📊 The Financial Snapshot

• Matt and Alex are both 59
• Planning to retire at 64
• Want to build wealth in the market while locking in $8,000/month of guaranteed income
• Matt’s Social Security at age 64: $2,800/month
• Alex’s Social Security at age 64: $2,100/month
• Alex’s 401(k): $550,000 (plus max contributions + $8,000/year employer match)
• Matt’s Rollover IRA: $400,000
• After-tax investment account: $350,000
• Cash savings (not earmarked for retirement): $50,000

Step 1: Reallocate to Growth

To support their long-term wealth-building goal, we repositioned the market-based portion of their portfolio for aggressive growth:

• Alex’s 401(k) is now 100% in growth-focused stock funds
• All future 401(k) contributions are allocated to equities
• Their after-tax account is also shifted to 100% equities

Goal: Generate ~8% annual growth instead of a conservative 4–6% with a more growth-oriented investment strategy

Step 2: Secure Future Income with Annuities

Matt’s IRA was invested conservatively.

Instead, we repositioned it into a deferred income annuity, locking in:

• An 11.2% internal rate of return on future income
• $38,080/year ($3,173/month) of guaranteed income beginning at age 64

When combined with Social Security ($4,900/month), their total guaranteed income at retirement will be $8,173/month.

Step 3: Layering in Market-Driven Income

With guaranteed income handled, the remaining portfolio is now free to focus on long-term growth and supplemental income.

Here are two potential scenarios:

📉 If their portfolio averages 4% annual returns:

• Value of portfolio at retirement = $1.9M
• 4% withdrawal rate = $6,384/month of supplemental income

📈 If their portfolio averages 8% annual returns:

• Value of portfolio at retirement = $2.2M
• 5.5% withdrawal rate = $10,258/month of supplemental income

note: We are taking a higher withdrawal rate from our portfolio than most advisors might recommend, but we have an annuity providing a substantial guarantee for future income AND we can always utilize upper and lower guardrails on our investment portfolio (if the market does better or worse than expected).

This provides us both safety from exhausting our portfolio early and a higher income withdrawal to prevent us from UNDER-spending in retirement as well.

🔁 Flexibility + Wealth Preservation

What’s the upside of this hybrid approach?

• ✅ Guaranteed monthly income no matter what the market does
• ✅ Significant exposure to growth potential
• ✅ The ability to dial down withdrawals in bad markets to let the portfolio recover
• ✅ Long-term wealth preservation for legacy goals

📈 At age 90, this couple could have:

• $3.8M remaining (with 8% returns)
• vs. just $1.05M (with 4% returns)

Final Thoughts

This strategy isn’t about playing it safe or betting it all on growth.
 It’s about using annuities to secure what you need, so you can invest the rest for what you want — growth, legacy, or both.

If you’re in your late 50s or early 60s and want to explore how to balance income stability with long-term upside, let’s talk.