retirement income Archives - Page 8 of 24 - Jerry Golden on Retirement

Are Income Annuities fair? Or do annuity payments improve your retirement income plan?

February 20, 2019 By Jerry Golden in Annuity, Income Allocation Tags: Income allocation, Income annuities, retirement income

analyzing annuity payments in retirement

If you get a chance, you might read this article “Why Retirees May be Wary of Annuities”. Written by two knowledgeable academics and based on a study of consumers, the authors concluded that the aversion to income annuities may be related to a question of fairness, i.e., insurance company holds on to part of the annuity reserve at the death of the annuitant.

At the end of the article, the authors suggest that what’s needed for annuity acceptance is a “highly personalized approach, in which the [planning] solutions are tailored to reflect the goals, circumstances of the individual.” That’s what we’re trying to do with our new Income Allocation Tool.

2019 New Year’s Resolution: Fix my retirement plan

January 8, 2019 By Jerry Golden in Income Allocation Tags: Income allocation, Income annuities, retirement income

Most people, particularly those in or near retirement, are concerned (and for good reason) about what the market performance in December did to their retirement plans. My friends, knowing what I do, ask me, “So, what do you think about the market?”

My answer to them is, “We’re OK, but the kids will inherit less from my retirement accounts if my wife and I are hit by the proverbial bus tomorrow.” In other words, my income is safe and relatively unaffected by market results even as my overall account has slimmed down.

If your New Year’s goal is to “Fix my retirement plan,” this article will give you five steps to accomplish your resolution. You’ll be able to “set it and forget it,” so you don’t have to make it again year after year.

Step One – Find your retirement income potential

As a first step, take a few minutes to determine your Income Power. It’s a simple calculation that shows you how much income your retirement savings can generate — starting at your retirement, increasing over time, and continuing for life. I explain it in full here.

At the same time, update or find your latest Social Security projection. Combine the two for an idea of your potential income. Of course, you’ll need the right kind of retirement plan to reach your full potential.

Keeping up-to-date on your income annuity quotes

September 26, 2018 By Jerry Golden in Annuity Tags: Keep quote up-to-date, retirement income, tax planning

A lot of visitors come to Go2Income.com or other income annuity sites to find out how much income they can generate from a specific amount of retirement savings. The quote they receive can be for an immediate annuity, deferred income annuity (DIA), or QLAC (a special form of DIA) purchased out of a rollover IRA account.

Visitors may be considering a new plan for retirement income, or they may be curious about how their savings translate into lifetime, guaranteed monthly income. Or perhaps they’d like to compare a quote to an annuity option out of their 401(k) plan or fixed income strategy they received from an advisor.

We need a few good retirees!

September 14, 2018 By Jerry Golden in Income Allocation Tags: Income allocation, Jerry Golden, retirement income

We are about to add the first of a series of new income planning tools to the Go2Income.com site. It will allow retirees to design an income allocation plan tailored to their personal circumstances.

I have been writing about income allocation for a while. This approach changes the retirement planning paradigm and addresses your need to create more income with less market risk. For the rest of your retirement.

Income allocation is a different approach than you will hear from most financial advisers. They talk about asset allocation, which places your savings in different buckets – stocks, bonds, etc. – from which you can withdraw money until you reach a certain age. If you live longer than that, you have to talk to the kids about moving in with them.

With income allocation, you decide now how to generate your income from investments and from income annuities. The income annuities are important because they offer guaranteed income for the rest of your life. As I wrote here, an income allocation plan also enables you to allocate a smaller amount to higher-risk withdrawals. In fact, you may be more likely to stay the course when you know a check will be deposited into your bank account every month.

Help us help others

We are inviting you to learn about the planning method while it is still part of what we call a “beta release.” You can test it before it’s available to the general public. Register here if you’d like to participate in this test.

After reviewing the income allocation educational materials and tool on the Go2Income site, we would greatly appreciate if you take a few minutes to complete a brief survey at the bottom of Income Allocation/Step 3.

We will use your feedback to improve the tool and educational support, as well as helping us design other Income Planning tools we add to Go2Income after that.

A helpful income allocation plan

We are hoping to learn whether our site does a good job of explaining income allocation. What changes should we make to the educational materials? Are the tools and results clear? Does income allocation make sense to our subscribers?

With your help, retirement will be changed forever.

How to boost retirement income by making it safer

September 4, 2018 By Jerry Golden in Income Allocation Tags: boost retirement income, Income allocation, retirement income, safer income

One of my Baby Boomer clients asked for help with a retirement plan that would provide her with a specified level of “safe income” every month. She understood that she did not have enough savings to live off interest on U.S. Treasury bonds or savings accounts. Very few of my clients have accumulated that much in savings. So, she was looking for other, higher-yielding sources of safe income.

I agreed to work with her, but first we had to agree on what “safe” means. Then we had to decide the meaning of “income.” Once we both accepted those two definitions, the plan was relatively easy.

Nothing is 100% “safe.” Even Social Security may require reform and some pension plans may need a bailout. And some sources of income that retirees count on from their savings depend on market performance, and therefore are riskier. But if you consider probabilities, the “guaranteed and lifetime” income sources below are both safe and will last a lifetime.