How Women Should Think About Retirement Income Security
For many women, retirement security is challenging. Some significant obstacles women face include earning less than men, spending less time in the workforce, having considerable caregiver responsibilities, bearing more burdensome financial consequences from divorce, and living longer lives than men. While these challenges are not insurmountable, planning how to generate income in retirement is paramount. This starts with knowing the various options and partnering with a knowledgeable and trusted financial resource to help you turn your hard-earned savings into a steady monthly income. That steady income will fund your spending goals to make life in retirement enjoyable and fulfilling.
A well-thought-out plan for meeting your income needs consists of a strategy for converting savings into consistent, reliable retirement income for as long as needed. It also includes provisions for managing the risks threatening income.
Suppose you’re nearing retirement or recently retired, have accumulated savings, and need a plan to create lasting income. In that case, the Women & Income plan may be the ticket to a better retirement. This plan helps by creating a Personalized Analysis roadmap that accomplishes the following:
- Identifies key objectives
- Allocates savings
- Defines an appropriate level of risk
- Mitigates risks
- Illustrates projected results
- Provides confidence and peace-of-mind
The bedrock of each plan is premised on achieving the five key retirement objectives with the overall objective of reliable, inflation-adjusted income for life. Those objectives are:
- Minimize the impact of emotions
- Increase income to help maintain purchasing power
- Minimize risks
- Preserve principal
- Realize the best possible chance of achieving projected investment results by keeping assets invested over long periods of time.
How does the Women & Income plan work?
Conceptually it’s simple: assets are placed into buckets (segments) and invested according to when the funds are needed and how well they combat retirement risks. Near-term spending needs are invested in no-risk assets, and long-term spending needs are invested more aggressively. Six segments hold investment assets ranging from very conservative to aggressive. Segment One (years 1-5), the most conservative, receives the largest portion of your deposit: 28%. Successive segments receive 26%, 20%, 13%, 7% and 6% (total 100%). The segments receiving the smallest amount of money are those which hold progressively more aggressive investments. The more aggressive an investment, the more risk it is subject to. These segments will be held for the longest period to achieve the best possible chance of excellent results.
Conclusion
No one said planning, let alone living, in retirement would be easy. From sourcing lifetime inflation-adjusted income to protecting it from the ever-present risks, it can be a daunting task to set up and maintain a retirement income plan on your own for what could be a potentially long retirement. That’s why having a well-designed, customized retirement income plan and ongoing plan management and support are critical to retirement income security. And the Women & Income™ Plan provides just that by helping you achieve your objectives while overcoming obstacles to ensure retirement income security.