Turn savings into income without spending it down too fast.

Once the paycheck stops, your savings needs to do a new job: pay the monthly bills.

That means answering three questions.

What pays you now?

Where does next month’s mortgage, groceries, utilities, and health-insurance money come from?

You may have cash, a brokerage account, a 401(k), an IRA, a Roth account, or several of them. The first job is figuring out which money should cover your expenses now.

How much can you take without hurting later?

The money you use today still has to support the years ahead. That becomes especially important if the market falls soon after you stop working.

Selling investments after they drop can leave less money invested to recover when the market comes back.

Which money should you use first?

The order matters.

Taking money from a traditional IRA or 401(k) can affect taxes. Using a taxable account or Roth money can have different effects.

Your age can also change which accounts are easier—or more expensive—to use. There’s no single withdrawal order that works for everyone.

And there’s one more thing many people miss: Your savings may not need to replace the same amount of income forever.

In the first few years after work ends, your savings may have to carry most of the household expenses. Later, Social Security may begin, and a pension may start.

A spouse may retire on a different schedule. And Medicare can change what you spend on health coverage.

So the goal isn’t to create one permanent replacement paycheck. It’s to know what pays you now, what income starts later, and how much your savings need to carry in between.

Build the income bridge

These guides help you decide how much to take, which accounts to use, and how much to leave invested. That way, you can cover today’s bills without putting more pressure than necessary on the money you’ll need later.