“The Retiree Can Change the Safe Withdrawal Rate That Applies for Him By Being Willing to Reduce Spending If His Preferred Rate Does Not Produce Good Results for a Number of Years or by Being Willing to Take on Part-Time Employment or by Being Willing to Leave a Smaller Amount to Heirs Than He Would Prefer. Effective Retirement Planning Requires That One Be Willing to Take a Look at All of These Factors.”

Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently posted to the discussion thread for another blog entry at this site:

There is an interesting SWR article on Morningstar today.

https://www.morningstar.com/articles/1066569/whats-a-safe-retirement-spending-rate-for-the-decades-ahead

I like that article a lot.

It gets into numerous factors that were ignored during the time when Buy-and-Hold dogmatists were arguing that there is only one safe withdrawal rate that applies for all investors are all times. The retiree can change the safe withdrawal rate that applies for him by being willing to reduce spending if his preferred rate does not produce good results for a number or years or by being willing to take on part-time employment or by being willing to leave a smaller amount to heirs than he would prefer. Effective retirement planning requires that one be willing to take a look at all of these factors. And of course the valuation level that applies on the day the retirement begins must be considered as well — this article acknowledges that.

I wish that this article had been published on the afternoon of May 13, 2002. A lot of discussion board and blog communities that have been burned to the ground by Lindauerheads and Greany Goons would still be around. And we would all be learning from the powerful insights generated during those discussions. We would all be living better and freer and more fulfilling lives. Moving past the dogmatism of earlier days would yield all good stuff and zero downside.

I view the publication of this article as a highly encouraging sign. Now we just need to see a few brave people take the ball and run with it into the end zone.

My best wishes to you, Evidence.

Rob