AI for Retirement Income Planning

Retirement income planning comes down to three questions: which accounts to draw from, when to claim Social Security, and how long the money has to last. Withdrawal sequencing. The conventional order is taxable accounts first, then tax-deferred accounts, then Roth. Bracket-filling strategies often do better. They withdraw or convert tax-deferred money deliberately in low-income years, especially the gap between retiring and the start of Social Security and required minimum distributions. Under SECURE 2.0, RMDs start at 73, and at 75 for people born in 1960 or later. Other interactions make the problem harder. Up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable. Medicare IRMAA surcharges are based on income from two years earlier. ACA premium subsidies before 65 depend on income. Social Security claiming. Benefits can start between 62 and 70. For someone whose full retirement age is 67, claiming at 62 reduces the benefit by 30%. Each year of delay past full retirement age adds 8% until 70. For married couples, the higher earner's claiming age also sets the survivor benefit. Tools such as Open Social Security and Maximize My Social Security search the combinations. Longevity. Planning to average life expectancy means roughly half of people outlive the plan. Tools such as the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator show how likely it is that one or both spouses reach advanced ages, and couples face a higher chance that at least one of them lives into their 90s. Platforms such as Income Lab and Boldin, and advisor software like RightCapital, combine these pieces. A misconception is that the AI finds one optimal answer. The result depends on assumptions about returns, tax law and lifespan, so the more useful output is how sensitive the plan is to each assumption.