The moment that you stop working and start living off the money that you’ve set aside for retirement can be referred to as the Retirement Cliff. You’ve worked and earned money your whole life, but the day that you retire, that income comes to an end. Social Security will fill in some of the income, but you need an Income Bridge to get you the rest of the way. Once you have Social Security maximized for you, it’s time to look at your other retirement assets, incomes and options that will reduce or eliminate the drop-off of the Retirement Cliff. You may have a pension, dividends from stock holdings, rental property, or other sources of income. What other sources of reliable income do I have, is the first question that you have to answer.

If all sources of reliable income fall short of meeting the income that you need to maintain your standard of living, we call that an Income Gap. In order to maintain your lifestyle into retirement, you need to use your other assets to build the income bridge that will cover that gap. You want to know how to fill that income gap with the fewest dollars possible. You want to get the most out of your other assets, including planning for your future and planning for your legacy. You do that by maximizing your Social Security benefit, leveraging your additional income, and looking at other investment tools that can help generate income for you.

Creating an income plan before you retire can help allow you to satisfy your need for lifetime income and potentially ensure that your lifestyle can last as long as you do. You also want create a plan that operates in the most efficient way possible. By allocating enough of your assets into Know So positions, you could potentially build a secure retirement that will not be subject to the volatility of Wall Street. Your retirement house needs to last and last. That requires more than just a foundation, but also walls and a roof, windows and comfortable furniture. True diversification across risk classes is the way you achieve that.

If you would like help building your bridge over the Retirement Cliff, and creating an income plan that will last as long as you do, schedule an appointment with one of our our Investment Advisor Representatives. Call today 417-886-5724

Retirement is too important for guesswork.