THREE STAGES OF FINANCIAL LIFE

  • This is the longest and most familiar stage — typically beginning after graduation and lasting until retirement. The focus here is on building wealth through income, savings, business growth, and smart investing. Strategic planning during this phase lays the foundation for future financial independence.

  • Eventually, you reach a point where you no longer wish or are able to actively earn income. This stage is about making your accumulated assets work for you. The goal is to convert your wealth into a reliable, sustainable income stream to help support your lifestyle, while managing risks like market volatility, inflation, and taxes.

  • As you transition into or move through retirement, the focus shifts to protecting what you've built. This stage emphasizes risk management, tax efficiency, and designing a thoughtful plan for the transfer of wealth — whether to family, charitable causes, or both — ensuring your legacy endures.

The biggest mistake in traditional financial planning is that it addresses only the stage you’re currently in, while ignoring the stages that come next. Decisions made during accumulation directly impact how efficiently you can distribute income later—and how long that income will last.

The key to a successful retirement is planning for all three stages simultaneously and evaluating every financial decision through the lens of accumulation, distribution, and preservation. That is how you turn savings into confidence, income, and long-term security.

Then the real goal of financial planning should not be to maximize account balances, but to maximize reliable, tax-efficient, spendable income throughout your lifetime.

*Estate Planning & Tax Planning services are provided working in conjunction with your Estate Planning Attorney, Tax Attorney, and/or CPA. Consult them for specific legal and tax advice. Neither MML Investors Services, LLC nor any of its subsidiaries, employees, or representatives are authorized to give legal or tax advice.

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