Retirement Planning: Managing the Biggest Risk
If you are near or in retirement, there are several risks that can derail your retirement plans. These risks all need to be addressed in some way and some are easier to manage than others.
A Rules-Based Approach to Retirement Income Withdrawal
The best approach to have an initial retirement income withdrawal rate above the recommended 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) (assuming you are willing to periodically adjust your withdrawals when the markets warrant it) is detailed in Ben Stein’s and Phil DeMuth’s 2005 book, Yes, You Can Still Retire Comfortably!: The Baby-Boom Retirement Crisis and How […]
Increasing the Safe Withdrawal Rate, Part III
The third general approach to increasing your Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) above the recommended 4% is pretty straight forward. It requires that you be flexible in your spending from year to year. In this approach you increase your withdrawal rate when the financial markets are doing well and you reduce your withdrawal rate when the […]
Increasing the Safe Withdrawal Rate, Part II
In my last post I discussed how the most reliable way that a retiree can increase the Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) is to work longer, thereby decreasing the number of years a portfolio must support someone in retirement. In this post I will discuss the one situation where it is possible to have your cake […]
Increasing the Safe Withdrawal Rate, Part I
In my last post I discussed how the 4% recommended Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) can be increased, if you are willing to accept a higher probability that your financial portfolio will not last 30 years. In this post I will provide some thoughts on one of the ways that you can increase the SWR without […]
Can I Violate the 4% Rule?
In many of my past posts I have mentioned “the 4% rule.” The 4% rule is a reference to the recommended Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) for withdrawing retirement income from one’s financial portfolio. If you are not familiar with the 4% rule, you should read my previous post where I explain the concept. In this […]
Are You Saving Enough for Retirement?
In recent years I have reviewed dozens of interactive online tools designed to help the user determine the appropriate savings rate to retire. After all my reviews, I think I have found the best “no cost” online tool for analyzing your retirement savings status.
