Procrastination can be a bad thing … unless you’re talking about Social Security. While you can start taking Social Security as early as age 62, waiting longer will mean a larger amount in your Social Security checks. However, there are many factors to consider when thinking about the “right time” to begin your benefits. If your health isn’t good or you need Social Security to meet everyday living expenses, you might want to begin earlier rather than later. Talk to your financial professional. He or she can help you make a decision that’s right for you.

Work with your financial professional. He or she can help you determine how much income you may need to create a life that’s meaningful to you, and the financial products for generating that income.

No one can predict how long they’ll spend in retirement, but many people today live well into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. That’s why it’s important to have financial products that help you grow your money as much as possible and, down the road, turn it into income that can last your entire life.

Social Security can be a great foundation for a long-term financial strategy. But for many, Social Security alone is not enough to provide a comfortable lifestyle. That’s why building your savings is so important. It’s the combination of your Social Security and savings that will determine the level of financial freedom you’ll have during retirement. To find out more about how much Social Security you can expect, visit the My Social Security website to get your personal Social Security statement.

Think about Social Security. Now, imagine it doesn’t exist. How comfortable would you feel without the guaranteed lifetime income that Social Security provides? Creating lifetime income gives you a firm financial foundation on which to build a comprehensive long-term financial strategy, and products like annuities supplement Social Security with even more guaranteed lifetime income.

During our professional careers, investing is mostly about growing the amount of money we have. But when we retire, the emphasis often shifts to the goal of creating income. Specifically, how can we ensure our assets will provide enough income throughout the rest of our years to support a life that’s meaningful to us? Your financial professional can help you determine how much income you may need and how to create a strategy to meet your goals.

Indexed universal life insurance (IUL) is a type of cash value life insurance that provides death benefit protection and cash value growth potential that’s based in part on the performance of major stock market indexes. IUL does not directly participate in any stock or equity investments. Instead it credits interest to the cash value based in part on the performance of an index, excluding dividends.
When the index posts a gain, the policy credits a positive rate up to the policy’s stated current growth cap rate. When the index posts a loss, the policy caps the loss at the guaranteed minimum interest crediting rate, preventing a market-based loss. 
 

Cash value life insurance offers flexible premiums, flexible death benefit amounts, and the ability to access the policy’s available cash value via federal income tax-free policy loans and withdrawals. Your policy will stay in force as long you have sufficient cash value to cover your monthly policy charges. 

Creating a sound retirement strategy is a bit of a balancing act. Market-based investments, such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, may be important because they can help you grow your money, outpace inflation, and provide cash for unexpected expenses. But you also may want a certain level of guaranteed income. In other words, income you can count on to keep coming your way no matter how markets perform or how long you live. Social Security provides income like that. So do pensions. But if you’d like even more guaranteed income, talk to your financial professional about whether an annuity may be right for you. Annuities are the only financial product you can buy that provide guaranteed, lifetime income, and there are a variety you can choose from.

While accumulating assets, you likely diversified among different types of investments to help weather varying market conditions. Similarly, when planning for sustainable income, it may be best to diversify among multiple products, such as mutual funds, deferred annuities, cash value life insurance, and guaranteed income solutions such as immediate annuities. While no single product can provide for all retirement goals, together, these products can help you: (1) manage the challenges you’ll face in retirement, (2) maximize cash flow and sustain it for life, (3) provide access to your money, and (4) help meet legacy goals.

As you move towards retirement, you may want to consider how much of your portfolio you want to devote to growing your assets versus generating reliable income for everyday expenses. Typically, generating more income involves reallocating your assets for a greater emphasis on fixed-income and/or guaranteed-income products. Fixed-income products may include bonds or CDs while guaranteed income products include a variety of annuities. You may also want to consider increasing the number of dividend-paying stocks you own. Your financial professional can help you decide on an appropriate mix of financial products for your specific needs and lifestyle.

Taxes can impact how quickly your savings may grow. A savings instrument that accumulates tax-deferred will accumulate faster than one where growth is taxed annually. Taxes can also impact how much you get to keep once you begin taking income. Distributions from annuities, qualified retirement plans like 401(k), pension plans, and IRAs are generally taxed at income tax rates. Assets outside retirement plans like stocks, mutual funds, and real estate are generally taxed at capital gains tax rates. There is an often overlooked source that offers tax-free income—Roth IRAs, municipal bond interest, and cash value life insurance death proceeds, loans, and withdrawals.