Jerry Golden on Retirement

How to Fix Social Security and What to Do While We Wait

April 7, 2023 By Jerry Golden in Social Security Tags: Annuities, fix Social Security, Saving for retirement

Here are four proposals to modify Social Security and to ensure the program keeps going strong for future retirees.

I try to avoid political debates in my writing, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Discussing Social Security and how to maintain its solvency is clearly a highly charged subject. It’s also timely, and I propose a new way to think about Social Security and how to leverage its administrative and actuarial support infrastructure.

My criteria for program changes are quite simple: (1) Social Security should be fair to all beneficiaries without the ability for anyone to “game” the system, and (2) Social Security’s ability to deliver lifetime cost-of-living protected income should be leveraged and made available in the private marketplace.

Why So Many Experts Consider Annuities a Win for Retirees

February 22, 2023 By Jerry Golden in Income Power Tags: Annuities, Go2Income, Jerry Golden, retirement income

Rising interest rates, pressure on Social Security, unpredictable markets and longevity risks are making annuities ever more attractive as a part of retirement planning.

Do you know what type of retirement product saw sales soar 44% in 2022 — and received praise and positive publicity in the finance field as consumers saw their other retirement investments lose value?

It’s not cryptocurrency! It’s not some hedge fund. Or junk bonds. It’s easily understood and won’t be seen as a fad in future years.

I’ve described it as a product that “doesn’t make your retirement; it makes your retirement better.”

So, what is it?

Its technical term is single premium immediate annuity, or SPIA. Some finance experts call it a simple annuity. As just one element of a plan for retirement income, I consider simplicity a plus, particularly when you read the positive reasons for the experts’ praise for this product. Others call it a paycheck annuity. It’s utilitarian. And I’ve used the term annuity payment contracts in earlier blogs. Whatever you call this annuity, it pays you a guaranteed income for life.

New Legislation – A Boost for Your Retirement Income Plan

January 17, 2023 By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Income annuities, new legislation, QLAC, retirement income, SECURE 2.0

Get the retirement you want by securing the income you need

Let’s start the New Year with breaking news: Just-enacted legislation called SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 contains provisions that make it much easier to purchase pension-like income in your Plan for Retirement Income (Plan). The new legislation allows you to defer more taxes and buy more retirement income from your 401(k), Rollover IRA, or similar tax-qualified accounts.

Combine this with the higher annuity payouts due to higher interest rates from these vehicles, and we’re talking about 100% to 250% more income from this source when compared to December 2021. The vehicle is a Qualifying Longevity Annuity Contract — or QLAC for short. Importantly it’s only offered by some of the highest-rated insurance companies in the U.S.

Spoiler Alert: The maximum QLAC per individual is now $200,000 with no percentage limit.

Doing Your Retirement Income Planning in the Right Order Matters

December 27, 2022 By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Go2Income, Jerry Golden, retirement strategy, right order

A strong retirement income strategy considers many factors, including the retiree’s unique
financial resources and needs. How and when you tackle them is critical.

For all sorts of activities, doing things in the right order matters. We mostly talk about the process of retirement income planning, but the order of retirement income planning is important. To illustrate the point, let’s first look at the simpler example that baseball provides.

Slugger Aaron Judge found himself hitting first in the Yankees lineup while he pursued the American League home run record. As the first hitter up, he usually got an extra at-bat in each game, which gave him additional chances to hit No. 62.

How Much More Retirement Income? Not as Simple as it Sounds

October 20, 2022 By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: annuity payments, Income annuities, inflation protection, retirement income

A savvy consultant recently asked me how much more income a Go2Income plan, with its integration of annuity payments and focus on income allocation, could produce as compared to a traditional retirement income plan. Might it be 20% or more?

He recalled my discussion about rules of thumb in Retirement Planning: One Size Doesn’t Fit All. In that article, I pointed out that the Starting Income Percentage (SIP) for a Go2Income plan was 5% — vs. the “4% rule of thumb” many advisers include in their plans. (That extra percentage point, from 4% to 5%, is a 25% gain.)