Most pre-retirees can tell me exactly what they have.
Very few can tell me the order in which they will spend it. That is the gap between an investment portfolio and an actual retirement income plan.
Every account needs a job and a place in the sequence
The example shown above illustrates what a hypothetical sequenced withdrawal strategy can look like: 23 years, seven accounts, and every dollar accounted for. Each year shows which bucket to tap, how much, and why.
Some years it is the 401(k). Some years it is the annuity. Some years it is the Roth. Each choice is deliberate. Each one carries a tax consequence—or avoids one.
If your “plan” is really a stack of statements and a hope that the math works out, that is not a plan.