Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler: Revisiting What Is a Safe Retirement Spending Rate After a Tough Year

On this week’s episode, we’ll be chatting about “The State of Retirement Income” study that Christine and I recently co-authored with our colleague John Rekenthaler, who joins us for this conversation. This is the second year we’ve conducted this study, which examines how much retirees can safely withdraw in retirement. Much has changed since last year as the stock and bond markets have sold off and inflation has risen sharply. This can create uncertainty about whether retirement assets will sustain spending over a multidecade horizon, an issue we explore in this study. In this episode, I’ll be asking Christine and John about “The State of Retirement Income” study and key takeaways. For reference, you can find a link to the study in the show notes to this episode.

Safe Withdrawal Rates

“Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data,” by William Bengen, Journal of Financial Planning, October 1994.

“The State of Retirement Income,” by Christine Benz, Jeff Ptak, and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, 2022.

“What’s a Safe Withdrawal Rate Today?” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Dec. 13, 2022.

“How Much Do You Know When It Comes to Preparing for Retirement? Fidelity’s Retirement IQ Survey Uncovers Significant Knowledge Gaps,” Fidelity.com, March 6, 2017.

“Bill Bengen: Revisiting Safe Withdrawal Rates,” The Long View podcast, Morningstar.com, Dec. 14, 2021.

“Jonathan Guyton: What the Crisis Means for Retirement Planning,” The Long View podcast, Morningstar.com, June 16, 2020.

“What’s a Safe Retirement Spending Rate for the Decades Ahead?” by Christine Benz and John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Nov. 11, 2021.

Inflation

“How to Build a TIPS Ladder,” by John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Dec. 8, 2022.

“Is It Too Late to Inflation-Proof Your Portfolio?” Christine Benz and Susan Dziubinski, Morningstar.com, Nov. 14, 2022.

The Retirement Spending Smile

“What Is the ‘Retirement Spending Smile’?” by Wade Pfau, retirementresearcher.com.

“Estimating the True Cost of Retirement,” by David Blanchett, Morningstar.com, Nov. 5, 2013.

The Required Minimum Distribution Approach

“Decision Rules and Maximum Initial Withdrawal Rates,” by Jonathan Guyton and William Klinger, Journal of Financial Planning, March 1, 2006.

“Yes, RMDs Can Improve Your Portfolio,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, May 3, 2022.

“ABCs of RMDs,” by Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, June 15, 2022.

Sequence of Return

“Sequence Risk During Retirement,” by John Rekenthaler, Morningstar.com, Aug. 25, 2022.

“Don’t Panic on Sequence of Returns,” by Amy Arnott, Morningstar.com, May 16, 2022.

“How Worried Should New Retirees Be About Market Losses and High Inflation?” by Jeff Ptak and Christine Benz, Morningstar.com, Dec. 15, 2022.

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