“What can we do to not run out of money in retirement?” and “Will we have enough money to last as long as we are retired?”

Those are the two big questions which nearly all retirees have. For most of us, though, they are top concerns that what we all worry about as we approach retirement. Then we think about quite often as we move through our retirement years.

Good news, however. To help alleviate the worrying and wondering, the solution is -- quite simply -- to have a PLAN.

Planning for How You Won’t Run Out of Money
If you haven’t already, you or your financial professional need to set up a 30-year Retirement Plan spreadsheet. This plan will include an integrated income, expense, and balance sheet.

Nobody has a crystal ball as to how long they will live. But you can at least make an educated guestimate by looking at your family history against current statistics, and then balancing that with your gut instinct.

Your best starting income-expense budget model for your plan is the one you are living now, adjusted year-to-year over 30 years, or whatever planning horizon you choose. Be sure to realistically account for taxes and inflation.

While you may be a DIY person when it comes to budgeting and doing your taxes, it’s an excellent idea to seek professional guidance.

Consider taking advantage of the expertise of a knowledgeable financial professional to help you “sanity check” your plan and all its assumptions. A financial professional can help with you that. 

Matching Your Retirement Income Streams to Expense Types
Having budgeted our expenses for a long time, we all know that when it comes to expenses, they range somewhere between these two extremes:

• (A) “I absolutely have to pay.”
• (B) “I could easily drop this expense if need be.”
  
  

So, the typical retiree household expenses can be organized into four PRIORITY classifications:

• Priority 1: non-optional expenses for basic survival, such as food, water, shelter, power, and so on
• Priority 2: semi-optional “quality-of-lifestyle” expenses that could be reduced if necessary
• Priority 3: 100% optional and discretionary expenses that could easily be reduced or eliminated
• Priority 4: Random, out-of-the-blue events that may never happen to you, or some may
  
  

Some "Priority 4" type expenses can be relating to a major health event, fire or flood disasters, or unexpected support of a family member.

That being said, keep this in mind. The following expenses, classified "1-4," may be different from what you would choose, customized to your life experiences and priorities.

Starting the Process of Planning
When matching up your retirement expenses to income streams, it doesn’t really make a dig difference if you start with your expenses first, or your income first.

The process of making the two match up (break-even) is an iterative process.
If there is gap between the two, you either have to fit your projected expenses to the retirement income you have. Or you will have to figure out how to increase your income to cover your projected expenses. That is Retirement Planning 101!

PRIORITY 1: Expense-Income Matching
These would be typical Priority 1 expenses: non-optional expenses for basic survival

• Home: mortgage P&I, insurance, real estate tax
• Household: cash, groceries
• Utilities: garbage, power, water, sanitary, cell phone
• Medical: out-of-pocket doctor, dentist, eyecare, drugs, Medicare premiums
• Income Taxes: federal, state, city
  
  

Since these are “must-pay” expenses, they need to be covered by retirement income streams that are essentially fixed, monthly recurring for a lifetime, and guaranteed:

• Social Security: monthly payments for you and/or your spouse
• Pension: pension payouts for you and/or your spouse
  
  

If there is a surplus of income covering Priority 1 expenses, some or all of this surplus can be used to first close any gap in Priority 2 expense funding. Then secondly any gap in Priority 3 expense funding.

Covering Income Gaps in Living Expenses
If you are projecting an income shortfall in your plan, one strategy would be to create an annuity. Let's consider a hypothetical.

As an example, assume you project that your Priority 1 Income during your first 10 years of retirement is short $300 per month.

Say you retired at age 60, and you had a monthly income gap of $300 you needed to cover. And you needed to cover this monthly income gap for 10 years.

Consider this a ballpark number for purposes of demonstration. But for preliminary planning, you would need about $31,850 to fund a fixed 10-year immediate annuity to cover your monthly income gap of $300. Keep in mind that this initial premium will vary among insurance carriers.

