A 401(k) is savings. It is not income.

Outside of Social Security, most people Jim meets have no guaranteed income at all. A pension, if you have one, is the exception, usually from military or government service. Everyone else has a 401(k) and an IRA, and a plan to "just take money out." That works right up until a bad year arrives at the wrong time.

So the first job is simple to say and important to get right: figure out what your life costs each month, subtract what already shows up no matter what, and look hard at the gap.

Fill the gap first. Then invest the rest.

Once the gap is covered with income that does not depend on the market, the rest of your savings can do whatever you want it to. Stay invested, travel, help the kids, knock yourself out. The essentials are handled, and that is what lets people actually enjoy the money they spent a career building.

"Make sure your income gap is covered. Whatever is left over, if you want to put it in the market, go ahead. Knock yourself out."

Multiple sources, not one.

Social Security will be around in some form, but nobody knows exactly what form. Jim's approach is to build as many sources of guaranteed income as make sense for you, so the household is never leaning on a single check. That also answers the question he hears from almost every husband: how do I make sure my wife is taken care of after I am gone? The income is built to continue for the surviving spouse.

How we actually do it.

The tools Jim uses most are fixed and fixed indexed annuities, which are contracts with an insurance company that turn a lump sum into income for life, with a floor under the value in bad years. You have probably heard opinions about them. Jim will walk you through what they do well, what they cost and where they do not fit, and he is independent, so the contract comes from whichever carrier fits your plan rather than from one company's shelf.

If your gap is already covered, he will tell you that too, and the conversation turns to taxes and legacy.