Guaranteed Retirement Income: $400,000 in St. Louis

How much guaranteed retirement income can you get with $400,000 in St. Louis, Missouri? I go through four real couple scenarios and show where the numbers actually land.

Four St. Louis scenarios

Each scenario starts from the same $400,000. What separates them is how far ahead of retirement the income is arranged.

The illustrations shown reach as much as $64,800 a year of guaranteed income for couples who plan ahead. These are illustrative figures and depend on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company.

Why the 4% rule breaks down here

The 4% rule answers the question of how much you can withdraw before you probably run out. That is a survival question, and the number it produces is deliberately conservative.

Living on a deliberately conservative number for thirty years has a cost, and almost nobody is ever shown what that cost is in dollars.

Securing the essentials, then the rest

Lifestyle-First planning starts with what your life costs and which part of it has to be certain. Once the certain part is covered by income that arrives regardless of the market, the remaining savings are free to behave like savings again.

Go deeper

The full written breakdown for St. Louis

Does Missouri tax Social Security?

Everything on this page is illustrative and hypothetical as of August 2026. It is education, not investment, tax, or legal advice. Any people shown are examples, not real clients, and your situation will differ. Withdrawal-rate rules of thumb are general guidance from published research and are not a prediction or a promise of any result. Protected Lifetime Income figures rely on the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. Kurt H. Jackson is Life and Health Insurance Licensed in MO, NE, KS, IA, and FL, and is not a securities broker, registered investment advisor, or CPA.

Browse all of Kurt’s retirement videos on the Retirement Planning Videos page.