Retirement income strategies are not just for the wealthy. As retirement nears, the traditional strategy has been to move growth-seeking products to more conservative, fixed-income products. According to a recent study, for a married couple age 65 there is now a 50 percent chance that at least one spouse will live to age 94.¹ This means that you may need to plan for your retirement savings to potentially last 25 to 30 years.

One drawback to a longer life is the greater possibility of outliving your savings — creating all the more reason to develop a retirement income strategy designed to last a longer lifetime. Sixty-one percent of Americans surveyed said they were more afraid of outliving their assets than they were of dying.²

A significant loss in the years just prior to and/or just after you retire could negatively impact the level of income you receive over the course of your life. In fact, if a loss occurs earlier in life, there is also the chance that you may have more time to recover (versus a loss occurring later in retirement). Why? Simply because a smaller pool of assets is left to sustain you throughout your retirement years, and your assets may not have as much time to recover.