--- title: Empire Life Blog Converting assets into income description: Converting assets into income --- × #### Subscribe ### Subscribe to Email Updates Signing up for our Blog offers you the opportunity to subscribe and receive email notifications for Investment or Insurance type content only from The Empire Life Insurance Company and Empire Life Investments Inc. You may cancel your subscription to the newsletter at any time by clicking on [unsubscribe](http://www.fastandfull.ca/hs/manage-preferences/unsubscribe-simple) or, by contacting The Empire Life Insurance Company or, Empire Life Investments Inc. **The Empire Life Insurance Company** 259 King Street East, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3A8, Canada Toll Free: 1 800 561-1268 Email: insurance@empire.ca or investment@empire.ca **Empire Life Investments Inc.** c/o 259 King Street East, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3A8, Canada Toll-free telephone: 1 855 823-6883 Email: mutualfund@empire.ca Close [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/Empire-Life-Insurance-142465432433812/) [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/company/empire-life-investments) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/empirelifeins) Subscribe [EN](https://www.empire.ca/blog) | [FR](https://empire.ca/fr/blogue) [![Empire Life | Empire Life Investments](https://blog.empirelife.ca/hubfs/Logo/Combined%20Blog%20Images/combined-logo.png)](https://www.empire.ca/blog) # Insurance, Investments and Group Benefits ## Navigate life with confidenceTM - Insurance - [Insurance](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/insurance) - [Helpful Tips](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/helpful-tips) - [Customer Service](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/customer-service) - Investments - [Investments](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/investments) - [Investment Views](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/investment-views) - [Off the Cuff](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/off-the-cuff) - [Group Benefits(1)](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/group-benefits) - [Personal Finance (1)](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/personal-finance) ## [Converting assets into income](https://blog.empirelife.ca/blog/converting-assets-into-income) [Investments](https://blog.empirelife.ca/blog/topic/investments), [Personal Finance](https://blog.empirelife.ca/blog/topic/personal-finance) Posted by [Peter Wouters](https://blog.empirelife.ca/blog/author/peter-wouters) Oct 18, 2016 2:45:33 PM Directeur, Planification fiscale et successorale et planification de la retraite, Gestion de patrimoine Placements Empire Vie Life is about choices - having them and deciding which ones work best for you. Retirees, for example, often feel that they must choose from a few possible alternatives for converting their retirement assets into income: 1. Withdraw earnings and interest only, as needed 2. Withdraw earnings and interest, as well as principal, as needed 3. Enrol in systematic withdrawal income programs (SWIPs) or guaranteed withdrawal benefit plans (GWBs) 4. Take lifetime income (annuitize or set up a personalized pension) Which one is best? A better question is this: why do you have to choose only one? Consider that retirement, or whatever you want to call the “R” word, may be the longest set of phases in your lifetime. Collectively, it they can comprise 30-40 years or more of your life. You can define or redefine who you are, what you want to do, how you want to do it and how long you want to do those things. Yes, sometimes circumstances, health, relationships and the markets will influence or dictate a change in direction or a re-ordering of your priorities. That may well trigger changes in how you convert your assets to provide sustainable income. That brings us back to the question: why do you have to choose one of the four alternatives for converting your assets into income? Can one alternative work for decades? *Today's reality is that combinations may work best.* For one person it may be 1 and 2. For another person it could be 2 and 4. For a third person it could be 1 and 3 for the first 10 years or so and then switch to 3 and 4. Combinations provide diversification and may help to spread out and reduce risk. Combinations also provide flexibility, which is important because each one of you has a unique list of needs, wants and circumstances. These may change, so your plans, strategies and solutions may also need to change to adapt to new realities. Don’t live in a world dictated by absolutes. Explore how you may be able to build flexibility and options into your plans, strategies and solutions. Speak with an advisor who is well versed and trained in retirement income planning about building structures with flexibility so you can live out your dreams, satisfy your wants and have peace of mind.  ![Retirement Savings Tool](https://blog.empirelife.ca/hubfs/Blog_images/RST-Blog-EN.jpg) [Get Started](https://www.empire.ca/retirement-and-savings-tool) ### POPULAR POSTS ### CATEGORIES - [Insurance](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/insurance) - [Investments](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/investments) - [Group Benefits](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/group-benefits) - [Personal Finance](https://www.empire.ca/blog/topic/personal-finance) [Disclaimer](https://info.fastandfull.ca/disclaimer) [Legal](https://info.fastandfull.ca/legal) [Privacy Policy](https://info.fastandfull.ca/privacy-policy) [Accessibility](https://info.fastandfull.ca/accessibility) [Consumer Information](https://info.fastandfull.ca/consumer-information) [Contact Us](https://info.fastandfull.ca/contact) [Third-Party Tools and Sites](https://info.fastandfull.ca/third-party) [Confidentiality](https://info.fastandfull.ca/confidentiality) [Unsubscribe](https://info.fastandfull.ca/hs/manage-preferences/unsubscribe-simple) **CONTACT US** The Empire Life Insurance Company 259 King St. E. 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