New Blogs This Week:
Featured Blog of the Week
63-Year-Old Couple Retires With $12,000/Month — And 3 Completely Different Portfolio Paths for Income, Legacy, or Both
Joel and Irene, both 63, are stepping into retirement with zero anxiety — not because they’re wealthy, but because they secured 100% of their essential income before relying on the market. Their guaranteed base of roughly $12,000/month after tax (from Social Security, a pension, and an income annuity) fully covers their lifestyle, healthcare, travel, and inflation-adjusted essentials. This “Safety-First” foundation frees them from market dependence and protects their lifestyle for life.
With income locked in, their remaining $1.07M portfolio becomes pure flexibility — allowing them to choose between maximizing legacy (growing assets to ~$8.3M), balancing lifestyle and long-term growth (ending with ~$3M), or maximizing enjoyment by spending the portfolio intentionally. The real win is control: once income is secured, every other decision becomes optional.
👉 Read the full case study here to see all three retirement paths, the numbers behind each, and how this framework can apply to your own retirement planning.
Safe Money Strategies
CDs and Bonds Won’t Protect You From Inflation (or Long-Term Care Costs) in Retirement
For decades, retirees were told to take risk while working and shift into CDs and bonds once retired — a strategy that simply doesn’t work in today’s environment. While these products protect principal, they fail to protect purchasing power. When inflation rises 3–4% per year but “safe” assets earn 2–3% (or less after taxes), retirees quietly fall behind. Add rising healthcare costs, long-term care expenses, and longer lifespans, and a portfolio that feels safe in your 60s can become dangerously inadequate in your 70s and 80s.
Modern retirement demands more than principal protection — it requires a blend of guaranteed income, growth, and behavioral stability. Today’s income-efficient annuity contracts offer downside protection, lifetime income, and insulation from sequence-of-return risk, allowing retirees to stay invested and outpace inflation without sacrificing peace of mind. The goal isn’t choosing between safety or growth, but combining both in a flexible, multi-layered strategy built to withstand rising costs, volatility, and the realities of aging.
👉 Read the full breakdown here to see why the old “safe money” approach no longer works — and how smart retirees are protecting both their income and their long-term lifestyle.
Safety-first Income Planning
5 Reasons You May Want Up to 75% of Your Income Fixed in the Early Years of Retirement (Increase Safety and Opportunity)
Most people think retirement planning is all about investing well and hoping the market cooperates. But today’s retirees face a far more complex landscape: volatile markets, rising healthcare costs, unpredictable inflation, and longer lifespans. One of the most powerful — and most overlooked — strategies is securing up to 75% of your retirement income through fixed, guaranteed sources early on. This isn’t a limitation; it’s a launchpad. By locking in essential income, retirees dramatically reduce sequence-of-return risk, avoid selling in down markets, and give their portfolio the runway it needs for long-term growth.
Guaranteed income also makes retirees better investors, strengthens long-term risk management, and creates more opportunities for purposeful income increases through guardrail strategies. With essentials covered, your portfolio can grow, protect against rising costs later in life, and even support a more meaningful legacy. Far from restricting flexibility, a strong guaranteed income foundation provides stability, psychological confidence, and greater freedom — the core of the Safety-First Retirement Planning approach.
👉 Read the full breakdown here to see all five reasons why locking in income early can create a safer, more prosperous retirement — and why this strategy matters now more than ever.