To fund this, you could use money from your IRA, from your qualified employer retirement plan, from after-tax savings, or from liquidated dollars from the sale of an asset.

Finding the Right Annuity Strategy for You
Apart from covering an income gap between your monthly living expenses and your guaranteed income with an annuity, another solution is to create an “income floor” with a guaranteed annuity income stream.

If having a certain floor of income sounds worthwhile to explore to you, ask your financial professional to explain this concept.

And another note: There are many types of annuities. They can be fairly involved in their execution, some annuity contracts require some consumer assumptions, and you should be careful who you choose in the financial services market for guidance.

Not all financial professionals offer the same value in terms of reputation and, more importantly, financial soundness. 

Annuities of the fixed variety are a core expertise of the financial professionals at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com

PRIORITY 2: Expense-Income Matching
These would be typical Priority 2 expenses: semi-optional “quality-of-lifestyle” expenses.

• Home: landscape, pest control, maintenance
• Household: cleaners, postage, subscriptions
• Utilities: land line, internet, TV
• Medical: supplemental insurance (to Medicare B)
• Automobiles: Insurance, gas, repairs, parking, tolls, license
• Personal: clothes, gifts, haircuts
• Contributions: churches
  
  

Since these are semi-optional “quality-of-lifestyle” expenses, they can be covered by funds from retirement accounts. Your plan should take note, though, that their value will likely fluctuate with the ups-and-downs of the equity markets:

• 401(k)s
• 457s
• 403(b)s
• IRAs
• Roth accounts

If there is a surplus of income covering Priority 2 expenses, some or all of this surplus can be used to close any gap in Priority 1 expense funding first. Thereafter, it can be used for Priority 3 expense funding second.

PRIORITY 3: Expense-Income Matching
These would be typical Priority 3 expenses: 100% optional, discretionary expenses that can be reduced or dropped as necessary

• Entertainment: clubs, cabins, movies, tickets, restaurants, sports & fitness
• Household: liquor
• Medical: long-term care insurance
• Travel: airfare, hotel, car rental
• Automobiles: wash, ride sharing
• Contributions: schools, nonprofits, service organizations, causes, research
• Business Expenses: advertising, web site, software, supplies, postage
  
  

Since these are 100% optional, discretionary expenses, they might be covered by certain variable and contingent sources of income:

• Employment income
• Sale/liquidation of assets
  • Primary house
  • Second home (vacation home) or cabin, condo, or timeshare
  • Appliances, furniture, art, computers, electronics
  • Automobile(s)
  • Boat(s)
  • Hardware, tools, lawncare equipment
  • Personal property and jewelry
• Inheritance(s)
  
  

PRIORITY 4: Expense-Income Matching
These would be typical Priority 4 expenses: Random, out-of-the-blue events that may never happen to you, or some may.

These can include major home repair and upgrades; major health needs, major dental, and major prescription expenses; disability-related expenses; fire or flood disaster costs; or the costs of a family emergency.

These events tend to be costly in nature, so they are typically insured against with:

• Life insurance
• Auto insurance (typically included as a Priority 2 expense)
• Home insurance (typically included as a Priority 1 expense)
• Flood insurance (typically included as a Priority 1 expense, if required)
• Long-term disability insurance (typically only needed during one’s working years)
• Long-term care insurance
  
  

What insurance coverages to carry, and how much, can be complicated personal questions to answer. They are a perfect topic to discuss with your financial professional. 

This will likely take some consideration to figure out what is right for you and your spouse, and how much insurance you can afford.

Other Planning Steps to Not Run Out of Money in Retirement
There's one last question: How much of an estate do you want to pass on to your heirs?

You might think of this as a “PRIORITY 5 Remainder.” But it could be viewed as an “expense” if you are proactively reserving funds for this purpose. 

There is no right or wrong answer to this question because it is a choice that is private to you. Whatever your goal is, from “nothing” to “a lot,” it can make a huge impact on your income-expense planning in your 30-year plan. 

