Retirement Planning
How to Build a Retirement Income Floor That Covers the Essentials
Guaranteed sources can cover the bills that never stop. The rest of the portfolio can then afford to take risk — and to fluctuate.
Senior Retirement Correspondent
Margaret Ellison
Margaret Ellison covers retirement income and withdrawal strategy for Investment Income Research. She writes about the practical mechanics of turning savings into a durable paycheck.
Retirement PlanningIncome StrategiesSocial Security
Latest by Margaret
Social Security
The Case for Delaying Social Security to 70 — and When It Does Not Hold
Waiting raises the monthly benefit by roughly 8% a year. For some households that is the best deal available; for others it is a mistake.
Retirement Planning
What a Longer Retirement Does to the Math of Saving
A plan built to last 25 years behaves very differently when it has to last 35. The extra decade changes everything.
Income Strategies
Annuities, Reconsidered: Where Guaranteed Income Fits a Plan
Long dismissed as expensive and opaque, a simple income annuity has a defensible role for households that value certainty.
Social Security
Spousal Benefits Are the Part of Social Security People Miss
Claiming decisions are rarely made alone. Coordinating between two earners can add up to real money.