Retirement withdrawals

Safe withdrawal rates, the 4% rule, and flexible vs rigid spending policies.

1 article on retirement withdrawals

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

Is the 4% rule still safe? Flexible 4% lasted in 100% of 5,000 simulations; rigid 4% failed 1.1%. Full safe withdrawal rate trade-off table.

June 24, 2026

Other topics

  • Sequence of returns risk — Why the order of market returns can matter more than the average — especially near retirement.
  • Monte Carlo & projections — Why single-number projections mislead, and how probability-based planning works.
  • Investing costs — Fee drag, expense ratios, and the lifetime dollar cost of 1%.
  • Investing behavior — Time in the market vs timing the market, and the cost of panic selling.
  • Strategy comparison — Apples-to-apples benchmarks of allocation and spending rules on identical markets.
All articles