5 Questions to Consider as You Plan for Retirement
Retirement planning often focuses on growing savings. But preparing for retirement can also mean thinking about how your plan may respond to changing markets, interest rates, income needs and the possibility of a longer retirement.
You have probably spent years thinking about how much to save for retirement. As retirement gets closer—or once it begins—the questions can start to change.
How much of your income will be predictable? How might a market decline affect your spending plans? What happens when interest rates change? And how long might your retirement income need to last?
There is no single answer that is right for everyone. Your goals, financial circumstances, income needs, time horizon and priorities are unique to you.
But there are a few important areas worth considering as part of a broader retirement-planning discussion.
1. How much of your retirement income is predictable?
Not all retirement income works the same way.
Some sources may provide relatively predictable payments, while others may vary based on market performance, interest rates, withdrawals or other factors.
Start by looking at the income you expect to receive in retirement and asking:
- Which sources are predictable?
- Which may change from year to year?
- Which expenses would I most want covered by predictable income?
Understanding the relationship between your expected income and your essential expenses can help make your retirement-planning conversations more specific and may help identify areas that warrant further analysis.
2. How would your plan respond to a prolonged market decline?
Market fluctuations are a normal part of investing, but their impact may feel different once you are relying on your savings for retirement expenses.
One question to consider is whether your plan could continue to cover essential expenses during a prolonged market decline without forcing an unwanted change in strategy.
For example, would you need to sell assets at a time you would rather not? Delay a planned expense? Change your withdrawal strategy?
The goal is not to predict what markets will do. It is to understand how different circumstances might affect your plan and whether you are comfortable with the role different assets play within it.
3. Have you considered interest-rate uncertainty?
Interest rates can change over time, affecting savings rates, reinvestment decisions and certain sources of retirement income.
That can create questions such as:
- What happens when a CD, bond or other interest-bearing asset matures?
- How important is rate certainty to me?
- How much liquidity and flexibility do I want to maintain?
- How could future rate changes affect my income plan?
Rather than trying to predict exactly where rates are headed, consider how important certainty, flexibility and access to funds are within different parts of your retirement strategy.
4. How long might your retirement income need to last?
No one knows exactly how long retirement will last.
That uncertainty makes longevity an important consideration when thinking about retirement income.
Ask yourself how your plan might need to work if retirement lasts 20, 25 or even 30 years. You may also want to consider whether a spouse or other household member could have different income needs in the future and how later-life expenses could affect your plan.
Thinking beyond the first few years of retirement may help you better understand the role you want different income sources and savings to play over time.
5. Does every part of your savings have a clear role?
Different portions of your retirement savings may serve different purposes.
Some money may need to remain readily available for emergencies and near-term expenses. Some may be positioned for growth. Other portions may be allocated to address different levels and types of risk or to support retirement income.
Consider asking:
- How much do I want readily accessible?
- What portion am I comfortable exposing to market fluctuations?
- What role does growth play in my plan?
- Which assets are intended to support income?
- Am I comfortable with the tradeoffs between liquidity, growth potential, certainty and income?
There does not have to be one job for every dollar. But understanding the intended role of different parts of your savings can help you make more informed decisions.
Your answers are a starting point—not a score
If you feel confident about several of these areas, that does not mean your retirement planning is finished. Goals, income needs and financial circumstances can change over time.
And if some of these questions are difficult to answer, that does not necessarily mean there is a problem with your plan.
Instead, they may identify useful topics to discuss with a financial professional or licensed insurance agent.
Questions you may want to bring to that conversation include:
- Which expenses do I want covered by predictable income?
- How much should remain readily available for emergencies and near-term spending?
- What level of market risk am I comfortable taking with different portions of my savings?
- How could changing interest rates or inflation affect my plan?
- What guarantees, costs, surrender periods and access limits should I understand before considering an annuity?
Where might insurance-based retirement solutions fit?
Annuities are long-term insurance contracts that may be one option to consider as part of a broader retirement strategy.
Depending on the contract, annuities may offer features such as protection from certain market losses, interest-crediting guarantees, tax-deferred accumulation and income options.
They also have limitations and tradeoffs. These may include surrender charges, possible market value adjustments, restrictions on access to funds and other contract-specific limitations.
If you are considering an annuity, its appropriateness should be evaluated based on your individual circumstances and the applicable requirements of your financial professional or licensed insurance agent. The discussion of these questions is not a substitute for the separate fact-finding, suitability, best-interest or other review that may be required before an annuity recommendation or sale.
A single answer—or even several answers—to the questions above does not determine whether an annuity or any other financial or insurance product is appropriate for you.
Start the conversation
Retirement planning does not have to begin with a product. It can begin with better questions.
Oceanview Life’s Retirement Protection Checkup offers five questions to help you identify which areas of your retirement plan you have considered and which may be worth discussing further.
Then bring your completed Checkup to your financial professional or licensed insurance agent and use it to help guide your next retirement-planning conversation. The Checkup is intended solely for educational and informational purposes as a general conversation starter. It is not a financial, investment, legal, tax or insurance recommendation, and completion of the Checkup does not result in, nor should it be construed as, personalized advice or a recommendation of any product, strategy or course of action.
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