Annuity Laddering: Engineering Retirement Income in Stages

Crystal Mirkazemi | WBN News – Vancouver | August 13th, 2026

Most people plan retirement like a single event. It isn't. It unfolds over decades — with different spending patterns, health realities, inflation pressures at every stage. A single income source rarely fits all of it. Annuity laddering does.

The strategy is straightforward. Purchase multiple annuities at different times, with income activating at staggered intervals. Each layer turns on precisely when it's needed. The result is a retirement income structure that evolves with the person living it.

Think of Margaret, a 62-year-old retiring without a pension. She has CPP, some savings, a modest RRSP. She's worried about three things: income in her early active years, keeping pace with inflation by her mid-70s, covering care costs in her 80s. One annuity can't answer all three questions. Three annuities, timed correctly, can.

Her first annuity activates immediately covering core expenses through her Go-Go Years, the early retirement phase full of travel, activity, spending. Her second activates at 72, when spending slows but fixed costs remain. Her third, the largest — activates at 82, when health care costs rise. Each purchase also locks in the interest rate environment of its time, reducing the impact of rate fluctuations across a long retirement.

There are two approaches to building the ladder. The first uses fixed annuities with guaranteed rates maturing at different intervals, similar to GIC laddering, but with longer horizons. The second uses income annuities, index-linked or variable — where guaranteed income begins at different ages.

The goal is the same in both cases: replace the pension most retirees no longer have. Defined benefit plans are disappearing. CPP helps. It doesn't replace a paycheck.

A proper needs analysis is the starting point. Target 70% of pre-retirement income. Map out projected expenses by phase. Then allocate short, mid, long-term buckets accordingly.

The sophistication of the strategy belies its simplicity. It fits on the back of a napkin. Its impact lasts a lifetime.

Article #039

Crystal Mirkazemi | WBN News – Vancouver

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