How Does Retirement Income Work? Ep #137

<p>When you retire, where does your income come from? How frequently will you get “paid?” Can you choose when you’ll get social security income? In this episode of the Retirement Made Easy podcast, I’ll cover how income works in retirement and what you’re able to “customize” to you. I’ll also cover some listener questions regarding social security and who you should trust. Don’t miss it! </p> <h2>You will want to hear this episode if you are interested in...</h2> <ul> <li>[1:50] Where does your retirement income come from?</li> <li>[14:16] Tom’s Question: How does the spousal benefit work?</li> <li>[18:41] Tina’s Question: Should I invest in these two mutual funds?</li> </ul> <h2>Where does your retirement income come from?</h2> <p>Many people get paid every two weeks working a normal job. But when you retire, how do you decide how often to pay yourself or make a withdrawal? How do you decide when to withdraw from a Roth IRA, IRA, or after-tax brokerage account? How does it work with social security and pensions?</p> <p>There are a lot of factors to consider. So we break it down into steps and help our clients map it out:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Step #1</strong>: How much income do you need every month to live the lifestyle that you want? If you don’t know, head to my website and check out my “<a href= "https://retirementmadeeasypodcast.com/resources/#open-overlay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Retirement Budgeting Tool</a>.” Keep in mind that your expenses in retirement will likely be different than while you were working. </li> <li><strong>Step #2</strong>: What are your fixed income sources, i.e. social security/pensions? </li> <li><strong>Step #3</strong>: What gap is there between your fixed income sources and the amount you need to live comfortably every month?</li> </ul> <p>We will come up with a game plan where you draw the money you need from Roth IRAs, IRAs, and brokerage accounts to fill that gap. </p> <p>If someone needs $2,500 on top of social security and pensions, we might draw $500 of income from th