1. Sounds like a great book. Very useful topic that has gained importance, as most people no longer have a defined benefit plan. The art and science of turning assets into income (ie., the paycheck) is evolving and fraught with many conflicts of interest. Most financial advisors do not like annuities because they lower the assets under management that they rely on to create fees. Annuities also look in your money (with some exceptions), which a lot of people don’t like, and the pricing can be hard to understand (like any other insurance product). The benefit of a book like this is to present options and different ways of creating steady income from assets. You still need to do your homework and figure out what is right for you.

2. This article is a lengthy advertisement to buy this book…very poor to feature this as an article for retirees.

   1. Fritz’s blog is about retirement, and he regularly reviews new books that come out on the topic. It’s not an “advertisement”—it’s an informed opinion about a resource his readers might appreciate. It’s not like he’s personally making money off recommending the book.

      1. Fritz seems transparent about Amazon affiliate links. I’m not sure I understand what exactly that means, but would he personally get some nominal % of the sale if someone purchases a book using one of the well-marked Amazon affiliate links to this book?

      2. Dana, technically the way he makes money is if you click on the “book” links to Amazon. 4.5% according to the “chat” bots. One of them is right there in the Conclusion section and another link up near the top of the article – so yes, technically this “review” is commission based if you think the advice is worth “clicking on.” I don’t need to because I can listen to audio book for free with my amazon account. From what I can tell I don’t think there is anything new on the subject, but it could be a good thought exercise for those approaching retirement. I also get the feeling “fixed” income is her answer to most of the “paycheck” which won’t work for everybody. An annuity with 2% inflation rider certainly won’t hold up against some years of 10% inflation.

         1. FD, you’re correct to assume I get a small commission if someone orders (hence the legally required notice that it’s an affiliate link). To be honest, I have absolutely no idea what % I made on Amazon (it runs ~$20/month, so it’s peanuts), and it has absolutely no influence on books I choose to review (I can’t be bought that cheap – wink).

            I read ~10 books for every 1 book that I write a review on. I only write reviews on (the rare) books I think will benefit my readership at large, so I dedicate a lot of work on reading the book in detail and writing a comprensive summary. Let the reader decide, I’m just passing along suggested reading based on the extensive reading I do on the subject.

            The Amazon Affiliate is irrelevant, and has no impact on my decision.

            I hope that clarifies the topic. Thanks for being a reader w an opinion, I love good honest debate. And…we just had one. That was fun.

            1. Fritz,
               To be clear I was only supplying the facts to Dana about how you were paid. I realize getting paid whatever the amount should not change your review and I don’t think otherwise.

   2. Why the seemingly bitter comment ? What’s wrong with recommending a good book? I feel like Fritz is one of the best with recommended reading. If you feel like Fritz is not helpful. Maybe this this not the forum for you.

   3. It does read like an advertisement BUT from the review of it I just read, it seems like very useful, helpful advice for those retiring who have not yet come face to face with some of the issues/ideas she addresses. I am a re-retiree and I can attest to the importance of being exposed to much of what is in the book. I didn’t have that knowledge when I ‘failed’ at retirement.

   4. Fritz would never write a lengthy article as an advertisement. He will share valued resources that he thinks upcoming retirees will find valuable. If he read a book that he didn’t think was valuable, knowing Fritz, he simply wouldn’t post about it. But if he thinks it is great, he’ll say so. And yes, he’ll include affiliate links as he should – it’s a lot of work writing and managing a blog for very little income.

      I think this write up is great. Jean is the real deal and I would expect nothing less than quality from her. I look forward to reading the book.

      Dana Anspach

   5. Yeah, he’s gone in that direction in the last few years. Professional podcast guest and product shill.

      1. Larry, you know he reads these comments, right? Product shill, really?

      2. You can always unsubscribe.

   6. While it is true that authors write books to sell them, dismissing a retirement planning book as just an advertisement ignores the actual financial benefits readers can get from it. I believe it to be a good trade off. Have you read the book?

