OK, you said it, “Honey, I think it’s time I retire,” and the dust has settled. Now the fun part. How are you going to pay for it all and not outlive your money? Living within your means can be tricky. You don’t want to be an emotional wreck when you no longer have a paycheck to fall back on.
Let’s not make this too much about math. Yes, keeping to a four percent draw from investable assets makes sense. But this is not an exact science. Just this week, there was an article in the WSJ about adopting an actuarial draw rate based on your life expectancy.
As an aside, I might point out, we already have something like that with IRAs. It’s called an RMD, where you’re forced to withdraw and pay taxes on your life expectancy. Not that you need to spend it all.
It has been Your Survival Guy’s experience that you need to be flexible. You need to have a plan that adjusts with the ebb and flow of Your Retirement Life. Because life changes. I have found that good outcomes are helped along by being well informed about your money.
How much can your portfolio handle in terms of a draw rate when there’s an emergency in the family? What if you are thinking about moving to one of Your Survival Guy’s Super States? How will you bridge the gap in owning two homes? Should you sell one of them? The more you know, the more you know.
But at the end of the day, we just don’t know. Planning is good. But life can throw us curveballs, and often the rules change, and we need to adjust the plan.
Action Line: Yes, Your Retirement Life can be about creating trusts and withdrawal plans, among other things, but it’s also about finding someone you trust to help guide you through it all. When you’re ready to talk about it all, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com.
Read the entire series here.
