Your Retirement Planning Questions Answered by Tom Buckingham
Question:
When it came to retirement, for years, the focus was on saving. Now, with people living longer, should we be focused on securing a reliable income that can last? If so, how?
Response:
Retirement planning used to center on reaching a specific savings goal. Today, the more relevant question is how those savings turn into cash flow that can support everyday life over time.
That shift reflects how retirement is actually experienced. Once a paycheck stops, what matters is not just the value of assets, but how consistently those assets can help cover ongoing expenses.
Saving and retirement income planning serve different purposes. Saving focuses on accumulation during working years. Income planning focuses on converting those savings into resources that can support spending throughout retirement. The closer someone gets to retirement, the more that distinction matters.
One reason for this change is how retirement itself has evolved. People are living longer, which extends the time savings need to last. At the same time, fewer workers rely on traditional pensions that once provided steady monthly income. Individuals are now responsible for creating their own retirement income strategy, not simply building a portfolio that supplements Social Security and pension income.
That responsibility introduces a different kind of risk. It is not only market risk. It is the possibility of outliving savings.
Research from the Alliance for Lifetime Income’s 2025 Protected Retirement Income and Planning Study, conducted by LIMRA* and Ipsos, highlights this concern. More than half of pre-retirees say they are worried about whether their savings will last throughout retirement.
As a result, retirement planning is increasingly focused on creating dependable cash flow alongside long-term growth. Expenses such as housing, healthcare, insurance, and taxes continue regardless of market conditions, so retirement plans increasingly need to account for how those costs can be covered consistently over time.
A practical way to approach this is to align income sources with essential expenses. Social Security often provides a foundation. Investment portfolios can continue supporting growth and liquidity. For some retirees, additional protected income sources may help create greater stability around core spending needs.
Annuities are one example of how that can be structured. Certain products, including fixed indexed annuities with lifetime income features, are designed to convert a portion of savings into a stream of income while also offering a level of principal protection and growth potential based in part to market performance.
This does not require choosing between growth and stability. Each serves a purpose. Growth helps support the long-term trajectory of a portfolio, while dependable income can help support ongoing spending needs and reduce pressure to make investment decisions based on short-term market movements.
Ultimately, retirement planning is evolving to reflect how savings are used, not simply how they are accumulated.
The goal is no longer limited to reaching a number. It is creating a comprehensive, integrated strategy designed to support someone throughout retirement.
June is National Annuity Month, making it a great opportunity to learn more about guaranteed income and the role it can play in retirement planning.
*Source: Alliance for Lifetime Income, 2025 Protected Retirement Income and Planning (PRIP) Study, conducted by LIMRA and Ipsos.
Tom Buckingham, FSA, MAAA, Chief Growth Officer at Nassau Financial Group.
