Today’s question centers around the core of retirement planning – how do I turn my retirement savings into retirement income? After decades of building up your nest egg, life after work introduces a new financial challenge: ensuring your money lasts as long as you do.

Nicholas J. Colantuono, CFP® joins this week’s Money Wisdom Question Series to share the strategies and logistics at play when creating a steady cash flow in retirement.

Implementing a Strategy

From a high-level planning perspective, it’s important to begin with a retirement income strategy. This strategy will encompass all your income-generating retirement accounts and assets, factoring in inflation, tax efficiency, and the most beneficial market conditions for withdrawals.

Think of your potential income sources as different ‘buckets’ that you need to fill, each with a specific role – growth-oriented, income-generating, safe and secure, etc. Since you can’t time the market, these buckets should each have different levels of risk to weather varying degrees of market volatility. You don’t want to be forced to take out money from multiple accounts that are simultaneously losing value. With this bucket strategy, you get to be in control of your income in retirement, not the market.

Working Out the Logistics

After you’ve determined how and from where you will generate income, it’s time to get that money into your hands. One way is to have your financial advisor link your bank account to your brokerage accounts for direct deposit. Once that’s set up, it’s smooth sailing ahead. Simply let your advisor know how much money you need, when, and how often. They will manage the accounts and tax withholding and put the direct deposit in motion. Then, on the first of every month, that money will show up in your account, ready to facilitate your retirement dreams.

A second option is to have the financial institution mail you a check. While it may be less convenient, it can be a suitable alternative for those who prefer to personally deposit money into their accounts.

Keeping It Simple

At Johnson Brunetti, our financial advisors aim to keep things simple for our clients to receive the income they need during their non-working years. That’s why we offer a custom, actionable one-page Money Map plan, designed to provide clarity and confidence in your financial future.