided for general education only. Kansas and Missouri retirement tax rules changed in 2024 and 2025, and several of these figures are adjusted annually for inflation or depend on future revenue triggers. Nothing here is tax, legal, or investment advice. Confirm your own situation with your tax professional before acting.
Who We Help
Is this you?
01
Age 50+ and within 10 years of retirement
02
$2M or more saved, mostly in 401(k)s and IRAs
03
Ready for a tax-first approach to retirement planning
How it works
Your Tax-First Retirement Plan is built in 4 weeks
Two phases over ten weeks. Phase one builds the plan in four weeks. Phase two determines who handles the ongoing monitoring and optimization.
Phase 1
Three sessions. Four weeks.
Week 1 · No Cost
Strategy
A 30 to 45 minute conversation about your goals and concerns, including a walkthrough of your Nine Tax Surprises Analysis. You'll leave knowing whether it's the right fit, whether the Retire Ready Roadmap™ makes sense for your next steps, and what tax surprises Uncle Sam has waiting for you.
Week 3
$4,500
Your Roadmap Review
Nine tax surprises sit inside a traditional retirement that almost nobody warns you about. Your Retire Ready Roadmap™ answers 25 questions with your specific numbers, across all five areas.
Best for couples already working with an advisor or looking to partner with one.
Week 4
Alignment
A 7 to 10 day refining period lets your plan settle in. Follow-up questions get answered, and sometimes components of your plan need to be analyzed or strategized. This wraps up the initial plan set-up and sets the stage for what happens next.
Three Paths Forward
The plan is done. Here's what happens next.
Most Popular
01
Do It Yourself
The plan is yours. You manage the ongoing execution.
Most Popular
02
Take It to Your Advisor
Take the plan to your advisor. Hopefully they follow through.
Most Popular
03
Done For You
Continue with MOKAN.
Phase 2
Ongoing relationship
Done For You
1.0–1.5%
Wealth Management
The Retire Ready Roadmap™ is a living plan. It needs ongoing attention to maximize your retirement. Tax planning, investment management, Roth conversions, and IRMAA monitoring are handled for you. You focus on living the retirement you built.
Client Reviews
What Couples Say After Switching to Tax-First Planning
MOKAN Wealth Management has not offered compensation for the testimonials featured. The displayed testimonials have been chosen from a spectrum of client feedback. To the best of our understanding, there are no other conflicts of interest associated with these testimonials.
Nearby
Retirement planning nearby
Overland Park, Prairie Village, and Olathe sit inside the same county assessment cycle and the same Kansas brackets, so the same three decisions repeat across all four.
Common Questions
Retiring in Leawood: common questions
Your Leawood home is worth far more than $350,000. Can you get Kansas senior property tax relief?
Probably not, and the reason differs by program. K-40SVR tests appraised value only in your base year, so appreciation afterward is harmless, but a home already above $350,000 at 65 never establishes one. The Homestead Refund and SAFESR test the claim year instead. House Bill 2044 would have fixed those two. It was vetoed in April 2026.
CrossFirst became First Busey. What happened to your Leawood 401(k)?
First Busey completed its acquisition of CrossFirst Bankshares on March 1, 2025, and CrossFirst terminated its 401(k) plan as of that date. You could roll your balance, including any loan notes, into the First Busey plan, take payment, or roll to another qualified plan or an IRA. Kansas taxes whatever you took in cash.
Will Kansas cut its income tax rate before you retire?
Maybe, but no date exists. 2025 Senate Bill 269 cuts rates only when a revenue test and a rainy-day-fund test both pass on August 15. For tax year 2026 there was no cut: collections fell $88,481,523 short, though the fund passed at 19.1%. The floor is 4%.
Next Step
Ready to Keep More of What You've Built?
If you and your spouse have $2M or more in investable assets, a tax-first retirement plan helps you keep more of it, year after year.