William Bengen is considered the father of the systematic withdrawal theory. Bengen, in his extensive research, tested hundreds of portfolios to create a standard portfolio withdrawal rate that would survive portfolio failure. His research concluded that a 4% percent withdrawal rate was safe. He dubbed it the SAFEMAX rate. It also supported the assumption that a well-funded [...]

Retirement Income Planning has become an important topic with the aging of the baby boom generation. Many refer to it as preparation for the decumulation stage in an investors' life cycle. Some use analogies of the accumulation stage as climbing the mountain and the decumulation as scaling down the mountain. Climbing Mount Everest is indeed [...]