safe withdrawal strategies Archives

June 12, 2023June 13, 2023

Mike Piper: Down To The Essence Of Smart Money Management

Mike Piper is a CPA and the creator of the Oblivious Investor blog, where he teaches a philosophy of simple and low-maintenance investing.

Mike’s simple philosophy distills down to three primary principles:

Diversify your portfolio
Minimize costs (commissions, fees, mutual fund expenses, taxes)
Ignore the noise.

Mike began his career as a CPA before realizing he could support himself by writing books. Surprisingly, he left his secure job during the 2008 financial crisis. He has gone on to publish seventeen books and is widely considered an expert in social security, tax, and a number of other personal finance topics. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Morningstar, to name a few.

December 19, 2022December 18, 2022

QA9: What Is the Point of Financial Optimization?

We’re back to the digital mailbag to answer your questions!

For this week:

Hot Seat Questions: My favorite blogs, podcasts, articles, and books. Musings on my biggest financial mistakes and the advice I’d give my younger self.
How do my wife and I keep meaning and purpose in our lives without traditional careers?
To sell or not to sell a home that was purchased in 2021
How to sell investments and minimize taxes
The proper hierarchy of investment accounts
Roth vs Traditional 401(k): Which is better?
I-Bonds: Should we be buying more?
Saving strategies for a home down payment
Receiving inheritance in a foreign currency
Critical nuance on withdrawal strategies in a high inflation/poor market return environment
So much more!

October 17, 2022October 31, 2022

Can The 4% Rule Actually Work For Early Retirement?

The 4% rule suggests that a retiree who withdraws no more than 4% of their portfolio each year could have provided for a 30-year retirement window during most historical retirement windows. And that is true! The problem is that the FIRE community, however, perpetuates at least two misconceptions when discussing the 4% rule. Today, we address those common misconceptions about utilizing investment income. And, most importantly, we discuss how to use a flexible withdrawal strategy to weather bear markets and/or reduced future returns.

August 1, 2022August 2, 2022

QA7: Financial Freedom Fast-Tracks and Climbing Plateau Busters

We’re back to the digital mailbag to answer your questions!

For this week:

Does the 401(k) max include employer contributions?
Should I invest in my 401(k) or pay down my mortgage early?
What about Fidelity’s zero expense ratio fund, VZROX?
Investing tips for a Health Savings Account
Do you write off business expenses for Clipping Chains?
How and when do you pay yourself from investments?
Winter climbing in St. George, Utah
Big life expenses and expectations when pursuing financial independence: children, weddings, etc.
Mandatory pension contributions vs DIY investing
Front-loading savings without going for full financial independence (Coast FI)
Climbing plateau busters

April 19, 2021April 19, 2021

The Long Approach to Being Scared of Investing

The long approach mentality is required to last as an investor. But first a story:

Everybodddy…! Yeahhh-ahhh! Rock your bodddyyy! Yeahhh-ahhh!

These were the lyrics absolutely shaking the walls of the Mercat de l’Olivar fish market in Palma, Mallorca as the mid-day closing time approached. The vendors were busy packing up product, mopping, and wiping down metal countertops in a cool and expansive room, rich with the briny, iodine smells of the sea and the thumping sounds of late-90s Backstreet Boys hits.

And oddly enough, hearing a 1997 boy band hit in 2019 left me thinking about staying power and the long approach. Tell em, boys.

December 30, 2019December 30, 2019

You Know A Recession is Coming, Right?

A year ago, in December 2018, I wrote two posts concerning the “imminent” recession: Five Ways to Recession-Proof Your Life and Keeping the “Safe” in Safe Withdrawal Rate. Well, a year has come and gone, and as I write this in December 2019, we are at yet another all-time high in the stock market. America’s longest bull market continues gouging ahead like those fiery beasts in the narrow streets of Pamplona, Spain.

Is this time different?

For those of you out there beginning any sort of retirement (early or not), is your timing perfect or incredibly unfortunate?

How about if you are wondering if now is the best (or worst) time to start investing?

Let’s have a look…

December 17, 2018January 20, 2020

Five Ways to Recession-Proof Your Life

Market volatility and the potential for a recession is what gives the stock market a bad name, right? No silly, as we’ve discussed here, it’s really the investor’s psychology that gives the market a bad name. Because the market always goes up…eventually.

With the recent market volatility we’ve been seeing in late 2018, it feels timely to discuss the impacts of a recession on someone living off their investments. Even if you care zero about financial independence and investing, a recession could mean an abrupt cessation of your paycheck. Let’s strap on bullet-proof vests together!

December 3, 2018December 26, 2018

Keeping the “Safe” in Safe Withdrawal Rate

Musings on How We Plan to Live off our Money

The question we are asked the most about financial independence — and especially the “retire early” portion of the equation — is how we plan to live off the money we’ve saved and invested. Are we even going to retire early? What will we do with our time? What if the market goes down? Sorry, that’s more than one question, isn’t it? The first critical aspect to address in a post-FI life is the safe withdrawal rate. Let’s take a look…

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