Retirement planning Retirement income
Will your income be enough when you’re no longer working? A diversified, tax-efficient strategy can help you make the most of your retirement money.
Creating your retirement income strategy
It’s smart to plan for multiple sources of retirement income to supplement Social Security. This helps ensure you have a cushion if your retirement expenses change unexpectedly. We’ll work with you to:
- Review expenses. We can help you review essential and nonessential retirement expenses and pinpoint adjustments to make your retirement income strategy work for you.
- Identify income. Together we’ll identify potential income sources and the tax implications of distribution timing.
- Diversify. We’ll help you create a diversified portfolio that includes long-term, growth-oriented investments as well as investments designed for near-term income needs.
- Consider insurance. Insurance protection strategies can help guard against risks that could potentially derail your retirement plans.
- Consolidate. Consolidating assets such as workplace saving plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with a single financial institution can potentially make investing more cost effective.
- Monitor and re-balance. We’ll help you review your retirement plan regularly, adjusting for market conditions and modifying spending as needed.
Our U.S. Bancorp Investments advisors provide wealth planning, investments and insurance support. U.S. Bank wealth specialists offer trust and estates and wealth management banking services.
See if you’re on track to retire.
Are you saving enough for the retirement you want? Our retirement calculator can help you track your progress. Use it to test a variety of scenarios and see where you stand today.
Sources of retirement income
Retirement income may be drawn from a mix of different income streams. Each can play a specialized part in your overall retirement portfolio strategy.
Annuities
Annuities from U.S. Bancorp Investments may offer various ways to create income throughout your retirement and provide lifetime payouts to joint beneficiaries.
Health savings accounts (HSAs)
Contributing to an HSA lets you accumulate tax-sheltered savings that you can use to pay for expenses in retirement.
Life insurance
Cash value provided by life insurance offered from U.S. Bancorp Investments can be a tax-advantaged way to supplement retirement income, and help fund your spouse’s retirement if they survive you.
Social Security
Consider the financial impact of when you start taking distributions. You can start collecting payments as soon as age 62, but you’ll receive significantly less income overall than you would if you start receiving payments at 70.
Personal savings and investments
Building up your personal savings and investments after you've maxed out your IRA, 401(k) and other tax-advantaged retirement accounts can provide added flexibility for income during retirement.
Employer-sponsored plans
Contributing to an employer-sponsored plan, such as a 401(k), 403(b) and 457(b), can provide a good source of retirement income. Distributions are taxed as ordinary income and may be subject to penalties if taken prior to age 59-1/2. Similar to traditional IRAs, you'll have to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) when you're 73.
Traditional IRAs
Traditional IRAs provide tax-deferred growth, which means any earnings won’t be taxed until you start taking distributions. There are penalties for taking withdrawals before age 59-1/2 and RMDs start at age 73. This is a popular strategy for those who expect to be in a lower tax bracket in retirement.
Roth IRAs
Roth IRAs provide tax-free growth. While you'll pay taxes at current rates on your contributions, your earnings grow tax free and qualified withdrawals aren’t taxed. Although there are penalties for taking withdrawals before age 59-1/2, Roth IRAs don't have RMDs like traditional IRAs or employer-sponsored plans, which allows more flexibility, including the transfer of funds to your beneficiaries.
Rolling over1 a traditional IRA, 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plan into a Roth IRA can be a good option since it lets you keep retirement savings in reserve until you need them.
Plan ahead for tax savings.
While some types of retirement income are tax exempt, many are not. Given the complexities, tax planning is key to get the most from your income. Work with an advisor to build a tax-efficient distribution plan that considers:
- Diversification by tax status. Diversify your holdings based on their tax status to give yourself a mix of taxable, tax-deferred and tax-free investments.
- Roth conversion. Converting traditional IRA or workplace retirement plan assets to a Roth IRA may be a good long-term tax strategy.
- Regular tax payments. Be prepared to pay taxes on your withdrawals at least quarterly.
- Required minimum distributions (RMDs). Adhere to RMD rules each year after you turn age 73 to avoid severe penalties.
- Consulting a tax advisor. Get guidance from a qualified tax advisor about the potential tax impact of your withdrawal plans.
Insights from our experts
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