About Tod Long
Twenty-two years.
Thirty-two states.
One standard.
Host of The Income Standard
About Tod Long
Host of The Income Standard
The Story
For most of the financial services industry, the job ends when you retire. You've accumulated the assets. You've hit the number. The next chapter is yours to figure out.
Tod Long spent 22 years watching what happened in that next chapter — and it wasn't always what the projections promised. He watched people arrive at retirement with real wealth and no income architecture. He watched the fear of running out quietly override the joy of what they'd built.
"The problem was never the portfolio. The problem was that nobody had designed an income structure that could hold — regardless of what the market did next."
— Tod Long
That observation became the foundation of everything Tod does. Specializing exclusively in fixed indexed annuities, fixed annuities, and indexed universal life, he built a practice around a single discipline: engineering retirement income that doesn't depend on probability. That can't expire. That covers what it needs to cover — for life.
Licensed across 32 states, Tod has designed income architectures for pre-retirees from coast to coast — each one measured against the same standard. Not a return target. Not a withdrawal rate. A guaranteed floor that holds regardless of sequence, longevity, or market conditions.
"Accumulation and distribution are two different disciplines. The tools are different. The risks are different. The math is different. Most people arrive at retirement with an accumulation expert — when what they need is an income engineer."
— Tod Long
The Income Standard was built to make that distinction clear — and to give pre-retirees the framework to demand more from their planning. Not probability. Not hope. A structure.
The Philosophy
These aren't preferences. They're the structural commitments that separate income engineering from retirement guessing.
Principle 01
Every plan starts with a floor — guaranteed income that covers non-negotiable monthly expenses for life. Not a withdrawal rate. Not a probability. A guarantee. The portfolio becomes discretionary wealth once the floor is closed.
Principle 02
The order of investment returns matters more than the average. Early losses during withdrawal permanently impair a portfolio in ways no subsequent recovery can fully fix. Every plan includes a sequence buffer — a protected income layer that eliminates the need to sell in a down market.
Principle 03
You can't predict how long you'll live. You can build income that doesn't care. A guaranteed income floor with a lifetime rider has no expiration date — by design. We stress-test every plan to age 95 minimum. Longevity stops being a financial threat when the floor can't expire.
Principle 04
The RMD tax bomb doesn't arrive at 73 without warning — it builds silently in the years before it. The pre-RMD window between retirement and age 73 is the most powerful tax planning opportunity most people never use. It's part of every plan we build.
"To raise the standard for retirement income design —
replacing accumulation thinking with
income engineering."
The Income Standard — Mission
That mission lives in every episode of the podcast, every Income Standard Review, and every income architecture Tod builds. The standard isn't a pitch. It's a measurement — one that every retirement income plan should be held against.
Areas of Specialization
FIA
The primary tool for closing an income floor. FIAs provide market-linked growth potential with downside protection — and with a lifetime income rider, they guarantee income that can never be outlived. The right tool for longevity risk and sequence risk simultaneously.
FA
Predictable, contractual income at a guaranteed rate. Fixed annuities are the precision instrument for clients who want certainty over growth potential — particularly effective for closing income gaps and building a reliable cash-flow foundation.
IUL
Tax-advantaged accumulation with a death benefit — and, when structured correctly, a source of tax-free retirement income. IUL plays a specific role in the income architecture for clients navigating RMD exposure and legacy planning simultaneously.
The Income Standard Review
The Income Standard Review is a six-component diagnostic — not a sales call. It tells you exactly where your retirement income plan holds, and where it doesn't.