Most retirement advice is written for people without a pension, so if you have one, a lot of the usual rules of thumb do not quite fit. A pension changes the shape of the whole plan, because part of your paycheck does not actually go away when you stop working.
That has real consequences. With guaranteed income already covering a chunk of your expenses, you may be able to take a bit more risk with the rest of your portfolio, or a bit less, depending on what you value. It changes how much cash you need on hand and how hard your investments have to work to produce income. It also brings choices a Glossary of Financial Clarity401(k)A retirement account through your job where money leaves your paycheck before you ever see it. If your employer matches, that match is about the closest thing to free money you'll get offered at work. It comes in traditional (tax later) and Roth (tax now) flavors.General education only. Not tax or investment advice. Read the full story saver never faces, like whether to take the pension as a monthly check for life or a single lump sum, and whether to provide for a surviving spouse.
Those decisions are often irreversible, and they tie directly into Glossary of Financial ClaritySocial SecuritySocial Security is the federal program that sends monthly checks to retirees, along with some disabled workers and survivors. You pay into it through payroll taxes your whole working life, and what you eventually collect depends on your earnings history and the age you start claiming. For most retirees it's the one paycheck that lasts as long as they do.General education only. Not tax or investment advice. Read the full story timing and taxes. That is exactly the kind of thing worth modeling before you lock it in, not after.
Hosted byNick GeorgeCFP®, ChFC®, CLU®, IWA™FounderView bio →
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