Just keep in mind these perspectives:

• The only rule is your rule
• You deserve to be happy and healthy in your retirement
• If you determine with a financial professional’s help that need be, work longer and save more to the extent you can to reach your retirement goals

Need Help Planning for Your Money Game-Plan in Retirement?
The most important thing? That you start planning, and the best time is today.
In survey after survey, retired and working-age Americans who planned ahead for their retirement finances reported many positive outcomes.

When they create a plan with the help of a financial professional, people tend to say they have higher retirement savings, a higher sense of personal financial wellness, and more financial peace of mind about their retirement futures.

Are you ready to start planning for your financial security? Financial professionals can help you ensure you don’t run out of money in retirement and avoid other potential mishaps.

 If you believe an annuity is right for you, working with a financial professional can help with your evaluation process and maximize your retirement success.

To connect directly with an independent financial professional, and to request a personal strategy session to discuss your needs and goals.  Contact Jennifer Lang at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com

For more helpful financial tips, follow her podcast, Independent Wealth Planner Strategies with Jennifer Lang.

​Once upon a time, pensions were a staple of the U.S. retirement system. But in the last 20 years there has been a seismic shift in the way employees fund their retirement. In 1998, an estimated 50% of current Fortune 500 companies still offered their salaried employees a pension, or also known as a defined benefit plan. Today that number sits at just 5%.

With this type of plan, a company makes regular contributions to their pension fund and then provides monthly payments or “partial paychecks” to retired employees throughout their retirement. In that sense, pensions give retirees a source of 'guaranteed income.'

Working tenures in previous decades generally lasted much longer than they do now in our current highly-mobile, job-hopping workplace. You could be with the same employer for 20 or more years, with your defined-benefit pension accruing value over your career. Pensions were often a main motivation for people to stay with the same employer. After investing your work life with that company, you were financially rewarded in retirement.

At retirement, the pension would give the financial comfort of knowing where your money was coming from, month to month, from guaranteed monthly paychecks coming in the mail. For years, the U.S. retirement system was built on this foundation. Then, bit by bit, employer pension circumstances gradually began to change.

Company pensions started to dwindle in number, and while today's continuing shrinkage in pension plans can be attributed to many factors, one well-respected economist points out the effects of recent economic events.

Dot-Com Crash Changes Everything
Among other economic and historical variables, the dot-com crash of 2000 is credited with helping to change the course of retirement funding.

Writing in the Harvard Business Review, Robert C. Merton, Distinguished Professor of Finance, MIT Sloan School, and a Nobel Laureate, explains it best: "Interest rates and stock prices both plummeted, which meant that the value of pension liabilities rose while the value of the assets held to meet them fell. A number of major firms in weak industries, notably steel and airlines, went bankrupt in large measure because of their inability to meet their obligations under defined-benefit pension plans."

The result, he adds, was an acceleration of America’s shift away from defined-benefit (DB) pensions toward defined-contribution (DC) retirement plans, which transfer the investment risk from the company to the employee.

"Once an add-on to traditional retirement planning, DC plans—epitomized by the ubiquitous 401(k)—have now become the main vehicles for private retirement saving," Merton writes.

2008 Financial Crisis Continues Plan Constriction
Global advisory firm Willis Towers Watson, which conducted the survey of the Fortune 500 companies, found that employees who were already part of a defined-benefit plan faced further financial consequences in the wake of the Great Recession.
​
In the aftermath, total defined-benefit pension plans offered by Fortune 500 companies declined, while defined-contribution plans offered increased in number. These trends can be seen in this graph below.

​The research from Willis Towers Watson revealed there has been "an uptick in plan freezes and closings since the 2008 financial crisis. In 2009, 21% of these employers sponsored frozen pensions, and the same percentage had closed their primary DB plan to new entrants."

Willis Towers Watson continues: "By 2015, 39% of sponsors had frozen a DB plan, and 24% had stopped offering their primary DB plan to new hires. The recent uptick in freezes has been among plans that were already closed to new hires."
​
We can see how pension plans were affected -- whether remaining open, closed, frozen, or terminated -- in the graph below.

