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The Lifetime Income Model™ Strategy: Investing for When You'll Actually Use the Money.

A time-segmented approach to retirement investing that aligns each portion of your portfolio with a specific time horizon — designed to reduce volatility, protect income, and let long-term money keep working.

Why one big portfolio doesn't fit retirement.

Most retirement portfolios are built around a single risk profile — “moderate,” “balanced,” “growth.” That works fine while you’re accumulating. But the moment you start taking income, a problem emerges: you’re withdrawing from the same pool whether markets are up or down.

 

A bad sequence of returns in the early years of retirement can permanently impair the plan, no matter how good the long-term average looks on paper.

 

Time-segmented investing solves this by recognizing a simple truth: the money you need next year and the money you need in year 25 shouldn’t be invested the same way.

 

The Lifetime Income Model™. Five time horizons. One coordinated plan.

Years 1–5 | Immediate Income

Years 1–5 | Immediate Income

Years 1–5 | Immediate Income

Conservative, income-stable, low volatility. Money you're spending soon — shouldn't move with the market. Delivers monthly income without short-term market exposure.

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Years 6–10 | Near-Term Income Reserve

Years 6–10 | Near-Term Income Reserve

Years 6–10 | Near-Term Income Reserve

Conservative to moderate. Replenishes Bucket 1 as it’s spent down. Captures modest growth while maintaining low volatility.

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Years 11–15 | Intermediate Growth

Years 11–15 | Intermediate Growth

Years 11–15 | Intermediate Growth

Balanced. Allows measured equity exposure — enough to outpace inflation, structured enough to recover from typical market cycles.

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Years 16–20 | Long-Term Growth

Years 16–20 | Long-Term Growth

Years 16–20 | Long-Term Growth

Growth-oriented. Nearly two decades before needed — pursue meaningful equity returns and ride through volatility without disrupting income.

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Years 25+ | Legacy and Late-Life Growth

Years 25+ | Legacy and Late-Life Growth

Years 25+ | Legacy and Late-Life Growth

Aggressive growth. Longest runway — may fund late-retirement needs, healthcare, or generational wealth transfer. Time is its biggest advantage.

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A plan that breathes with the market — instead of breaking with it.

When markets are strong, we harvest gains from later buckets to refill the near-term buckets — locking in growth at favorable times. When markets are weak, we draw from already-conservative near-term buckets, leaving the growth buckets untouched and giving them time to recover.

 

The discipline is the difference. Most retirees, left to their own decisions, end up selling growth assets at the worst possible time — when they're down — because they need the income. The bucket strategy prevents that scenario by design.

Why we use five time horizons instead of three.

The traditional bucket strategy uses three — short, medium, and long. That works, but it leaves a gap. The “medium” bucket ends up doing too much work, trying to be both an income reserve and a growth engine.

 

The Lifetime Income Model™ give us cleaner separation. Each bucket has a single job. Each transition is smoother. And the longest bucket — the 25-year horizon — gives us the freedom to take meaningful long-term growth risk without ever touching income.

Who benefits most from a Lifetime Income Model™ approach?

Retirees taking income now: You’re already drawing from your portfolio. Volatility hurts you the most. The Lifetime Income Model™ strategy is built around protecting your monthly paycheck.

 

Pre-retirees within 10 years: Sequence-of-returns risk is highest in the five years before and after retirement. Building the bucket structure now means you enter retirement with the plan already in place.

 

Business owners planning a transition: After a business sale or succession event, you suddenly have liquid assets that need to produce reliable income. The Lifetime Income Model™ structure is designed for exactly that transition.


See What Your Income Could Look Like

Use our Retirement Income Estimator to get a personalized projection of how the Lifetime Income Model™ could work for your specific situation — your assets, your timeline, your income goals.

TRY THE RETIREMENT INCOME ESTIMATOR →

Free — no obligation. Takes about 3 minutes.

Want to see how the Lifetime Income Model™ strategy would work for your situation?

 

We’ll walk you through it specifically — your timeline, your income needs, your tax picture.

 

Schedule a Conversation

Four C Financial

Request Your Income Plan

Complete the form below. Our team will build your personalized Lifetime Income Model™ and schedule a time to walk you through your results.

1. Client Information
2. Spouse / Partner Information (if applicable)
3. Retirement Timeline
4. Retirement Income Need
Gross = before taxes. Net = cash in hand. Please pick one only.
5. Investment Assets

List each account individually:

Account TypeInstitutionApprox. Value
6. Guaranteed Income Sources

List any guaranteed income. Leave blank if not applicable.

Income SourceMonthly Amt.Start AgeEnd AgeCOLASpousal Benefit
7. Additional Notes
8. Schedule Your Review

Once submitted, we will review your information and reach out within 1-2 business days to confirm your appointment.

Thank you! We received your information and will be in touch within 1-2 business days.
This information is collected solely to prepare a personalized retirement income analysis and will not be shared with third parties. Investment advice offered through Integrated Partners, doing business as Four C Financial, a registered investment advisor.