Planning Changes Before Retirement
Why the old rules of thumb for drawing retirement income came under fire, and the alternatives the national press said deserve a look.
The Old Rule of Thumb Met a New Reality
For decades, conventional wisdom said you could retire, draw a steady percentage from your savings each year, and trust the math to hold for the rest of your life. Then hard markets showed how much damage a downturn in the first years of retirement can do to that plan.
This special report shares the national reporting that challenged the old thinking and walks through the alternatives researchers and planners put forward, including approaches that make your essential expenses less dependent on market swings.
First published in 2018. A refreshed edition is planned; some figures inside reflect the rules in effect at publication.
- Where the conventional withdrawal rule of thumb came from
- Why market downturns early in retirement change the math
- The research on pairing investments with lifetime income sources
- How some planners match dependable income to essential expenses
- Questions to bring to your own retirement income conversation
What You'll Learn
The Rule of Thumb, Revisited
Where the conventional withdrawal guideline came from, what it assumed about markets, and why researchers began to question whether it still held.
The Sequence Risk Problem
A downturn in the first years of retirement does more damage than the same downturn later. Why timing, not just averages, decides whether savings last.
Alternatives on the Table
The approaches researchers proposed, including pairing investment portfolios with lifetime income sources instead of relying on withdrawals alone.
Covering the Essentials First
How some planners match dependable income to basic living expenses, so a rough market year does not decide whether the bills get paid.
Get the Full Guide
The complete special report on why retirement income planning changed and the alternatives that followed. No email required. No strings attached.
5 pages. Takes about 5 minutes to read.