When Should You Start Thinking About Guaranteed Income?

Many people associate guaranteed income with the moment they retire — or even later. But in reality, thinking about guaranteed income earlier may help you make more informed decisions as you develop your retirement plan. 

This doesn’t mean you need to commit to anything right away. It simply means understanding when guaranteed income may fit within your overall retirement plan — and how it may help support your retirement income objectives over a long retirement.

What Is Guaranteed Income, Really?

Guaranteed income refers to income sources designed to provide predictable payments, regardless of market conditions, based on contract provisions. For many retirees, this income helps cover essential expenses like housing, food, insurance, and healthcare.

Common examples include:

• Social Security benefits
• Pension income (if available)
• Certain annuity income options

Guaranteed income isn’t about maximizing returns — it’s about providing a predictable source of income, especially for expenses you can’t postpone.

For annuities, guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

Why Timing Matters

Waiting until retirement begins to think about income may reduce the amount of time available to evaluate available strategies and products. Starting earlier allows you to:

• Understand how different income sources work together
• Identify potential income gaps
• Make decisions thoughtfully, rather than under pressure

Income planning is about turning savings into a sustainable paycheck that supports your retirement needs. Planning ahead may provide additional time to evaluate available options. 

When People Typically Start Considering Guaranteed Income

While everyone’s situation is different, many people begin thinking seriously about guaranteed income during these stages:

In Your Late 50s to Early 60s

This is often a planning phase:

• Retirement feels closer
• Income needs become clearer
• Risk tolerance may begin to shift

This is also a good time to learn how different income tools work, even if retirement is still a few years away.

As Retirement Approaches

As you move closer to retiring:

• You may start coordinating Social Security timing
• Income predictability may become more important
• Protecting principal often becomes a higher priority

At this stage, understanding options like MYGAs and FIAs can be helpful. If you’d like a refresher, “12 Essential Questions About Multi-Year Guaranteed Annuities (MYGAs)” provides a clear overview.

Early in Retirement

Some people wait until after retirement to make income decisions. While that can work, it often comes with:

• Greater sensitivity to market volatility
• Shorter timeframe to recover from market downturns

The importance of managing retirement income withdrawals over time. For some individuals, evaluating guaranteed income options before or during retirement may be one part of the retirement planning process. 

Guaranteed Income and Longevity

Retirement can last decades. Guaranteed income can help address longevity by providing income that doesn’t depend on market performance or constant decision-making.

For many people, this reliability supports confidence — especially later in retirement.

How Guaranteed Income Fits With Growth and Protection

Guaranteed income may complement growth-oriented investments as part of an overall retirement strategy. 

Many retirement plans use different tools for different purposes:

• Guaranteed income for essential expenses
• Growth-oriented strategies for flexibility and discretionary goals

The appropriate mix of income and growth strategies depends on an individual’s financial objectives, risk tolerance, liquidity needs, and overall retirement plan.  

Questions to Ask as You Consider Timing

If you’re unsure when to start thinking about guaranteed income, these questions can help:

• What expenses will I need to cover no matter what?
• How much predictable income do I already have?
• How comfortable am I relying on market-based withdrawals?

There’s no one “right” age — but answering these questions earlier may help you evaluate your options over time. 

Planning Ahead Can Help You Prepare 

Guaranteed income may be one component of a broader retirement strategy. 

By starting the conversation earlier, you give yourself time to learn, reflect, and evaluate strategies and financial products that align with your goals and individual financial circumstances. 

If you are considering an annuity or another guaranteed income product, be sure to understand its features, benefits, limitations, fees and charges (if applicable), surrender charges, and available income options. Consider consulting a qualified financial professional to determine whether a particular product or strategy is appropriate for your financial situation, objectives, and time horizon.

Disclaimers

The Harbourview MYGA (Generic Policy Form ICC19 OLA SPDA) and Harbourview FIA (Generic Policy Form ICC19 OLA FIA) are single premium deferred annuities. May not be available in all states.  

OCEANVIEW ANNUITIES ARE PRODUCTS OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY AND NOT GUARANTEED BY ANY BANK NOR INSURED BY THE FDIC OR NCUA/NCUSIF OR ANY OTHER FEDERAL GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY. MAY LOSE VALUE. NO BANK/CREDIT UNION GUARANTEE. NOT A DEPOSIT. MAY ONLY BE OFFERED BY A LICENSED INSURANCE AGENT. GUARANTEES ARE SUBJECT TO THE CLAIM PAYING ABILITY OF THE ISSUING INSURANCE COMPANY.

Annuities issued by Oceanview Life and Annuity Company, 1331 17th Street, Suite 1050, Denver, CO 80202. In California, doing business as Oceanview Life and Annuity Insurance Company www.oceanviewlife.com.

Annuities are generally designed as long-term retirement solutions and have certain limitations. They are generally not intended to replace emergency funds, serve as income for day-to-day expenses, or support short-term savings goals. Please refer to the contract for complete details, including features, limitations, and charges.

A.M. Best Rating as of February 11, 2026, is subject to change. A (Excellent) rating is third highest of fifteen possible rating classes for financial strength. The outlook assigned to these Credit Ratings is stable.

This material is a general description intended for general public, educational use. Oceanview Life and Annuity Company is not providing investment advice for any individual or in any individual situation, and therefore nothing in this correspondence should be read as such. 

Neither Oceanview Life and Annuity Company nor any of its representatives may provide tax or legal advice. Clients should consult their own qualified tax or legal advisors.

Withdrawals in excess of any Free Partial Withdrawal amounts are subject to a Surrender Charge and Market Value Adjustment (MVA). The MVA may have the effect of increasing or decreasing the Surrender Value of the withdrawal depending on the market interest rate changes.

The IRS may impose a penalty for withdrawals prior to age 59 ½. Withdrawals may also be subject to ordinary income tax.

Contracts purchased in an IRA or other tax-qualified plan provide no additional tax-deferral benefit, since they are already afforded tax-deferred status. All annuity features, risks, limitations, and costs should be considered prior to purchasing an annuity within a tax-qualified retirement plan. For non-qualified annuities, tax deferral is not available to corporations and certain other entities.

Rates, renewal caps, and declared interest rates, will always follow contract provisions relative to minimums and maximums stated.  Oceanview determines, at its discretion, the rates, renewal caps and, declared interest rates above the contractual minimums that are guaranteed. 

Amounts allocated to an index are not directly invested in the stock market or any index and do not include dividends. Index performance does not reflect actual investment results.