3. Hi Fritz!

   I agree with the premise that several paychecks per month will give you the peace of mind to spend more than if you had to withdraw from principal. We are still working on what our portfolio’s main function will be. Giving to charities and family is all we come up with, while the funds rack up impressive gains every year. I tell folks that if it were not for taxes, we would liquidate almost all equities and turn to cd’s. Sounds stupid, even to myself, that growth is no longer desired. We continue to pray for best uses of our funds.
   Blessings to you, Jackie and all your readers, Steve

4. I just retired May of this year at 57. I realized I had the funds to retire at 54 but I felt ignorant and spent time learning (this blog and similar ones helped a LOT). It shocked me to find how complicated withdrawal strategies can be especially when dealing with ACA/MAGI – all the simple advice about withdrawal order is about as practical as the 4% “rule.”

   I wanted to create a multi-layer approach that could withstand crashes, inflation, etc. – sort of the “Swiss cheese” model of disaster prevention. To that end, I:

   -put 25% of my income for 3 years into a deferred compensation plan that will pay out over 8 years (paycheck every quarter; that money is invested in TDF’s but I can’t “withdraw” it at will, it’s like a self-created pension).
   -purchased a deferred annuity that starts paying out when I’m 59.5.
   -set up a 10 year TIPS later where each rung gets larger than the previous since the annuity will lose value due to inflation.

   Those sources of income will cover my “floor” spending needs and will carry me to the point where I’d consider taking social security – I plan to wait until 70 to ensure the largest benefit to my wife, but will take it earlier if necessary, I’m just arranging things to make it not necessary.

   I still have a comfortable portfolio with 60% equities and will actually increase equity allocation over time (plan to be at 90% equities when I start taking social security).

   One other thing is that I’ll actually be reversing some common advice due to ACA – I’ll do two large Roth conversions (up to 24%) in 2027 and 2028 that will give me much more MAGI control from age 60-65; those income sources I set up will mean that my base MAGI is going to be close to $55k, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for LTCG from brokerage to fund my “paycheck” and I don’t have much in Roth.

   I saw all that to describe why withdrawal strategy felt like a jigsaw puzzle to me – there’s a lot of pieces in the box to fit together. (Unlike a jigsaw puzzle, you get to control the shape of the pieces too.)

5. The is a huge difference between accumulating a large nest egg throughout 30+ years and learning how to live off it when you retire when the regular systematic paychecks stop. Many retirees underspend from their portfolio out of fear of running out of money. They end up being one of the richest in the graveyard. Truly, there is a science behind properly spending from your portfolio to maximize quality retirement. I’m ready to retire in 12 months and I have a lot to learn myself. Hope I don’t goof it up!

6. I set up a plan such as this back in 2013 based on Wade Pfau’s papers on “safety-first.” I effectively treated 1/3rd of our retirement portfolio as our self-funded pension (a forever paycheck). That paycheck along with my SS benefit at FRA would cover our essential expenses. However, I was able to wait to 70 to start SS, which turns out to be close to the maximum benefit possible based on maxing out 34 of the 35 years of income qualification. Consequently, that 32% SS income boost wound up covering all expenses (essential and discretionary) except for major travel. Since retiring, we’ve maintained a 70/30 asset allocation, where the 30% “bond allocation” can (if needed) provide 10 years of additional discretionary spending without tapping into equities. The first half of that bond allocation is structured as a rolling 5-year CD ladder where each rung of that ladder covers our expected RMDs for that year. Years six through 10 is funded with bond funds and buffered ETFs. This strategy allows the 70% equity holdings (all low-cost index funds) to be invested in the long term. Because we have had a good sequence of return (since 2013), our portfolio has also steadily grown since retiring. Since 2019 when we were told by our Fidelity advisor that we were underspending, we have tripled our discretionary spending for travel (mostly via upgrading travel).

