Financial Independence
Many individuals focus on the accumulation period of their retirement plan. At DeSimone Investments, we believe the management of assets a few years prior to the big day, or during retirement, is just as or more important.
The first question investors have Day 1 of retirement is ‘Do I Really Not Have To Go To Work Today’? After the realization that you don’t hits, the next question is ‘How Much Should I Withdraw From My Retirement Accounts’?
When managing your assets on your own, the following two scenarios are likely to occur:
Withdrawing too little
Believe it or not, withdrawing too little is the more common scenario of the two. Most investors at the age of retirement are more risk averse and this leads to a conservative investment strategy, and worse, a far too conservative withdrawal plan.
Many investors do not know the best way to take advantage of the assets in their retirement accounts that they worked so hard to accumulate over their lifetime. The concern of outliving their money actually paralyzes their ability to spend. This means missing out on enjoying life to its fullest. You only get one….
Withdrawing too much
So… how much should you withdraw from your retirement portfolio? Can you just assume that since the historical return of the U.S. stock market is ~10% a rate of 4%, 5%, 6% or greater should be okay? As long as the stock market continues its historical average return you’ll be fine, but that’s a big IF.
Did you know that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 990 in January of 1966 and was at the same 990 in December 1982? That’s 17 years where the market went nowhere. A 5 - 6% withdrawal rate would have left you broke by 1982. Is that a risk you’re willing to take?
DeSimone Investments Can Help
We often tell potential clients, the biggest advantage of teaming up with DeSimone Investments is that we give our clients the freedom to spend and enjoy their money in retirement. We not only assist our retired clients with setting up systematic monthly withdrawals from their retirement accounts; we encourage it. In essence we are creating an additional social security/ pension income stream.
If you are interested in learning more how a DeSimone Investments managed portfolio can help create an Annuity type income stream, without the high Annuity type expenses and fees, please feel free to Contact Us.