Step 1: Complete Your Profile
While it takes a significant amount of time to complete your household profile, it’s important that you enter as much information into Income Strategy™ as possible. The information you enter should be current and as detailed as you can provide. Income Strategy™ used the information you enter into your profile to suggest suitable withdrawal strategies for you to select from. In addition, your household profile provides many of the important details that are used to help you manage your portfolio in retirement.
Household Details – The Household Details section asks for inputs related to your personal scenario. You’ll be asked to enter your name, date of birth, estimated life expectancy, state of residence, and other details that are important in your withdrawal strategy management.
Accounts and Assets – Without having access to your portfolio accounts, Income Strategy™ cannot create a viable set of withdrawal strategy options. You will be able to enter your account information and sync your accounts directly with your financial institutions. An option to enter your accounts manually is available, but if you select this option, you will be required to enter all account updates manually as well.
Income Sources – Many of us will have income during retirement. Whether income will be from a job, rental income, or other sources, it’s important to include all income projections within Income Strategy™.
Pensions and Annuities – While Pensions and Annuities are income, Income Strategy™ understands there are specific rules applied to these types of income.
Spending Goals – As you enter your spending in Income Strategy™, be sure to include all of the monthly spending you anticipate throughout retirement. Your spending goals can certainly change over time, and Income Strategy™ allows you to regularly update these goals in your account.
Savings Goals – If you plan to continue contributing to savings even in your retirement, you can reflect these projected continued contributions on the Savings Goal tab.
Social Security Settings – One of the most important aspects of retirement income is your Social Security strategy. Income Strategy™ asks you to provide minimal information about your Social Security benefits and will calculate the benefit claiming strategy that is best suited to your withdrawal strategy. This will be noted as the “Primary” strategy. If you would like to choose an alternate claiming strategy, you can do so.
Risk Tolerance – Each of us has a different level of tolerance for risk within our portfolio. Setting your risk tolerance within Income Strategy™ is a very important step to complete. Additionally, you should review your risk tolerance settings periodically to make certain you remain comfortable with your selections in light of current market conditions and the performance of the withdrawal strategy you’ve selected.
Step 2: Select A Withdrawal Strategy
Once your profile is complete, your next step is to select your Withdrawal Strategy. If you do not select a strategy, the default that will be set for you is “Conventional Wisdom with Early Social Security.” While this strategy is a common one that is often recommended by financial professionals, it may not be the strategy that is best for you.
Step 3: Monitor The Performance Of Your Strategy
The monitoring features within Income Strategy™ will provide you with a way to track the progress of your plan. Additionally, when certain aspects of your plan are off-track, you will receive both email and online notifications that a component needs your attention.