Stable Income or Stable Legacy? The Core Retirement Trade-Off

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2026-01-15

In retirement planning, you can optimize either stable spending or a stable legacy value — but not both.

If you model investments using probabilistic (Monte Carlo) returns, you can smooth and stabilize spending year-to-year. But the legacy value becomes unpredictable because markets fluctuate.

If instead you use deterministic returns, you can precisely target a future legacy amount. But then spending must adjust every year to stay on track — making income unstable.

So the choice is strategic:

Stable lifestyle or stable inheritance?

Pick your return model based on what matters more to you.

Simple bucket strategies your clients can follow

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