June 16, 2023 – I wonder if I’ll ever run out of material for the Safe Withdrawal Series. Fifty-eight parts now, and the new ideas come faster than I can write posts these days. This month, I initially planned to write about the effects of timing Social Security in the context of safe withdrawal simulations. But one issue keeps coming up. It’s almost like a personal finance “zombie” topic that, after I thought I put it to rest once and for all, always comes back when you least expect it. It’s flexibility. If we are flexible – so we are told – we don’t have to worry much about sequence risk. We can throw out the 4% Rule and make it the 5.5% Rule. Or the 7% Rule or whatever you like.

Only it’s not that easy. In today’s post, I like to accomplish three things:

1. Provide a simple chart and a few back-of-the-envelope calculations to demonstrate the flexibility folly.
2. Comment on a recent post by two fellow personal finance bloggers and showcase some of the weaknesses of their approach.
3. Propose a better method for modeling flexibility and gauging its impact on safe withdrawal amounts. Hint: it uses my SWR Simulation tool!

Let’s take a look…

Continue reading “Flexibility is Overrated – SWR Series Part 58” →