A Retirement Income Planning Strategy That Works, Ep #2
Retirement income planning is something we all know we need to do but don’t always get around to in a timely manner. One of the reasons we delay could be because we simply don’t know where to start. That’s why I’ve recorded this episode. I want you to know the basic, prudent steps that you can take to get your retirement ship sailing and to ensure that you feel comfortable with what your income is going to be like during retirement. It’s not a hard process, but it does take some thought and some assessment of where you’re at financially now and where you want to be financially during retirement.
You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...
How to use my 4-step process to figure your retirement needs [1:40]
The best approaches to using Social Security in retirement [5:31]
Approaches to utilizing your pension effectively [7:07]
How personal savings can help with retirement expenses [10:10]
How to monitor your retirement funds in light of tax changes [14:53]
Is your income for retirement going to be something you won’t outlive?
The simple understanding of retirement income planning that has helped me the most is this: It's determining the amount of money you will need during retirement to ensure that you can cover your life expenses even though job-related income will not be coming in as it was before you retired.
Think of it this way: You want to ensure that you have enough income during retirement to fund your life for as long as you live. In other words, you don’t want to outlive the income you have available. As you can see, this will require careful and wise planning. Keep listening (reading). You’re going to learn my simple steps for assessing your situation and making a plan that can work.
My 4-Step Plan for determining your retirement income
It’s not a hard thing to plan for your retirement financially, but it takes a concerted effort to evaluate and make changes in many cases. I recommend the following four steps to adequately understand your situation and establish a plan that will actually work:
1 - Determine the amount of money you will need each month, during retirement
2 - Analyze your income sources to know where that money will come from
3 - Determine what income sources to use first once you retire
4 - Adjust and monitor your plan for tax and portfolio changes
These steps will help you know what your retirement landscape looks like before you get to it — and can empower you to be confident when it comes to the needs your retirement lifestyle will require. Listen to this episode to hear all the details on all four of these steps.
Next steps after listening to this episode
Don’t let the information I’m sharing in this episode go onto the back burner. No matter what age you are or how close retirement is for you, you can never start this process too soon. In fact, the sooner you start, the better off you’ll be. Take the time to sit down and analyze your budget. Dream a bit about the kind of life you want to live during retirement. Once you do, start to plan out the budget you’ll need to do that. Then you'll figure out how you’re going to provide that money for yourself, now. It’s called a retirement plan and it works, if you will put in the work to make it happen. Again, listen to this episode to hear my four simple steps for making it happen.
Resources & People Mentioned
https://ssa.gov - download your Social Security statement