n 2019, a client named Shawna retired and began drawing $5,000 a month in income. That number stayed steady for years. No cuts during downturns. No surprises.
Then this past month, her income didn’t just hold steady. It increased, by 60%, to $8,000 a month.
Here’s the part that matters most. That 60% increase actually represents a smaller percentage of her portfolio than her original $5,000 draw did back in 2019. Her account grew faster than her income needed to.
By this June, after taking $375,000 in total income since retiring, her account had grown more than fivefold to $3,802,301.
Growth and income were never supposed to be separate strategies.
Only about a third of retirement clients are actually comfortable with a pure total-return approach once they start drawing income. The rest want something the industry rarely talks about, a dependable paycheck they can count on every month.
Here’s the problem. The standard risk questionnaire most advisors use already assumes total return is the only option on the table. It measures how much volatility someone can stomach.
It never asks whether that’s even the right question in the first place.
That’s how investors end up boxed into a false choice, a rollercoaster in exchange for growth, or stagnation in exchange for stability.
Growth and income don’t have to be traded off against each other.
Mike Adams is the founder of Adams Financial Concepts and has been helping pre-retirees and retirees protect and grow their wealth since 1993.
Schedule a complimentary 30-minute portfolio review at adamsfinancialconcepts.com. No obligation. Just an honest look at whether your portfolio is positioned for what history suggests is coming next.
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