​Source: Image content courtesy of Willis Towers Watson, "Retirement offerings in the Fortune 500: A retrospective," all rights reserved. 
​
Employees Now Making Contributions & Calling the ShotsThe rise of the 401(k) put employees in charge of contributing pre-tax funds to their retirement accounts —and determining how that money is allocated within their portfolios. The shift from defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans is shown below.

​In his Harvard Business Review article, Merton, also a Harvard University Professor Emeritus, sounds an alarm: "Although the move to defined-contribution plans arguably reduces the liabilities of business, it has, if anything, increased the likelihood of a major crisis down the line as the baby boomers retire. To begin with, putting relatively complex investment decisions in the hands of individuals with little or no financial expertise is problematic."

With defined-benefit plans, American workers knew what to expect as retirement income. They didn’t express their nest egg as a dollar figure, but as a percentage of their final salary. In other words, they knew exactly what they would receive, such as 75% of their salary.
Merton and others feel the current system has shifted the focus from preparing streams of retirement income to workers trying to score the highest return on investment to build their funds. "Investment decisions are now focused on the value of the funds, the returns on investment they deliver, and how volatile those returns are," Merton says.

"Yet the primary concern of the saver remains what it always has been: Will I have sufficient income in retirement to live comfortably? Clearly, the risk and return variables that now drive investment decisions are not being measured in units that correspond to savers’ retirement goals and their likelihood of meeting them. Thus, it cannot be said that savers’ funds are being well managed."

Creating Alternative Guaranteed Income Solutions for Retirement
Many people planning for retirement are still desire a secure, dependable, permanent income they can't outlive. Now that traditional defined benefit plans are winding down, lots of retirees and working-age adults are looking for alternative sources of guaranteed income. There are a number of sources that you can investigate for guaranteed income: annuities, reverse mortgages, bond ladders, and in particular, something that most everyone is likely to get: income payments from Social Security.

Because annuities are structured as "money for life" contracts, let's talk a little more about what they might offer. In 2017, annuity sales totaled a substantial $203.5 billion, according to LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute statistics.

An annuity is an insurance product that is essentially a contract between you and an insurance carrier. You pay a lump sum or make a series of payments to the insurance company and, in exchange, the company provides you with regular payouts at some point in the future to serve as a steady stream of income during retirement.

What Annuities are Available?
There are different types of annuities and many customizations you can make to them to ensure they fit your particular needs.

While the move toward 401(k)s shifted the risk to the employee who now has to make their own investment choices, annuities transfer that risk to the insurance companies. These financial institutions are well-situated to handle the risk because of the way they carry and diversify risk across many policyholders.

With people living longer, spending more, and facing new challenges, the need for guaranteed income will likely continue to grow. Studies indicate that guaranteed income can raise the prospects of a high-quality retirement. A TIAA Institute study in 2015 found that “annuitants are more likely to have experienced an increased standard of living in retirement and a lifestyle that has exceeded their pre-retirement expectations.”

Annuities are proving to be a sought-after solution to the problem of disappearing pensions. And what if you are interested in annuities potentially for your retirement income planning needs? You can check out our Annuity Insights Guidebook to learn more about them, including their pros, cons, and potential retirement roles.

Ready for Personal Guidance?
If you are ready for personal guidance with working through the "what ifs" of your retirement future, financial professionals at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com can assist you. 
Click here to connect with someone directly. We can help you answer questions about how to create guaranteed income streams from sources other than defined-benefit pensions -- along with other issues pertaining to your retirement.

​In this webinar you will learn:

• How To Start Planning For Retirement
• Advantages of the 401k Rollover Annuity
• What is a 401k Rollover and When Can It Occur
• Risk of Rolling Your 401(k) or IRA into an Annuity
• Free Ebook for Attending For more information

Consumers who would like help from a professional that can guide them, should contact us at WFGInsuranceQuotes.com. We can assist individuals, families, businesses and organizations with a personalized strategy . Connect directly with a financial professional, and request a free consultation to discuss needs and goals.

