Withdrawal rates › 50 years

Is 5.5% a safe withdrawal rate for 50 years?

A 5.5% withdrawal ($55k a year from $1M, raised with inflation) lasted 50 years in 33.7% of start years since 1871 with a 60/40 portfolio, and 51.9% with 100% stocks.

It failed more often than it lasted: the money ran out in 69 of 104 start years from 1871 to 1974. Failures clustered in start years 1881, 1886–1917, 1928–1931, 1934–1941, 1944–1946 and 1953, among others.

The worst start was 1969, when the money ran out in year 16. Among the start years that lasted, 1942 came closest, finishing with $16k.

In 21% of start years the portfolio ended above the $1M it started with, after inflation. The median ending balance was $0.

Cutting spending by 20% whenever the portfolio sat more than 20% below its real high raised success to 40.4%. Holding two years of spending in cash and drawing on it after down years lowered it to 23.1%.

Of the four mixes, 100% stocks lasted most often, at 51.9%.

By portfolio and strategy

Success is the share of start years in which the money never ran out. Endings are for the fixed strategy, in today's dollars. 20% cut in bear markets: spending drops 20% while the portfolio is more than 20% below its inflation-adjusted high. 2-year cash bucket: two years of spending held in cash earning 0.5% real, spent after years when stocks fell and refilled after years they rose.

← 5.25% · 5.75% → · 20 years · 25 years · 30 years · 40 years

Questions

Is 5.5% a safe withdrawal rate for 50 years?

A 5.5% withdrawal ($55k a year from $1M, raised with inflation) lasted 50 years in 33.7% of start years since 1871 with a 60/40 portfolio, and 51.9% with 100% stocks. By the usual 95% standard it was not safe on its own; a lower rate or flexible spending helped.

What was the worst year to retire at 5.5%?

1969: with 60/40 the money ran out in year 16.

Does cutting spending in bear markets help?

At 5.5% over 50 years with 60/40, a 20% cut whenever the portfolio was 20% below its high took success from 33.7% to 40.4%.