   All this was made possible by first establishing our “forever paycheck.” Waiting to age 70 for SS benefits enabled the lifetime income to survive inflation for a longer period (since the forever paycheck does not have a COLA). Today (13 years after starting the paycheck), our lifetime income still covers all expenses (except for major international travel). Currently, our RMDs still cover those travel expenses, along with more gifting (funding children’s Roth, for example) and charitable donations via QCDs. As we are now in our mid-to-late 70s, our travel desires are starting to wane and such funds will be available for more out-of-pocket medical and inflation-related expense increases. What is nice is that we also know how much we can spend and where those funds come from. As we get older, simplicity is becoming more critical for us. I will also share that when I retired, we were not multi-millionaires (and still aren’t). So, this is not a strategy that just works for the “wealthy.” In fact, if you are wealthy, you probably don’t need that peace-of-mind as much.

   1. Glen,
      Great to hear it as all still going well.
      We chatted a couple of time via Fritz’s blog a few years back.

7. Thanks, I was thinking about buying this book anyway. Also, the message of the book fits in nicely with things that Frtiz said in his book about creating a paycheck from your retirement savings.

8. Love the review…I just started this book 2 days ago – and now really looking forward to diggin in.
   Used appropriately, annuities can be a powerful part of retirement income planning (mortality credits for the win) Accumulation is only half the equation; spending strategy matters even more, since in retirement there’s no paycheck to make up for mistakes. I expect we’ll see many more books like this as the retirement population grows.

9. A review of books relevant to income and spending in retirement are always welcome. Thanks for the clear review of the book.
   When discussing Forever Income something that I rarely see discussed by financial advisors is the use of a group of carefully selected dividend stocks to provide a steady and regular income. In 2014 three colleagues and I purchased 20 acres of raw land next to our our midsized midwestern town with the idea to develop it some 10 years later. In addition to a considerable down payment, my share of the monthly carrying cost was $1,000. I always had the idea that someday I would get $1000 per month back out after I retired. Well, life circumstances for two of us dictated that we sell the property in 2019. My share of proceeds was $188,000. I used $18,000 of that amount to help cover the capital gain taxes and put $170,000 into a brokerage account and started to invest in selected growth and dividend stocks that would, hopefully someday, provide me with $1,000 per month of dividends. Initially the dividends amounted to about $500 per month. Initially all dividends were reinvested as I was still working. Today with the rise in the stock market since 2019 the initial investment has grown to over $400,000 in the account and provides an average of over $1,500 per month of qualified dividends. The yield on the current account value is 4.8% while the yield on cost (my initial $170K investment) is slightly over 11%. The only drawback to the use of dividends as the Forever Paycheck is the amount coming in each month is uneven; however, I find managing that cash flow to be relatively straightforward. A large advantage of this method is that the dividends are taxed at 15% rather than my marginal rate of 24%. In my view setting up a dividend ‘ladder’ is similar to setting up a CD or a bond ladder with the difference being how dividends are taxed versus interest. A downside is that not all stocks picks pan out, some do go south. Those I have used for selective selling at a loss to reduce income. Yes, it takes a bit of work to track the dividends but as I am now retired I enjoy getting 50% more income than I had hoped for when I started this effort. I do suggest that this method merits consideration by those seeking an additional source of Forever Income. I use the income now, and eventually will leave the underlying stocks to my three children to give them a boost on their own retirement paychecks.

   1. Vern,
      There are plenty of books on dividend investing, and there is nothing wrong with investing with a slant towards “dividend income.” However, none of them stress the “real truth” behind this method and that is that it may add more “ballast” to your account than your risk profile suggests. In other words, the return profile of this method is more like a 60/40 to 50/50 equity/bond profile. If you prefer to pick the stocks yourself, as you have found out already, some don’t make the long-term cut which affects your long-term returns even further. I have done this myself for over 10 years, and have studied another well known investor doing it for 22 years. Neither was better than just investing in 100% equities via an index fund. Which does not imply you should invest 100% in an index fund, just that if your risk profile suggests you need 40% in bonds or cash, then putting the rest in an index fund is in most cases “better” for you than stock picking for whatever reason. That is why last year at 73 I sold my “dividend income” and replaced it with 4 ETFs and just turned off the dividend reinvestment in my IRA to feed my RMDs and QCDs. If you want to read about how 24 years went with stock picking in a closed portfolio of real money that was easy to track monthly here is a review:

      https://seekingalpha.com/instablog/3752451-financialdave/4982632-15-year-history-of-one-dividend-stock-portfolio

