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Painterly dawn scene: a small boat carrying a lone figure drifts across calm water through a narrow passage between towering, mist-shrouded forested cliffs.

Is the 4% Rule Still Safe? We Ran 5,000 Simulated Retirements

The 4% rule sounds settled. We ran flexible and rigid withdrawal policies through 5,000 identical market lifetimes to see what "safe" actually means, and what it costs.

Painterly dawn scene: jagged snow-dusted mountain peaks rising above a glowing sea of orange-lit clouds, with a snowy slope descending in the foreground.

What a 1% Fee Really Costs You Over 40 Years

One percent sounds trivial. We simulated 5,000 forty-year saving lifetimes at 0%, 0.5%, and 1% fee drag to measure what that annual charge actually removes at the finish line.

Painterly landscape of a wide autumn valley framed by steep mountains, with a vast storm cloud towering over the pass in the distance and dark rock spires in the foreground.

What Happens If the Market Crashes the Year You Retire?

The same market crash is a footnote at 48 and a crisis at 65. A look at sequence of returns risk, and why a crash the year you retire does the most damage.

Painterly dusk scene: a lone figure stands between two enormous monolithic towers rising from a rocky valley under an orange-and-grey sky.

Which Investing Strategy Actually Wins? We Benchmarked Six on the Same Markets

Everyone has a favorite investing strategy. We ran six through 5,000 identical market lifetimes — same household, same markets — to see which actually wins.

Painterly dusk landscape: an enormous moon rising over jagged rock spires and an autumn-orange valley, with a lone figure on a path in the foreground.

Monte Carlo Simulation in Personal Finance: Why Projections Fall Short

Monte Carlo simulation is the gap between a financial projection and a real plan. We ran one household through Killion’s full simulation engine to show why the odds, not the number, are what you actually plan against.

Painterly dusk scene of people climbing a hillside path toward a monumental cantilevered modern structure.

Does Staying Invested Actually Beat Timing the Market?

Timing the market can win on paper. Here is what forty years of real S&P 500 returns say about why staying invested almost always wins in practice.