Retirement Stress Test

Learn how to utilize the Retirement Stress Test

Last published on: August 27, 2025

 

Video: Retirement Stress Test by Income Lab - Tutorial Video

Video Transcript

welcome this video will walk through how

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to use the retirement stress test

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feature inside income lab to begin

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select one of your households on the

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left-hand navigation menu click

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retirement stress test you'll see a

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timeline across the top of the page with

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the various available historical eras in

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which you can stress test plans just

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click a time period to toggle between

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options like the global financial crisis

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stagflation

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and the Great Depression

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for this example we'll look at the

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global financial crisis

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below the timeline you'll see some of

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the information on what was happening in

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the economy around that point in history

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the retirement stress test runs the

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chosen plan through a particular period

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of time here we're beginning the plan in

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November of 2007 before the Global

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Financial Crisis began

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but by clicking on the word before we

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can toggle the stress test to begin

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during

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or after this event

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the dark blue line in the income chart

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shows the income experience that this

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plan would deliver including income

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increases or decreases when it

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Encounters this particular sequence of

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returns and inflation

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the light blue shading shows the plant

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income which is how much income this

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plan would call for if there were no

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adjustments

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hover over the chart to see the income

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experience and plan the income at any

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point in time

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the red and green vertical lines

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highlight when income adjustments

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occurred

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click on the menu icon on the right to

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toggle between real or nominal values

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include or exclude notations for

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inflation adjustments in the nominal

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View

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and include or exclude special variable

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expenses in the plan

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here you can also turn on and off the

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balance and guardrails graph which shows

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how the portfolio balance and guardrails

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develop over time for this plan in this

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scenario

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when the balance hits a guardrail you'll

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see a Greener red dotted line and an

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adjustment in income in the income graph

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above

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this is a great place to show how the

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plan's guardrails serve to keep the plan

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on track over time triggering decreases

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in income spending and withdrawals when

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risk is too high and allowing for

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increases in income when risk reaches

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low levels income Labs retirement stress

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test is also a great place to evaluate

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plan options at the top left you will

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find a drop down with all of the planned

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scenarios you have created for this

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household this is an easy way to switch

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between and compare different plans on

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the Fly for example you can see how a

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plan with more conservative spending

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goals would have whether the global

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financial crisis without a decrease in

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income

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or how a plane with a higher stock

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allocation would have needed larger

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adjustments during this period

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the examples you'll find in the

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retirement stress test can clarify how

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planning for adjustments really plays

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out in practice and help clients build

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confidence in their plans income Labs

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retirement stress tests take the stress

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out of retirement

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thank you for viewing this video reach

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out to our team if you have any

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questions