When it comes to retirement and retirement planning, everything is important. For many people, their careers spanned some 30-40 years and the money they have put away did not come easily. Therefore, protecting it is crucial and losing it during retirement is not an option. Growth is also important because without steady growth, keeping up with inflation is impossible and there may not be much to pass on to future generations if your money stays stagnant.

However, while safety and growth are important, I would argue that income is equally, if not more important when it comes to being able to retire comfortably and stay retired. Unless you work for the government in some way, chances are you don’t have a pension. Having a steady stream of is what pays your bills each month. Income allows you to travel, shop, give to kids and grandkids and most importantly, it gives a retired person peace of mind. Unfortunately, for many, Social Security is the only pension stream of income they have. While many, have money saved, their guaranteed sources of income are limited, and just pulling money out of savings is a good strategy, as-long as the money lasts. As the coming inflation arrives, this may necessitate people pulling more and more from their retirement savings just to make ends meet, depleting savings sooner than expected.

The good news is that multiple streams of income or pensions, are not dependent on where you worked during your career. They can be created with proper retirement planning. Once created, they should also account for inflation, and, be-able to keep pace with it. A proper income plan, when in place, will provide peace-of-mind so you can truly retire with confidence, knowing you won’t outlive your income and your needs will be met. This makes income the King of retirement planning.