Next Phase

Knowing if you have enough money to retire, and then planning to make that pool of money last as long as you need, is the focus of the NextPhase™ Retirement Income Planning Process. Working with your advisor to create a NextPhase™ time-segmented income plan can help answer the key question: “Do I have enough retirement assets to last my lifetime?”

Why everyone should plan for a retirement income designed to last a lifetime.

The financial realities of our world are changing. More and more people need to rely on their own investments for income during retirement. Although many retirees have income streams from Social Security and/or pension plans, others rely on their 401(k)s, personal investments and savings plans.

The assets from which you expect to create a vital stream of income during retirement face risk from economic turmoil, interest rate uncertainty and market volatility. As you move from asset accumulation (saving money for retirement) to income distribution (spending money in retirement), positioning your investments to provide a primary income that lasts as long as you need becomes more complex and difficult to manage. The NextPhase™ Retirement Income Planning Process is designed to help you find a balance of investment choices with different, complementary risk and growth opportunities. This balance then helps your advisor create a plan designed to provide an income that spans your lifetime.
The NextPhase™ Retirement Income Planning Process is a customized plan with the goal of providing:

• Confidence from a structured plan outlining where your retirement income will be derived.
• Guidelines for creating a retirement income plan designed to last your entire life.
• Freedom to spend your retirement money as you wish within your plan's guidelines.
• Reduced uncertainty regarding the amount and regularity of your retirement income.
• Opportunity to plan a legacy for your heirs or charitable good works.

The NextPhase™ Plan is to help meet your needs during retirement using pools of assets working for you over time.

An income stream is a flow of money that you receive over time, often at regular intervals. In fact, one of the most common income streams during retirement comes from Social Security. However, your income may also come from other assets like 401(k)s, 403(b)s, CDs and personal savings.

The NextPhase™ plan outlines an income plan designed to span your lifetime plus a system for dividing up investments into multiple time-segmented pools with different growth and security
objectives. In addition to the investment pools, if suitable for your specific circumstances, more guaranteed income can be added through a fixed or variable annuity with a guaranteed lifetime payout.* Fixed Annuities or Variable Annuities with a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit or guaranteed minimum income benefit provide a lifetime income regardless of market performance.

The chart below is an example of how the NextPhase™ plan works. Planning closely with your advisor, your retirement assets are gathered and divided among an optional guaranteed income asset and numerous pools of investments that range from conservative to more aggressive. The optional guaranteed income segment and the first pool offer immediate, regular income streams, while the other pools of investments are designed to grow over time. The more conservative pools (shown in purple and blues below) are larger with shorter time horizons. The more aggressive investment pools (shown in orange, gold and red below) are smaller initially with longer time horizons so they have the potential to grow. As time goes on, each pool is drained to fill the reservoir that provides your regular income stream. The strategy typically plans for 25 years, at which point the last pool can be divided up again to provide for a longer retirement or used for legacy planning.