Retirement income
Retirement income planning turns what you saved into a monthly paycheck that keeps arriving for as long as you do.
David Schaeffer
Kyle Jacobs
Marc Frye
David EdgeNobody hands you a paycheck on the first day of retirement. For forty years the money showed up on a schedule somebody else set. Then one Friday it stops, and the bills keep their schedule.
This is the work of rebuilding that schedule out of what you already have. Social Security, maybe a pension, the 401(k) you are about to roll over, the savings, the house. The question is not what it adds up to. It is what it pays you every month, and for how long.
David Schaeffer has been answering that for Arizona and Nevada families since 2001, and he answers it the same way every time. Don't run out of money before you run out of time.
What retirement income actually means
Our advisors lay your money out in colors, because a stack of statements tells you nothing and a picture tells you everything. David calls it the Three Colors of Money. Yellow is the safe money, the bank money you can put your hands on tomorrow. Green is the income money, the paycheck that never stops. Red is the market money, the growth side that needs time to ride out a bad year. A fourth color, Purple, is real estate.
The colors are not a product. They are a way of seeing what you own that makes the next decision obvious. Once you can see which dollars produce the paycheck, you stop watching the market for permission to pay yourself.
Social Security is usually the first decision, and one of the few you make once. You can start at any point from age 62 up until age 70, the amount is higher the longer you delay, and Social Security says that adjustment is usually permanent. There is no single best age that fits everyone. What tips it is whether you are still working, and what the survivor is left with.
Then we build the rest of the paycheck out of more than one thing. Marc Frye has watched the same failure for four decades. People retire with everything riding on one source of income, and then that source has a bad decade. Don't rely on one source of income in retirement, he says. That's the big mistake. Marc puts the longevity problem just as plainly: half of all people live longer than the average, so plan to be that guy.
Annuities come up a lot and deserve a straight answer rather than a pitch or a scolding. An annuity is one tool, the one you reach for when a piece of your income has to arrive whether or not the market cooperates. It is not the answer for all of your money. We are independent and work across many carriers, and as David puts it, planners do not pick a product and then go looking for a problem. Growth money we coordinate with a licensed investment professional. That is the quarterback model: the game plan is ours, the right specialist takes each position.
Sound familiar?
- “I know what I have. I have no idea what it means for the next 25 years.”
- “Everything we live on comes from one place, and I have never thought about a bad decade.”
- “We cashed out a pension and lost a big piece of it to taxes. Not doing that again.”
- “I keep hearing annuities are a rip-off, and that I need guaranteed income. Which is it?”
- “I saved for forty years and now I am afraid to touch it.”
What happens when you sit down with us
or call any office
What to bring
- Your most recent statement for every retirement and investment account.
- Your Social Security estimate, and your spouse's. Both print in a minute from ssa.gov.
- What it costs you to live in a normal month.
- Any pension, annuity, or rental income paperwork.
- Your target retirement date, and your spouse's.
Your Discovery Day
Takes about a minute. Adam from our office calls you back to set the time with the right advisor, in the office nearest you or on Zoom, whichever you prefer.
- About an hour with an advisor.
- Bring whatever is keeping you up at night. That is the agenda.
- Discovery Day, not decision day. You decide when you are ready.
Rather talk now? (602) 281-3898
Request your Discovery Day
We will call you to set the time.
Got it. Adam will call you.
Usually within one business day, to set up your Discovery Day with the right advisor. Would you rather pick a time yourself right now?
Choose a time on the calendarStraight answers
Will my money last?
That is the question this whole exercise exists to answer, and it is answerable. We show you the year by year picture of what comes in and what goes out rather than a probability score you cannot act on. Real answers, so you can make real decisions.
When should I take Social Security?
It depends on facts we can gather in an hour. You can start at any point from age 62 up until age 70, the monthly amount is higher the longer you wait, and the adjustment is usually permanent. There is no single best age that fits everyone. David Edge's rule of thumb is a good start: don't take it early if you are still working full time.
Are annuities good or bad?
Neither, on their own. An annuity is a tool for the part of your income that has to show up whether the market cooperates or not. Used for that job, in the right proportion, it can contract to pay you for life, backed by the company that issues it. Used for all of your money, it costs you flexibility you will want later. If one belongs in your plan you will see why, and if it does not, you will hear that too.
Do you manage my investments?
We coordinate them. Growth money stays with a licensed investment professional, and we make sure that piece is doing the job the plan assigned it. We quarterback the whole field, including your CPA and your estate attorney, and we do not claim to do law or tax.
Do I have to move my money to work with you?
No. The first meeting is Discovery Day, not decision day. You leave with a picture of where you stand and what your options are. Plenty of people take that home and come back months later.