When it comes time to make the most of your retirement, it’s important to proceed with the same consideration that you gave when you invested and saved your funds. You don’t want to overextend your funds and jeopardize your comfort during the later years of your retirement. However, spending too little can also negatively affect the best laid retirement plans.
The 4% rule is meant to protect retirees from either scenario. The strategy sees that retirees add their investments and then withdraw 4% of the total investments in the first year of their retirement. From that point moving forward, the retiree adjusts the dollar amount dependent upon inflation, but otherwise withdraws the same amount from their portfolio each year.
The commonly practiced formula is intended to ensure retirees do not outlive their retirement funds over a 30-year period. There are still some considerations to make when planning for retirement. The considerations include whether you can stick to the rule and whether the 4% rule is what best fits your situation.
Does your portfolio meet the criteria?
Any given year can be unpredictable, but the 4% rule is meant to stay fixed. It works based on the assumption that the investor does not spend more or less money in a given year than the rise of inflation. Still, life happens and it is unlikely that your expenses will remain stagnant throughout your retirement.
Your individual portfolio may also not match the hypothetical portfolio that the rule benefits. The idealized portfolio for the 4% rule shows 50% invested in stocks and 50% invested in bonds. While diversifying is encouraged, investments can shift throughout an individual’s retirement years, which in turn will influence the practicality of the 4% rule.
Does the 30-year timeframe make sense?
The age of retirement looks different across all fields. For that reason, a 30-year timeframe may not make practical sense. Although planning for a long retirement is advised so that money isn’t an issue, it may not be in your best interest to pursue the 4% rule if you are over 65.
It is also important to consider whether your portfolio will extend over a 30-year period. In order to ensure that the portfolio does not reach a negative balance in later years, it may require less spending during retirement.
For that reason, it is important to acknowledge a longstanding myth: Everyone can comfortably withdraw 4% from their portfolio on a yearly basis throughout their retirement.
“Over the last several years, lower interest rates and low fixed-income yields have been a factor in retirement planning,” said Kathleen Stewart, wealth strategist at BNY Mellon Wealth Management, in 2019. “Going forward, they may not produce suitable returns necessary to assure that 4% rule works over the long term.”
The solution may be to adjust the withdrawal rate to one that fits your portfolio. Whether it is 3% or 5%, or another rate based on your lifestyle, these subtle changes might make the difference for your comfort during retirement.