He told them that
the highest safe withdrawal rate from a retirement portfolio was about 4 percent, not the 5 or 6 percent many were using.
At the same volatility, a higher total return delivers
a higher Safe Withdrawal Rate.
At a lower volatility, a lower total return can deliver
a higher Safe Withdrawal Rate.
Does a higher total return translate into
a higher Safe Withdrawal Rate?
Shiller and Russell and I were all feeling social pressure to report
a higher safe withdrawal rate.
This, combined with a slightly better Coin Toss Rate, results in a substantially
higher Safe Withdrawal Rate at today's valuations than that of LHOptD.
At Year 20, the other runs ended with very attractive levels of P / E10 and very
high Safe Withdrawal Rates.
In fact, as we look at realistic extrapolations for portfolio survival based on today's valuations, TIPS consistently produce
higher Safe Withdrawal Rates.
Not exact matches
High valuations suggest that retirement
withdrawal rates that were once
safe may now deliver success rates that are no
I calculate three rates, which I call the Calculated Rate, the
High Risk Rate and the
Safe Withdrawal Rate.
When stock prices are
high, as they are today, its
Safe Withdrawal Rate is much lower.
Some people will prefer an even
higher level of safety than provided at the
Safe Withdrawal Rate.
Even better, you could change to a fixed,
high stock allocation (80 % stocks and 20 % TIPS at a 2 % interest rate with rebalancing) when P / E10 falls to 8.7 and increase your 30 - year
Safe Withdrawal Rate to 8.4 %.
Switching to the fixed,
high stock allocation when P / E10 = 8.7 increases the
Safe Withdrawal Rate to 8.4 % and 8.4 % of $ 477K is $ 40068.
If you assume that the lowest Historical Surviving
Withdrawal Rate equals the
Safe Withdrawal Rate, you will conclude that it is best to have a
high stock allocation (close to 80 %) and that the 30 - year
Safe Withdrawal Rate is 4 % of the original balance (plus inflation).
These results are comparable to the 30 Year Reasonably
Safe Withdrawal Rate (see Year 30 SWR button on the left) with a
high stock allocation.
Year,
Safe Withdrawal Rate, Calculated Rate,
High Risk Rate 1995 4.9 5.59 6.9 1996 4.6 5.30 6.6 1997 4.4 5.13 6.4 1998 4.3 4.97 6.3 1999 4.1 4.78 6.1 2000 4.0 4.72 6.0 2001 4.2 4.86 6.2 2002 4.4 5.05 6.4 2003 4.7 5.40 6.7 2004 4.5 5.16 6.5 Today 4.4 5.12 6.4 Comparisons with HSWR50T2 and HSWR80T2 I was able to locate data for portfolios HSWR50T2 and HSWR80T2.
1995 20.22 1996 24.76 1997 28.33 1998 32.86 1999 40.58 2000 43.77 2001 36.98 2002 30.28 2003 22.89 2004 27.65 Here are the
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk Rates of the last decade for SwAT2: Year,
Safe Withdrawal Rate, Calculated Rate,
High Risk Rate 1995....
The
Safe Withdrawal Rate and
High Risk Rate are lower by 0.3 %.
Its
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk
Withdrawal Rates are 3.72 %, 4.53 % and 5.16 %.
Year,
Safe Withdrawal Rate, Calculated Rate,
High Risk Rate 1995....
When valuations are
high, as they are today, the numbers show that stocks often REDUCE
Safe Withdrawal Rates.
We have now pushed
Safe Withdrawal Rates much
higher.
Even a 3.5 %
safe withdrawal rate is considered to withstand any recession while a 4 %
safe withdrawal rate has very
high probabilities of lasting over 50 years (96.6 % chance of success according to FIREcalc).
Therefore if you would have a very
high yielding portfolio, and you can actually manage a
safe withdrawal rate of 7 %, would be done pretty quickly.
This study attempts to quantify whether a 4 percent
withdrawal rate can still be considered as
safe for U.S. retirees in recent years when earnings valuations have been at historical
highs and the dividend yield has been at historical lows.
The 30 - Year
Safe Withdrawal Rate with stocks and corporate bonds is
higher than 5 % (plus inflation) provided that you vary allocations with valuations.
The
Safe Withdrawal Rate and Calculated Rate and
High Risk Rate can be found from that distribution.
The
Safe Withdrawal Rate is the highest percentage withdrawal that a retiree may take from his portfolio each year to cover his living expenses and be virtually certain that his retirement will not fail for
Withdrawal Rate is the
highest percentage
withdrawal that a retiree may take from his portfolio each year to cover his living expenses and be virtually certain that his retirement will not fail for
withdrawal that a retiree may take from his portfolio each year to cover his living expenses and be virtually certain that his retirement will not fail for 30 years.
