Most people walk into retirement watching one number: the balance. How much is in the 401(k). What the IRA shows. What the home is worth.
But the balance does not pay the mortgage. Income does. And between your balance and your actual retirement income, there are five gaps that quietly pull money out of your plan. Not one time — every year, in every market, for as long as you live.
Here is the framework I walk through with every client before we build a plan: the Five Retirement Gaps, what each one costs, and how to close it.
Here is what most people miss. A bad market early in retirement does not just cost you what you withdraw. It permanently damages the growth potential of everything you leave invested. This is called sequence of returns risk, and it is one of the most dangerous forces in retirement planning.
If the market drops 20% in your first year of retirement and you are withdrawing 4% for living expenses, you are now withdrawing 5% of your reduced balance. The math spirals. Even if the market climbs back, your portfolio often does not.
What to check: Run your plan through a sequence-of-returns simulator. If your income drops significantly in a downturn scenario, you have a volatility gap.
Every dollar in a traditional 401(k) or IRA was contributed pre-tax. That means every dollar you withdraw will be taxed at ordinary income rates — rates set by Congress, which can change at any time.
On a $1 million account, the tax bill can easily exceed $400,000 over your retirement. And starting at 73, the IRS mandates Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) whether you need the money or not, often pushing you into a higher bracket.
What to check: Calculate your effective tax rate in retirement at current tax rates. Then ask: what happens if rates go up? If you have no strategy to manage your tax bracket, you have a tax gap.
Mutual fund expense ratios. Administrative fees. Account management charges. Most retirement accounts carry hidden fees that never appear on a statement. They just quietly reduce your balance year after year.
The numbers are staggering: on a $500,000 portfolio over 30 years, a 2% fee difference can cost you over $400,000 in lost growth. And that is before you factor in advisor fees.
What to check: Total up every fee in your retirement accounts: fund expense ratios, plan administration fees, advisor fees. Anything over 1% total needs a hard look.
A 65-year-old couple today has a 50% chance that one spouse reaches age 90, and a 25% chance one reaches 95. That means a 30-year retirement is the realistic baseline, not the exception.
The old 4% rule was designed for 30-year retirements. But with lower expected returns, that safe withdrawal rate is now closer to 3.3%. Every percentage point you withdraw above that dramatically increases your chances of running out of money.
What to check: Run your plan assuming you live to 95. If your income runs dry before your 90th birthday, you have a longevity gap.
Inflation is the quietest gap of all because it happens gradually. At 3% inflation — the historical average — your cost of living doubles every 24 years. A fixed pension or annuity payment that covers your expenses today will cover less than half of them in real terms by the time you are 85.
What to check: Adjust your retirement expenses for 3% inflation annually. If your income does not grow to match, you have an inflation gap.
Each gap has a solution. The key is addressing them together, not in isolation, because they interact. A tax-efficient strategy that ignores sequence risk still fails. An inflation-protected income stream eaten by fees still shrinks.
The most effective approach I have found — and the framework I use with every client — is ERFT: Eliminate Risk, Fees, and Taxes. It is not a product. It is a design principle. Every recommendation gets measured against three questions:
If the answer is not yes to all three, it is not the right move.
The Retirement Gap Checklist I use with clients covers all five gaps with simple self-assessment questions and real numbers. It takes about 10 minutes and gives you a clear picture of where your plan stands today. That is where every good retirement plan begins: knowing exactly what you are up against.
A 15-minute discovery call with Michael to map where you stand. No pressure. No pitch. Just clarity.
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