Take Steps to Keep Your Retirement Income Stream Flowing

  “Go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise; who having no guideoverseeror ruler provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8).
   After years of accumulating assets,the time will come for you to begin drawing on those assets to provide income throughout retirement. Before that day arrives, be  sure to consider some steps to assist you in keeping your retirement income stream flowing.
Set a Sustainable Withdrawal  Rate
   As tax-advantaged retirement savings vehicles such as 401(k)s and IRAs  have proliferated, so too has  the trend toward self-funding of retirement. In the future,the share of personal assets required to fund retirement is sure to grow, which makes knowing how much you can withdraw from your investment accounts each year -- and still maintain a healthy cushion against uncertain market and personal circumstances -- a necessity to any retirement income plan.
   A number of factors will influence your choice of withdrawal rates. These include your longevity, the potential impact of inflation on your assets, and the variability of investment returns. Therefore, when crafting a retirement asset allocation, a key question will be how much to allocate to stocks.1 Certainly you will want to maintain enough growth potential to protect against inflation, yet you will also need to be wary of being too exposed to stock marke ...