The Yale spending rule, for a household

Most of last year’s inflation-indexed spend, plus a slice of a target percentage of current market value. Why universities use it, and what a household is actually trading.

The hybrid

Universities cannot change the operating budget 20% after one endowment year. The Yale (and more generally endowment) rule is a blend: most of last year’s spending, raised with inflation, plus a slice of a target percentage of current market value. Typical teaching weights are 70/30. Spending follows markets, slowly.

A household is not a university. There is no board, no tuition, no 50-year mission. What you are buying is smoothness. What you are selling is the ability to spend a windfall now, and the ability to cut hard after a crash. That trade is legitimate. It is not free.

Run it

The Yale endowment spending calculator is labelled on the page as a Yale / endowment spending calculator because that is the query. It blends last year’s inflation-indexed spend with a target percentage of assets. Compare it with Vanguard dynamic spending, which clamps a percent-of-balance target instead of averaging with last year.

When a household wants this

When a lumpy 10% Guyton cut would be a fight, and a pure percent-of-balance cheque would bounce too much to plan a year. When you can accept that a long bear will still grind spending down — just not in one step.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Yale spending rule?
A hybrid: typically 70% of last year’s spending raised with inflation, plus 30% of a target rate times current market value. Spending moves, but much more slowly than the portfolio.
Why would a household use it?
To damp the year-to-year swing of a pure percent-of-balance rule while still responding to a long bull or bear. The operating budget does not jump 20% after one good year.