Guaranteed, Lifetime Income Trumps Asset Accumulation in Retirement.

What is more important in retirement, assets or guaranteed income? More and more retirees want lifetime income and protected principal. 

Too many people are tired of seeing their retirement assets whipsawed by the markets and guaranteed income is receiving its proper share of consideration. With markets at all time highs, now is a perfect time to convert assets to income.

People want security and less stress as they transition into retirement. Before retirement, we focus on accumulation and growing our assets. Time is on our side and we are still earning income. These are powerful factors that justify this mindset. More assets means more future income. We see this validated when purchasing income generating annuities.

Decumulation.

Decumulation is the technical term for the distribution phase of retirement. Who does it benefit to remain focused on asset accumulation, in retirement? More and more economists and retirement professionals are suggesting that we shift our focus from asset accumulation to asset protection and guaranteed, lifetime income. As retirement experts, we are questioning the conventional wisdom that underpins this issue. Like everything in financial planning, each person’s circumstances are unique and this uniqueness drives individual recommendations. Factors such as succession and health play a role in how much of our retirement assets should be converted to income. For each of us, there is a perfect balance.

“Equities, nor bonds, provide guaranteed income for life. Income annuities do guarantee that you will never lose principal. For retirees who want to protect IRA assets and other retirement assets from market loss, you will be surprised by how much income they generate. Indexed annuities do two important things every investor wants. They protect the downside and they share in the upside when indexes increase in value. The New York Times 

Also published on Medium.