Financial Planning

Retirement Income Strategies

One of our biggest fears in retirement is running out of money. But we also want and deserve to have the most quality retirement experience possible, which requires enough spendable income to meet our desires. It is essential to have a well-designed income plan with a unique balance of risk, rate of return, and tax efficiency depending on your specific situation.

During our working years, we don’t have total control of where our income comes from. For most of us, it comes from our employer or profits from our business. In retirement, we can draw income from specific types of accounts, in the correct amounts, allowing for maximum rate of return, lowering risk, and reducing overall taxation. A well-designed income plan can help increase the longevity of the portfolio, allowing for increased spendable income.

Fixed Indexed Growth & Guaranteed Income Annuities

Fixed index annuities (FIAs) are offered by many insurance carriers and have become very popular over the last 20 years. This type of annuity provides potential growth, with protection of principle from market downturns. The annuities allow for potential interest to be credited based in part on the performance of specific indices, such as the S&P 500, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, etc. As the selected index, or group of indices, increases, the account value increases. As the index decreases, the account value remains the same. Many fixed index annuities offer a guaranteed lifetime income option while allowing for any unused account balance to be transferred to listed beneficiaries.

Social Security

Your Social Security retirement benefits represent a lifetime of saving, time, and hard work. But even the most basic question, when to claim your benefit, calls for careful consideration. Maximizing your Social Security income, however, may require a more complicated approach. Mason Street Wealth Management can help you avoid making costly mistakes by providing strategies to maximize your Social Security benefit.

IRA/401(k) Rollovers

A rollover means moving retirement assets from a qualified retirement account or employer-sponsored plan into an IRA without tax penalty. This becomes available when the account holder separates from the company who sponsors the retirement plan, and most plans allow for a rollover to occur when you turn 59 ½, even while working for the company. If the rollover check is made payable to the IRA custodian, there are no tax withholding requirements. But there is a 20% mandatory tax withholding if the employer-sponsored retirement plan funds are made payable to the account holder, and the funds must be moved into a qualified IRA within 60 days, or face income tax and a 10% early withdrawal penalty if the account holder is under 59 ½.