Will You Outlive Your Nest Egg in Retirement?
If this question is on the forefront of your mind as you approach retirement, you are not alone. According to recent studies, this is the primary concern of soon-to-be retirees just like you:
- 43% of workers fifty or older say that outliving their money is their most significant retirement-related fear.
- 57% of financial planners state that running out of money is their clients’ most pressing retirement concern.
- 60% of older Americans fear outliving their savings more than death itself.
Truly, these figures speak to sleepless nights and anxiety of many older Americans, especially considering that many are less afraid of the grim reaper than an empty pocketbook.
But before you jump on the bandwagon of restless worry, I think it is important to step back and consider whether your fears are founded at all. Although there is definitely reason to believe that many Americans are financially unprepared for retirement, this doesn’t mean that you are. In fact, most of the clients I work with at my offices in Sidney and Troy have saved enough for a modest or beyond modest standard of living in retirement.
So, how do you find out? I have two words for you: income planning. In order to help ensure that you have enough money to last your entire life expectancy, you must analyze your situation and put an adaptable plan in place.
Although income planning is often a confusing and overwhelming process in all of the details, at its core, it is really only a few simple steps. Here is a rough sketch of what the income planning process looks like to get you thinking in the right direction:
- Check Your Income Sources
Almost everyone has steady sources of income that form the foundation of any good income plan. Start by figuring your Social Security benefit, and then add in your pension or income from rental properties (if you are lucky enough to have either of these). The key here is to add up any and all sources of reliable cash flow, perhaps even cash flow from part-time work in retirement (yes, I realize that seems crazy, but many retirees are choosing to work).
- Analyze Your Other Savings and Retirement Accounts
This includes investments and savings accounts as well as any qualified retirement account such as an IRA or 401(k). The idea is to calculate any lump sum amounts you will draw from to supplement your income sources. Once you’ve completed this step, you are ready to move on to the next (less enjoyable) step.
- Calculate Your Expenses
What I am talking about here is your basic expenses. This doesn’t include travel or big-ticket purchases such as boats or snowbird homes. This is about monthly necessities like food, water, shelter, car payments, mortgage payments, and the like. Start with what your bills are now, and then compare that to retirement. Will you have a car payment well into your retirement, or will you pay that off soon? What about your mortgage? How will your healthcare expenses change? For almost all retiring 65 and over, this means considering how much Medicare will cost them (read this blog to see) as opposed to their private insurance or employer plan.
- Run The Calculation
This step involves plugging all of those numbers into a system, either a homemade excel spreadsheet or an online program. This will help you figure out the chances of you making it your entire life expectancy without running out of money. With our clients, we use Money Guide Pro. This system runs a thousand different scenarios, calculating probabilities on various unknowns. It enables us to consider a wide variety of factors such as inflation, taxes, or potential dips or spikes in your investment portfolio that are difficult to calculate by hand.
- Add in Fun Extras
This is where it can get fun. If your chances of success are very high, you can add other “extra” expenses into your plan. Perhaps you want to go on a $5,000 trip every year to an exotic location. Perhaps you want to give back to your community so much every month. Whatever your dreams and goals are, you can add these in and rerun the calculation. You can continue to do this as long as your chances of success remain in a comfortable range!
Want Someone to Crunch The Numbers for You?
At Seniormark, we realize that income planning is easier said than done. But however difficult it may be, it simply must be done in order to answer the question weighing on so many minds: Will I outlive my nest egg in retirement?
Give Seniormark a Call for a free consultation at 937-492-8800 and put your fears to rest!
About the Author
Ready to retire and unsure what to do next? Get our "Introduction to Medicare” eBook to start to make sense of Medicare and your options.