      The comments update the results to earlier this year (2026) which is year 24 of a original $40k investment.

10. Fritz, thank you for reviewing this book, I appreciate your reviews as there are so many books out there that are similar. As someone who is comfortable but not wealthy, with no pension and lack of access to local fee only advisors, I appreciate this blog and the advice. I also purchased Dana’s book and found that very helpful. I hope to retire soon but there’s a good chance the stock market won’t be as cooperative for my early years as it has for the last 10+ years. I am considering an annuity with 3% COLA to cover the basic expenses and maintain stock investments for the extras. I am aware of the annuity fees so I have concerns, however Alzheimer’s also runs in my family, so it could be beneficial to have the set paycheck for life, plus my husband wants nothing to do with the finances. I read a lot about retirement which has increased my knowledge; but with net worth not as high as some others here, there is anxiety. I appreciate different viewpoints and ideas to consider. Thank you for your blog and reviews.

11. As an OG reader of your blog starting with “5 Steps to Take within 5 years of Retirement” in March 2016 and still using and updating my net worth spreadsheet, i appreciate you letting me know about the book and sharing your summary. Life is Good!

12. Fritz, thanks for the thoughtful review. I was just finishing The Forever Paycheck when I read your article and found myself nodding along throughout. I thought you captured the book’s message accurately and fairly. Having been retired for about five years, I found the book comprehensive, practical, engaging, and helpful. It will definitely be one that I recommend to others approaching retirement. I also appreciate the time and effort you put into sharing honest book reviews and retirement insights with your readers. Keep up the great work, and thanks for all you do for the retirement community.

13. Thank you for reviewing this book for us, Fritz. I plan to read the book because I think that Single Premium Immediate Annuities can be a useful tool for some folks when they retire.

    I’ve been involved in the Financial Services industry since 1985. Since then I’ve seen how contract holders can be negatively impacted if the insurer they’re depending on for their monthly “paycheck” encounters financial turbulence, becomes financially insolvent, is forced into receivorship, and eventually has to be rehabilitated by the State Life and Health Guarantee Association.

    I also recall the unexpected financial difficulties experienced by some large, extremely well known insurance companies during the Great Recession, the most prominent one being AIG and its subsidiaries, one of whom – VALIC – was the provider of the 403B Tax Deferred Savings Plan for the Health Care System that my wife worked at for over four decades. For a while during 2008, there were some very scary times for many plan participants when AIG went from being a hugely successful company one day to all of a sudden being on US Government life support the next day and for a long time thereafter when their financial empire crumbled and collapsed in a very short period of time.

    These days, since Private Equity Companies have become more involved with a number of insurance companies in ways that are in many cases not at all transparent, I think that there are more potential credit risks in these new ownership and insurance company reserve arrangements than has ever been the case.

    I recently heard an interview with Jean Chatsky on the Morningstar Long View Podcast where Christine Benz asked her about the risks posed by private equity backed insurance companies.

    Unfortunately, IMO, the answer that was given to Christine’s question was incorrect as to the specific risks posed by how some private equity companies were investing the reserves that they’re required to maintain. You can hear the exchange beginning at the 17:10 mark in that Long View Podcast.

    The fact that a more factually accurate answer wasn’t provided gave me quite a bit of pause regarding the writer’s knowledge and expertise on that matter.

    Hopefully, when I read her book, I’ll find that concern to be unwarranted.

    Thanks again for your review of the book.

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