By Brent Matthew
The bustle of everyday life can make it difficult to set aside time for retirement income planning. However, if you want your next chapter to be one of peace and stability, planning is essential.
Retirement income planning looks slightly different for each of my clients. To give you a general sense of the process, I’ve included two case studies below. Names and certain details have been changed to protect client privacy, but these stories still capture how I help clients at different life stages.
Case Study 1: How Laura Found Confidence After Loss
Laura came to see me about a year after her husband passed away. She’d spent a career in healthcare, but finances had never been her department. Now every purchase felt risky, even replacing a car that had stranded her twice on the freeway.
We started with a conversation, not calculators. Laura talked about the life she and her husband built, the routines that felt safe, and the fears that crept in once she was handling everything alone. When she finished, we opened her folder of statements—some current and some dating back decades.
During that review, we uncovered an investment account Laura didn’t realize she owned. Combined with her retirement plans and savings, it meant she had more flexibility than she thought. We regrouped her assets into three buckets she could easily understand:
- Monthly Income: Fixed annuities that paid her a certain amount each month for as long as she lives
- Lifestyle Fund: A medium-risk portfolio for travel and hobbies
- Reserve and Legacy: A collection of short-term bonds and cash for surprise medical bills and gifts for family
Seeing her resources lined up against real expenses was the turning point. Laura realized she could stop pinching pennies and start living the life she and her husband had imagined. She eventually did buy that horse, and we still meet quarterly. Half the agenda is financial, and half is about how she wants to use her time and money in this new chapter.
Case Study 2: How Mark and Grace Shielded Their Dreams
Mark and Grace, a newly retired couple, wanted to travel the country photographing national parks. They had savings, but they didn’t know how to use those savings to generate income.
Our first step was to define the yearly dollar amount that would allow them to travel freely without monitoring the markets every night. Once we determined that number, we set aside roughly one-third of their total assets to fund it. The remaining balance was left with their long-time brokerage—no need to transfer money just for the sake of doing so.
The travel budget became a joint-life annuity ladder that would continue to pay whichever spouse lived longer. I coordinated with their other advisor to synchronize investment risk, taxes, and withdrawal timing, ensuring both sides of the ledger worked together.
An important part of retirement income planning is stress-testing a plan, so we ran the plan we’d established through several test scenarios. Would it hold up through a bear market? A serious health diagnosis? Mark and Grace left my office with a clear plan in place.
Less than a year later Mark was diagnosed with a sudden and aggressive illness. After he passed away, Grace called me, overwhelmed by paperwork, beneficiary forms, and decisions she’d never had to make. Because the income plan was already in effect, her day-to-day cash flow remained intact. We could focus on practical tasks such as retitling accounts, coordinating with Social Security, and closing unnecessary credit lines—one at a time. Grace didn’t have to wonder which account to tap or whether market swings would derail her future. The groundwork we laid together let her mourn without financial chaos.
A Resource Born from Real Experience
Grace’s situation inspired me to create a comprehensive guide that could help others in similar circumstances. This step-by-step checklist breaks down the important tasks into manageable timeframes, from immediate needs to longer-term considerations. It covers everything from obtaining death certificates and notifying agencies to handling financial accounts and estate matters—all the details that can feel overwhelming when you’re already dealing with loss.
Looking for Assistance With Retirement Income Planning?
Each time I assist a client with retirement planning, I utilize my financial experience and knowledge. However, I’ve come to find that there’s another critical element: empathy. By taking the time to truly understand my clients and their perspectives, I’m better equipped to help them build a stronger financial future.
Whether you have a plan already in place or you need to get started with retirement income planning for the first time, I’m here to help you. I started Scottsdale Wealth Advisory to help people like you find the peace and clarity that only comes with knowing you have a financial plan.
If you would like to learn more or are ready to schedule an appointment, please contact us today. To schedule your complimentary financial coaching session, call (480) 247-9090, email info@SWAFirm.com, or book directly at calendly.com/BrentMatthew.
Frequently Asked Questions About Annuities
How do you decide whether an annuity, investments, or a mix of both is right for a client?
I start with a cash-flow map: What will you need each month, what income sources already exist, and how comfortable are you with market risk? If a predictable floor of income is missing, we’ll often carve out just enough money for a joint-life annuity ladder, then keep the remaining assets invested for growth and flexibility. The goal is balance and never “all or nothing.”
What happens to my annuity when I pass away?
It depends on the contract:
- Income annuity (single life): payments end at your death unless you added a refund or joint-life rider.
- Income annuity (joint life): payments keep going to your spouse for life.
- Deferred annuity (fixed, indexed, variable): any remaining account value, plus guaranteed death benefits, goes straight to the beneficiaries you named, usually outside probate.
About Brent
Brent Matthew is the founder and CEO of Scottsdale Wealth Advisory, a full-service fiduciary retirement planning firm serving pre-retirees and retirees across Arizona and multiple states. With a strong commitment to always putting clients first, Brent leads the firm in developing comprehensive, tax-efficient financial plans tailored to each family’s unique goals. He is responsible for researching investment, annuity, and life insurance strategies and building smart asset allocations that reflect both long-term growth and risk management.
Brent is driven by a core belief: “The success of this firm will be measured by the success of the families it represents.” That client-first approach has guided his work since the beginning. He is currently enrolled at the College for Financial Planning and is on track to earn his CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® designation. He also holds his Series 65 license and Arizona Life and Health Insurance Producers License.
Outside the office, Brent embraces the Arizona outdoors with “lil B” and their two pomskies, Heimo and Kota. Whether he’s hiking, fishing, dirt biking, skiing, golfing, kayaking, or skeet shooting, Brent finds balance and joy in staying active. He’s also a fan of CrossFit, brunching, and cruising the Phoenix canal system on his beach cruiser—usually with classic tunes from the Marshall Tucker Band, Gordon Lightfoot, or Crosby, Stills & Nash playing in the background. To learn more about Brent, connect with him on LinkedIn.
Advisory services are offered by Scottsdale Wealth Advisory, LLC, an Investment Advisor in the State of Arizona. Insurance products and services are offered through Scottsdale Wealth Advisory, LLC. Scottsdale Wealth Advisory, LLC is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any government agency, and is not engaged in the practice of law. Be sure to consult with a licensed financial professional to confirm the accuracy of the insurance product you are considering.