Now Playing: Episode #3
Audio Podcast: https://anchor.fm/jennifer-lang
Video Podcast: https://independentwealthplanner.podbean.com/

Everything you need to create two retirement income strategies.
In this webinar you will learn:

• How Your Age Affects Your Retirement Accumulation.
• How To Put Together a Tax-Free Retirement Strategy.
• You'll Learn How Annuities and Indexed Universal Policies Work To Provide Income Potential.
• How To Run Your Own IUL Quote and Apply Without an Agent.
  
  Follow and Share!
  

Subscribe to the Audio Podcast here

Episode #2 ~ Protecting Your Retirement Income From Market Volatility - Annuity Basics
In this webinar you will learn:

• How You Can Use Annuities For Retirement Income
• What an Annuity Is
• The Different Types of Annuities
• How Annuities Work
• The Benefits of an Annuity
• Major Misconceptions About Annuities
• Free eBook  for attending

A key reason that index universal life has become so popular is that it is an excellent product in which to save money now to produce steady cash flow later in retirement. Here are six advantages of using index universal life to save for retirement.

1. The safety of no negative returns.
Investors burned by declining values in the equity, bond and real estate markets now understand the value of a guarantee that their annual returns will never be negative. That guarantee is precisely what index universal life provides.

2. The possibility of high positive returns.
Safe alternatives without investment risk right now are suffering from very low yields. Many are at historical lows, and that makes them unattractive to many savers. With index universal life, if the index performs well over the period measured, the contract can result in an interest credit that is attractive.

3. The ability to create a tax-free cash flow in retirement.
Many other vehicles that can be used to save for retirement create taxation. IRAs and 401(k)s, for example, delay but do not eliminate taxation. In fact, many advisors point out that they encourage clients to save a smaller amount of taxes now in order to pay a much larger amount in taxes later.

Index universal life, on the other hand, can create a totally tax-free cash flow in retirement. Through the use of contract loans, the cash flow can be free of federal, state, and local income taxes. And, it can create a tax-free death benefit. This tax-free feature allows the index universal life product to be more attractive than other alternatives, even if those alternatives create a higher pre-tax return.

Depending on where you are in life’s journey, retirement may seem like a distant mirage, or it may be closing in faster than expected. You might think that deciding when to start preparing for retirement requires complicated algorithms. Yes, there may be some math involved – but the simple answer is – if you haven’t started preparing yet, the time to start is right now!

The 80% rule
Many financial professionals recommend saving enough to provide 80% of your pre-retirement income in your retirement years so you can maintain your standard of living. Following this rule isn’t an exact science though, because expense structures for each household can differ greatly. It is, however, a good place to start. How do we get to 80%? Living expenses typically decrease in retirement because costly commutes, investing in business clothing, and eating lunch out 5 days a week are reduced or eliminated. The other big expense that often changes is housing. At retirement, it’s common to trade in your 3, 4, or 5-bedroom home for something smaller, easier, and less expensive to maintain.

Preparing for retirement when you’re young
When you’re younger, preparing for retirement may be a fairly simple process. The main considerations are life insurance and savings. This can’t be overstated: Now is the time to buy life insurance. If you’re young and healthy, rates are much more likely to be low. This also can’t be overstated: Now is also the time to start saving. Every penny you put away now can get you closer to your goal. As anyone who’s older can tell you, life is full of surprises that end up costing money, and these instances have the potential to interfere with your savings strategy.

Longevity considerations
Another consideration is that we’re living longer. In the U.S. in 1960, life expectancy for men was 67 years. By 2016, life expectancy had increased to over 76 – with even longer life expectancy likely in following years – as medicine advances and as we become more aware of behaviors that affect our health.[i] Women tend to live even longer, with an average life expectancy of about 81 years.

