Having spent the better part of the last 10 years in Japan, I have not been all that familiar with Dave Ramsey. Sure, I’ve heard from time to time that there is a radio show financial guru who talks about 12% market returns and an 8% withdrawal rate in retirement, but that sounded so farfetched…

For almost all of my work on retirement withdrawal rates, I’ve assumed a constant inflation-adjusted withdrawal rate strategy.  That is, the withdrawal rate is defined as an amount of income withdrawn in the first year of retirement as a percentage of retirement date assets. This income amount then adjusts for inflation in subsequent years. Since…

If the long-term average real return from the stock market is 7%, does that mean one can safely use a 7% withdrawal rate from a 100% stocks portfolio without worrying about running out of wealth or even dipping into the original principal? The answer is No. But answering yes is a common mistake; one which…

Executive Summary Fixed-income instruments are largely used within a portfolio to reduce volatility and provide a more consistent distribution stream for clients. Holding non-callable instruments backed by the U.S. government offer significant protection in times of financial crisis while reducing the long-term opportunity cost of bonds. U.S. government instruments with maturities from one to five…