By RetireSavor · AI-assisted educational draft
Not yet reviewed by a licensed professional. Editorial standards and sources
The useful takeaway: An income gap is a planning question—not a recommendation to put a specific amount into an annuity.
Separate essential and flexible spending
Housing, food, healthcare and recurring obligations form a useful starting point. Travel and other flexible expenses can be tracked separately. Include irregular expenses rather than assuming every month looks the same. Decide whether your figures are before or after taxes and use a consistent basis.
Inventory existing income
List Social Security, pensions and other sources, including their start dates and survivor terms. Some income changes with inflation and some does not. A household calculation should consider what remains if one spouse dies. Do not count an uncertain source as dependable simply because it appeared last year.
Explore rather than predict
Our calculator lets you model spending inflation and growth in existing income separately. It shows how a gap can evolve over time. It also estimates a fixed-period drawdown under constant-return assumptions. Neither calculation is a safe-withdrawal recommendation or a carrier quote.
Compare ways to address the gap
More than one approach may be relevant: changing spending, working longer, revisiting claiming dates, holding a bond ladder, managing a diversified portfolio, or purchasing an income guarantee. Each changes flexibility and risk differently. Discuss how the pieces work together instead of treating an annuity as the whole retirement plan.
Try your own spending and income assumptions
Use the income-gap calculator to explore spending, existing income and inflation. Its separate fixed drawdown ends after your selected number of years; it does not estimate what an insurer would guarantee for life. Read the model boundaries before using the result in a conversation.
Bring these questions
- Which expenses must be covered reliably?
- What changes if one spouse dies?
- How much flexibility do I need outside a contract?
Sources & further reading
General education, not a product recommendation. Contract terms and your individual circumstances control.