The early version of the article contained a statement saying that the
safe withdrawal rate can drop to as low as 1.6 percent when valuations are super
high.
Today's Year 30
Safe Withdrawal Rate with Value D stocks (similar to Large Capitalization Value stocks with the
highest yields) is 4.05 %.
The calculator would generate with graphs and tables of the
Safe Withdrawal Rate, the Most Likely Rate and the
High Risk Rate.
Because dividends are predictable, at least in contrast to price fluctuations, smoothing the income stream allows us to lift the
Safe Withdrawal Rate to 5 % if we start with one of today's
higher yielding investments.
I looked at the
Safe Withdrawal Rates at today's valuations (P / E10 = 28), at
high valuations (P / E10 = 20), at typical valuations (P / E10 = 14) and at favorable valuations (P / E10 = 10).
When considered together, the lowest sustainable
withdrawal rates (which give us our idea of the
safe withdrawal rate) tend to follow prolonged bull markets, while the
highest sustainable
withdrawal rates tend to follow prolonged bear markets.
Juicy Excerpt: The early version of the article contained a statement saying that the
safe withdrawal rate can drop to as low as 1.6 percent when valuations are super
high.
This study attempts to quantify whether a 4 %
withdrawal rate can still be considered as
safe for U.S. retirees in recent years when earnings valuations have been at historical
highs and the dividend yield has been at historical lows.
The established
safe -
withdrawal - rate rules of thumb are based on long periods of time in which yields were
higher than they are today and stock valuations were lower.
The
Safe Withdrawal Rate corresponds to a
high probability of success: roughly 95 % of lasting the entire 30 years.
My good friend Mike Piper has written an article («Investing Based on Market Valuation») at his Oblivious Investor blog exploring my finding that the Old School
safe withdrawal rate studies get the numbers wildly wrong (promoted recently by my other good friend Todd Tresidder) and the research done by my other good friend Wade Pfau showing that Valuation - Informed Indexing has for the entire 140 years for which we have market data available to us provided far
higher returns at greatly reduced risk.
That is what I fixed now) Naturally, I am finding that VII can allow you to reach a wealth target with a lower savings rate, use a
higher withdrawal rate, and also have a lower «
safe» savings rate, than a fixed allocation.
Gummy's (Peter Ponzo's) Database I have determined Calculated Rates,
Safe Withdrawal Rates and
High Risk Rates for each portfolio with and without rebalancing.
y = HSWR80 Calculated Rate (percent) and x = percentage earnings yield = 100 / [P / E10] 1941 - 1950 y = 0.7318 x + 2.3723 1941 - 1960 y = 0.9635 x + 0.3354 1941 - 1970 y = 1.0644 x - 0.5469 1941 - 1980 y = 0.7842 x + 0.9624 y = HSWR80 Calculated Rate (percent) and x = percentage earnings yield = 100 / [P / E10] 1951 - 1960 y = 1.201 x - 1.2943 1951 - 1970 y = 1.1936 x — 1.2958 1951 - 1980 y = 0.649 x + 1.562 y = HSWR80 Calculated Rate (percent) and x = percentage earnings yield = 100 / [P / E10] 1961 - 1970 y = 0.6831 x + 1.1174 1961 - 1980 y = 0.5835 x + 1.5399 Confidence Limits (approximately 90 %, add and subtract these values) Degrees of freedom... Confidence Limits 10... 1.71 % 20... 1.63 % 30... 1.60 % 40... 1.59 % 50... 1.58 % 60... 