What Is The ‘Floor & Ceiling’ Retirement Spending Strategy?
In a 2001 article, William Bengen offered a new balance between the constant amount and fixed percentage strategies with his “floor and ceiling” spending approach.
How Can You Protect Your Retirement Portfolio During the Election?
The presidential elections usually offer some very stark choices, so often people are concerned about how the election results will effect the economy. Let’s take a deep breath and try to take an objective look at how the election could affect your portfolio.
Finding the Right Balance Between Inflation Risk and Investment Risk
When we talk about retirement risks, people often tend to fixate on their investments. Yes, investment risk is important, but it’s only a piece of the puzzle. The primary risk to your retirement is not having enough money to do what you want. Like I said, investment risk certainly plays into this, but you need […]
Seeking A Fixed Percentage Approach To Retirement Spending
The fixed percentage withdrawal strategy is the polar opposite of constant inflation-adjusted spending. Subsequent strategies we consider will strive to strike a balance between these two. This fixed percentage strategy calls for retirees to spend a constant percentage of the remaining portfolio balance in each year of retirement.
Are Structured CDs Too Good To Be True?
Most people know what Certificates of Deposit (CDs) are. You buy one for a number of years, then at the end, the bank gives you your money back plus a little interest. They’re not huge moneymakers, but they’re about as reliable as can be, which makes them great tools for offsetting risk. Of course, Wall […]
US Markets Are Outperforming Global Markets, What Should You Do?
To say international stocks haven’t been doing great relative to US stocks is a massive understatement. What does that mean for your portfolio?
Most of the investment advice you get is (or should be) conditional. Advisors tend to steer clear of definitive, blanket statements, but this is one that I’m pretty comfortable making if you have stocks in your portfolio, you should probably own both domestic and international st
Can You Rely On Dividends For Income?
There’s real value in knowing where your money will come from. Hence the appeal of income investing – building a portfolio focused on creating a long-term steady stream of income…But income investing presents a few problems.
The Problems With A Constant Retirement Spending Strategy
The first method to be tested is the original constant inflation-adjusted withdrawal strategy introduced in William Bengen’s 1994 article, “Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data.” This will serve as a baseline for subsequent comparison with other strategies. Bengen’s rule says to adjust spending annually for inflation and maintain constant inflation-adjusted spending until the portfolio depletes.
The Most Important Investment Decision You’ll Ever Make About Your Portfolio
When most people think about investing, they’re thinking about stuff that doesn’t really matter. They’re caught up in the minutiae: What fund should I own? How fast did the iPhone 7 sell out (and are people really going to be okay with no headphone jack)? What sector is going to take off this fall? But that’s not really what determines your portfolio’s fate. What really matters is your ratio between stocks and bonds.
Retirement Income Planning Is As Easy As PAY
As an alternative to failure rates, I suggest calibrating the downside risk across strategies in order to match them for a level of risk the retiree is comfortable taking. This calibration is done with a customized “XYZ formula” that I first outlined in my article, “Making Sense Out of Variable Strategies for Retirees” in the Journal of Financial Planning.
