Retirement Planning Reinvented
To help maximize your income and reduce your risk, try building your retirement on the allocation of income among dividends, interest, annuity payments and withdrawals.


You might think I sound presumptuous when I say that a new era in retirement planning has begun.
But I plan to prove it to you.
An innovative difference
A new retirement planning method demonstrates that by properly allocating the smartest sources of income, you can create more income with less market risk — for the rest of your life. And you can do most of the research on your own.

Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Retirees and people planning for retirement can follow any number of paths. Most consider — or have been offered — only a fraction of them. Online tools, investment advisers and financial planners supply limited options.
Why? The biggest problem is that most retirement advice favors an allocation of assets — stocks, bonds and cash, paired with an algorithm for withdrawals — designed to make the money lasts as long as the retiree.
Most tools — such as the popular Monte Carlo Analysis — can handle only a few of these asset allocation strategies, thus ignoring major categories of financial vehicles and leaving retirees with market risks. Advisers often guide customers to products that they are already selling. And many are not educated on all the ways retirees can create income security.
When you instead build your retirement on the allocation of income among dividends, interest, annuity payments and withdrawals, you can achieve both higher and safer income. I call it the Income Allocation Planning (IAP) method, and it’s available as a free, no-obligation service at Go2Income.com.
How Is Income Allocation different from Asset Allocation?
The twin goals of the IAP method are to increase the amount of after-tax (spendable) income and to reduce income volatility (for more dependability). IAP differs from traditional retirement planning in three ways:
Step 1 uses annuity payments to provide guaranteed lifetime income. Advisers often ignore annuity payments as an option.
Step 2 treats rollover IRAs differently than personal (after-tax) savings accounts for optimal tax efficiency. Most calculators have a single investment allocation.
Step 3 manages withdrawals from rollover IRAs. Most advisers suggest retirees just withdraw IRS mandated required minimum distributions from IRAs.
How much more income will Income Allocation generate?
Go2Income’s Income Allocation tool enables the visitor to the site to create a customized plan on their own. (And makes available specially trained Go2Specialists to review the plan designed from the tool.)
Set out below is a sample chart from the Go2Income site for a woman age 65 with a total of $2 million in savings (half of which is in a rollover IRA). Based on the assumptions listed underneath the chart and those provided in a detailed report the visitor can order, the income advantage vs. an Asset Allocation strategy is over $11,000 in the first year and over $850,000 cumulatively through age 95.
Here are the key underlying assumptions:
- Stock market return after fees: 6%
- Fixed income return after fees: 3%
- Annuity purchase rates: proprietary Go2Income methodology
- Asset allocation: 50% to equities; IRA withdrawals to 95
The right combination of DIY and specialists
Too many people feel they can’t make their own decisions about retirement. That’s partly because they don’t have all the information they need. It’s also because they haven’t educated themselves.
Now, instead of relying exclusively on your financial adviser to direct your retirement plans, the Income Allocation tool enables you to adjust inputs and create your own retirement income plan. It gives you solid information — and a range of potential solutions — that you can bring to your adviser for discussion.
Go2Income has specialists who can talk to you about the results you get from our tool, but they aren’t the only advisers you should consider. I urge you to examine all your options. Try out other tools and compare the results. Talk to a number of advisers before you choose one to guide you.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Jerry Golden is the founder and CEO of Golden Retirement Advisors Inc. He specializes in helping consumers create retirement plans that provide income that cannot be outlived. Find out more at Go2income.com, where consumers can explore all types of income annuity options, anonymously and at no cost.
-
Stock Market Today: It's 'All Sectors Go' Ahead of Independence Day
The resilience trade continues to work, even for sectors and stocks with specific uncertainties.
-
Nissan Recalls Over 440,000 Vehicles for Risk of Engine Failure
Hundreds of thousands of cars are being recalled over safety concerns. Here's how to check if your vehicle is affected and what steps to take next.
-
Investing Professionals Agree: Discipline Beats Drama Right Now
Big portfolio adjustments can do more harm than good. Financial experts suggest making thoughtful, strategic moves that fit your long-term goals.
-
'Doing Something' Because of Volatility Can Hurt You: Portfolio Manager Recommends Doing This Instead
Yes, it's hard, but if you tune out the siren song of high-flying sectors, resist acting on impulse and focus on your goals, you and your portfolio could be much better off.
-
Social Security's First Beneficiary Lived to Be 100: Will You?
Ida May Fuller, Social Security's first beneficiary, retired in 1939 and died in 1975. Today, we should all be planning for a retirement that's as long as Ida's.
-
An Investment Strategist Demystifies Direct Indexing: Is It for You?
You've heard of mutual funds and ETFs, but direct indexing may be a new concept ... one that could offer greater flexibility and possible tax savings.
-
Q2 2025 Post-Mortem: Rebound, Risks and Generational Shifts
As the third quarter gets underway, here are some takeaways from the market's second-quarter performance to consider as you make investment decisions.
-
Why Homeowners Should Beware of Tangled Titles
If you're planning to pass down property to your heirs, a 'tangled title' can complicate things. The good news is it can be avoided. Here's how.
-
A Cautionary Tale: Why Older Adults Should Think Twice About Being Landlords
Becoming a landlord late in life can be a risky venture because of potential health issues, cognitive challenges and susceptibility to financial exploitation.
-
Home Equity Evolution: A Fresh Approach to Funding Life's Biggest Needs
Homeowners leverage their home equity through various strategies, such as HELOCs or reverse mortgages. A newer option: Shared equity models. How do those work, and what are the pros and cons?