Life expectancy rates are essentially averages, with low and high numbers in the mix. If you’re fortunate enough to beat the average life expectancy, your retirement savings may become slim pickings in your later years, a time when you might not be able to generate supplementary income.

Manage your expenses
Whether you’re young or getting on in years, the time to start saving is now. But if you’re nearing retirement age, it’s also time to take an honest look at your expenses. Part of the trick to stretching retirement savings is to eliminate unnecessary costs. If you’re considering moving to a smaller home to cut costs – and you’re feeling adventurous – you might want to consider moving to a different state with a lower tax rate to enjoy your golden years. If you’re younger, it’s still a great time to assess your budget and eliminate any and all unnecessary spending that you can.
​
For younger people, time is your ally when it comes to saving for retirement, but waiting to start saving might leave you with less than you’d hoped for later in life. If you’re closer to retirement age, there’s still time to build your nest egg and examine your projected expenses. Talk to your financial professional today about options that may be available for you!

Remember when pensions were part of every job and every retiree had one? Pensions were great. They paid the pensioner a fixed sum each month for his or her entire life and in most cases, at least a portion was paid to the surviving spouse at death.

Although pensions may be a thing of the past, the concept of a qualified retirement benefit that pays a guaranteed monthly amount for life is not. Instead of a company pension, they now take the form of self-funded fixed annuities.

It is a well-known fact that Americans are living longer. Consequently, they are spending more time in retirement, with the average American enjoying 20 years of life after work. How does one prepare for all these years and make sure their nest egg will adequately cover this time? The answer may lie in fixed annuities. This safe and risk-free option can help provide you or your loved one with a comfortable retirement.

 According to the newest report from the Social Security Administration Board of Trustees, the Social Security program is set to run aground as early as 2034. This is when the supply of U.S. Treasury bonds in the Social Security system runs out, and the program will either have to find new additional sources of funding, or fund benefits out of incoming payroll taxes.

The problem: Projected payroll tax collections won't be enough to pay forecast benefits. Unless the system is fundamentally changed, either there will have to be significant benefit cuts, a major increase in payroll taxes or some other tax to fund the program, or some combination of both.

Absent an intervention, Social Security beneficiaries may face cuts as high as 21%.

The problem will likely not affect seniors currently in retirement. But, today's workers should be aware that future benefits may be much lower than they currently assume, and plan accordingly.

What you can do.

The best thing to do is live on less than you make - and save and invest enough to make up Social Security's shortfall for yourself and your family.

For example:

Max your 401k match.
If your employer's 401k plan offers a matching contribution, make sure you take it. It's free money and offers a much better return on investment than your otherwise likely to get, at much less risk.

Fund the maximum IRA you can qualify for.
The current limit for both Roth and traditional IRA is $6000 and $7,000 those aged 50 and older. Some income limits apply, but even if you make too much money to contribute to a Roth or to take a tax deduction for traditional IRA contributions, you can still contribute to a traditional IRA on a non-deductible basis. You won't get a current deduction, but you'll still get tax-deferred growth and no current taxes on capital gains and dividends.

Go back and max out your allowable 401k.
As of 2019, you can potentially contribute up to $19,000 per year in your 401k, over and above your employer's matching contribution. If you're over 50, you can contribute $25,000. Your account will grow tax-deferred. You just pay income taxes as you take the money out in retirement. If you are covered by a 403(b), speak with your Human Resources department about ensuring you are maximizing your contributions.

Consider annuities.
These are Insurance products, but are specifically designed to provide retirement income, as well as tax advantages on growth, similar to non-deductible IRAs. These may be good options for those who have maximized their contributions to IRAs and work workplace retirement plans.

The sooner you begin saving aggressively, in both taxable and tax advantage accounts, the more likely it is you'll be able to take any anticipated reduction and Social Security benefits in stride, when the time comes.

Contact us today and let us customize a free of charge, no obligation strategy to help and protect your future. Click here. 


We also recommend>>>How To Create Your Own Pension Using a Guaranteed Income Annuity.