1.58 % January 2000 Results January 2000 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1941 - 1950 2.33 % 4.04 % 5.75 % 1941 - 1960 0.91 % 2.54 % 4.17 % 1941 - 1970 0.28 % 1.88 % 3.48 % 1941 - 1980 1.16 % 2.75 % 4.34 % More January 2000 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1951 - 1960 (0.26) % 1.45 % 3.16 % 1951 - 1970 (0.20) % 1.43 % 3.06 % 1951 - 1980 1.44 % 3.04 % 4.64 % Even More January 2000 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1961 - 1970 0.97 % 2.68 % 4.39 % 1961 - 1980 1.24 % 2.87 % 4.50 % January 2003 Results January 2003 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1941 - 1950 3.86 % 5.57 % 7.28 % 1941 - 1960 2.91 % 4.54 % 6.17 % 1941 - 1970 2.50 % 4.10 % 5.70 % 1941 - 1980 2.80 % 4.39 % 5.98 % More January 2003 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1951 - 1960 2.24 % 3.95 % 5.66 % 1951 - 1970 2.29 % 3.92 % 5.55 % 1951 - 1980 2.80 % 4.40 % 6.00 % Even More January 2003 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1961 - 1970 2.39 % 4.10 % 5.81 % 1961 - 1980 2.44 % 4.07 % 5.70 % This Week's 2004 Results This Week's 2004 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1941 - 1950 3.29 % 5.00 % 6.71 % 1941 - 1960 2.16 % 3.79 % 5.42 % 1941 - 1970 1.67 % 3.27 % 4.87 % 1941 - 1980 2.19 % 3.78 % 5.37 % More of This Week's 2004 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1951 - 1960 1.31 % 3.02 % 4.73 % 1951 - 1970 1.36 % 2.99 % 4.62 % 1951 - 1980 2.29 % 3.89 % 5.49 % Even More of This Week's 2004 Rates (
Safe, Calculated and
High Risk) 1961 - 1970 1.86 % 3.57 % 5.28 % 1961 - 1980 2.00 % 3.63 % 5.26 %
Safe Withdrawal Rate Comparisons January 2000 1941-1950 2.33 % 1941 - 1960 0.91 % 1941 - 1970 0.28 % 1941 - 1980 1.16 % 1951 - 1960 (0.26) % 1951 - 1970 (0.20) % 1951 - 1980 1.44 % 1961 - 1970 0.97 % 1961 - 1980 1.24 % January 2003 1941-1950 3.86 % 1941 - 1960 2.91 % 1941 - 1970 2.50 % 1941 - 1980 2.80 % 1951 - 1960 2.24 % 1951 - 1970 2.29 % 1951 - 1980 2.80 % 1961 - 1970 2.39 % 1961 - 1980 2.44 % This Week 2004 1941-1950 3.29 % 1941 - 1960 2.16 % 1941 - 1970 1.67 % 1941 - 1980 2.19 % 1951 - 1960 1.31 % 1951 - 1970 1.36 % 1951 - 1980 2.29 % 1961 - 1970 1.86 % 1961 - 1980 2.00 % Calculated Rate Comparisons January 2000 1941-1950 4.04 % 1941 - 1960 2.54 % 1941 - 1970 1.88 % 1941 - 1980 2.75 % 1951 - 1960 1.45 % 1951 - 1970 1.43 % 1951 - 1980 3.04 % 1961 - 1970 2.68 % 1961 - 1980 2.87 % January 2003 1941-1950 5.57 % 1941 - 1960 4.54 % 1941 - 1970 4.10 % 1941 - 1980 4.39 % 1951 - 1960 3.95 % 1951 - 1970 3.92 % 1951 - 1980 4.40 % 1961 - 1970 4.10 % 1961 - 1980 4.07 % This Week 2004 1941-1950 5.00 % 1941 - 1960 3.79 % 1941 - 1970 3.27 % 1941 - 1980 3.87 % 1951 - 1960 3.02 % 1951 - 1970 2.99 % 1951 - 1980 3.89 % 1961 - 1970 3.57 % 1961 - 1980 3.63 %
High Risk Rate Comparisons January 2000 1941-1950 5.75 % 1941 - 1960 4.17 % 1941 - 1970 3.48 % 1941 - 1980 4.34 % 1951 - 1960 3.16 % 1951 - 1970 3.06 % 1951 - 1980 4.64 % 1961 - 1970 4.39 % 1961 - 1980 4.50 % January 2003 1941-1950 7.28 % 1941 - 1960 6.17 % 1941 - 1970 5.70 % 1941 - 1980 5.98 % 1951 - 1960 5.66 % 1951 - 1970 5.55 % 1951 - 1980 6.00 % 1961 - 1970 5.81 % 1961 - 1980 5.70 % This Week 2004 1941-1950 6.71 % 1941 - 1960 5.42 % 1941 - 1970 4.87 % 1941 - 1980 5.37 % 1951 - 1960 4.73 % 1951 - 1970 4.62 % 1951 - 1980 5.49 % 1961 - 1970 5.28 % 1961 - 1980 5.26 % Analysis: Calculated Rates There are two effects that cause these predictions to vary.
If we exclude the 1941 - 1950 estimate, the
highest 2004 rate was 2.29 %, which is well away from our referenced calculated rate and close to the 1941 - 1980
Safe Withdrawal Rate of 2.19 %.
When valuations are especially favorable, the
Safe Withdrawal Rate can be 9 % or even
higher.
If we exclude the 1941 - 1950 estimate, the
highest January 2000 rate was 1.44 %, which is well away from our referenced calculated rate and close to the 1941 - 1980
Safe Withdrawal Rate of 1.16 %.
My Investigation What I have looked into is how the various estimates (the
Safe Withdrawal Rate, the Calculated Rate and the
High Risk Rate) change as a function of how many years of data are included.
Her
safe withdrawal rate is similarly much
higher, at $ 18,797.
Not cheap really, but consumer staples never really get cheap either... I suppose there's a reason for it though - I remember reading somewhere that a 50/50 combination of utilities and consumer staples stocks had a significantly
higher historic
safe withdrawal rate in retirement than S&P index or any of the % index / % bond allocations.