Retirement isn’t a one-time event; it’s an evolving journey that requires a clear vision and a flexible strategy. During a recent NAFA webinar, Tamiko Toland, founder of IncomePath, emphasized that the foundation of successful retirement planning isn’t just about money; it’s about aligning financial strategies with personal goals, lifestyle preferences, and changing needs over time.
“Retirement income planning starts with asking, what do you want your retirement to look like? Then, you build the financial plan to support that vision,” Toland explained.
The three core elements of retirement are social connection, work (or purpose), and leisure, and encouraged planners to help clients identify how they want to experience each. This leads to three key retirement goals:
- Lifestyle goals: Everyone’s retirement looks different.
- Lifecycle goals: Priorities shift with time, and so should your strategy.
- Money preferences: Some people are afraid to spend; others spend too fast. Knowing your relationship with money matters.
Here is a three-step planning framework:
- Clarify goals: Are your assets for income or legacy? Define spending flexibility and risk tolerance.
- Segment spending: Break down spending into essentials, enjoyment, splurges, and sharing.
- Manage risks: Plan for investment volatility, inflation, longevity, health issues, and cognitive decline.
This approach reframes annuities from being simply a product to a solution that fits into a broader plan. Fixed indexed annuities (FIAs), for example, can help mitigate investment and longevity risks while providing peace of mind. They allow retirees to take more risk with other assets while ensuring that a base level of income is secure and guaranteed; something especially valuable as cognitive ability naturally declines with age.
In today’s uncertain market and longer retirements, annuities aren’t just about security but about enabling people to live their last chapter with purpose, and freedom. If you have any questions, please reach out to one of our sales consultants here at Wholehan to see how we could help you!