09/19/2026
How much can I withdraw from retirement investments when I stop working and not run out of money?
Easy peasy to answer if you know two things: the date of your death and the exact annual returns of your investments (not average returns but year by year returns).
Of course, both are impossible to nail down. That’s why fiduciary advisors like me are going to recommend—with historical data and computer modeling—that you don’t spend down your savings according to Dave.
Dave is spot-on with his debt elimination advice and how to live within your means. But he’s not a fiduciary advisor, holds no professional designations, and like the two advisors in this video, I do not agree with his 8% withdrawal rate recommendation and investing in an all-stock/equity portfolio in retirement.
It would be far better for you to take 4-5% per year and then take a bonus withdrawal in breakout years. And later in retirement, you can increase the percentage as you learn more about your health, or take more because you need it for long term care.
When projecting how much you should be investing for retirement, yo...
