How to Money · Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Jean Chatzky advocates for using a portion of retirement savings to create a stable income stream, likening it to a 'forever paycheck.' She suggests annuities or other investments can provide this guaranteed income, helping to alleviate the psychological burden of spending down assets and ensuring funds last a lifetime.
“I'm suggesting that you either build or buy yourself a retirement paycheck that you take somewhere between a quarter and a third of your money, and you turn it into an income stream that will last the rest of your life, no matter how long that life turns out to be.”
“Because the other problem with that four ish percent rule, besides the fact that the ish means every year, morning Star tells us that the number is somewhat different.”
“But either way, knowing that this chunk of money is allocated to the to to cover both those things that you need and those that you really really want in combination with Social Security and we can talk about the future of the system if you want, gives you the freedom to take the rest of your money and invest it even more aggressively and know that that's your legacy money, that's the money for the extras.”