Eighty-one percent of Americans have fears about retirement
According to the latest COUNTRY Financial Security Index, 81% of those currently in the workforce are worried about their retirement preparedness.
This survey is quite discouraging to someone like me, who’s in the business of helping people address those fears and to be as prepared for retirement as possible.
While no one can create savings that individuals have not set aside, there are strategies that can be deployed to get the most spendable income from their savings.
Here are a few tips:
- Start these income strategies as soon as you begin thinking about your lifestyle in retirement. That could be in your 50s, 60s or even 70s.
- Use all of your net worth in considering your strategies, including the value of your house.
- Use all financial products in your plan, including income annuities.
- Grab the low-hanging fruit in improving your plan, like fees, taxes and guaranteed income.
How to overcome “income shocks” that wreck retirement security
Income disruptions are becoming more common and afflict all household income levels.
Such shocks can come from job loss, job change, marital change or sudden illness, among other things.
While this article talks about the income shocks that take place prior to retiring, the biggest shocks can take place after retirement, particularly if the individual is living off withdrawals from savings.
The key, both pre- and post- retirement, is to have guaranteed sources of lifetime income in place, things like Social Security, a pension, and payments from an income annuity.
This income can’t be shocked. And, thus, must be built up over time.