Currently have a three fund portfolio. S&P 500, total international fund and an intermediate term bond fund. About four years from retirement. Given today’s valuations and the tech heavy S&P 500 I’ve been contemplating directing part of my contributions in my 403B to a large cap value fund. Any thoughts, comments, opinions are welcome.
I feel as though short T-bill funds are more common place for many people recently. Curious what your reasoning may be as opposed to intermediate term bonds and if you are in retirement yet.
I feel as though short T-bill funds are more common place for many people recently. Curious what your reasoning may be as opposed to intermediate term bonds and if you are in retirement yet.
It’s the Rob Berger way. Contemplating 50% Intermediate term bond fund / 50% TIPS fund for fixed income portion of 70/30 portfolio in retirement. Anyone taking this approach and if so which funds are you using?
I have been 75% VTI/25% VXUS in my equities for quite some time. I do not have a taxable account. All in 403B and Roth. But, I sure am attracted by the simplicity of VT. Just not sure if I’m ready to go 37 to 40% international. I know this can and will change overtime. I also understand international is projected to perform well over the next decade. Who knows if that will happen. Can you talk me into 100% VT?
I hear about BND all the time but, these forums don’t seem to show a lot of love for it. What gives?
Curious to hear what you’re doing with your dividends from stock funds and interest from bond funds if you are retired. Are you reinvesting or letting it go to cash. Just to be clear I do not have a taxable account. Only traditional IRA , HSA and Roth IRA. Holding VTI, VXUS and BND.
Curious to hear what you’re doing with your dividends from stock funds and interest from bond funds if you are retired. Are you reinvesting or letting it go to cash. Just to be clear I do not have a taxable account. Only traditional IRA , HSA and Roth IRA. Holding VTI, VXUS and BND.
Planning to retire at 67. Spouse will retire at the same time at the age of 65. We will have a combined Social Security of about $70,000 a year. This should be enough to cover 100% of our essential expenses. Basic Boglehead three fund portfolio. Portfolio at that time will be ~ $800k. 4% rule seems to conservative. Guard rail seems to fluctuate too much. Hoping to find a middle ground. For those of you who have retired how did you determine an initial withdrawal rate and are you using a specific withdrawal strategy for future years?
Planning to retire at 67. Spouse will retire at the same time at the age of 65. We will have a combined Social Security of about $70,000 a year. This should be enough to cover 100% of our essential expenses. Basic Boglehead three fund portfolio. Portfolio at that time will be ~ $800k. 4% rule seems to conservative. Guard rail seems to fluctuate too much. Hoping to find a middle ground. For those of you who have retired how did you determine an initial withdrawal rate and are you using a specific withdrawal strategy for future years?
I’ve noticed a lot of retirees are not holding much in bonds. Seems to go against everything I’ve read. Seems real life is not a reflection of the research. Curious how much fixed income those of you already in retirement are actually holding.
Started investing late. Life got in the way. But retirement is about five years away. We will be just fine with our modest portfolio and Social Security. 62 years old. Still working. All of our investments are currently in a 403B and Roth. I’ll admit I’ve been a performance chaser, but for the last several years I’ve slowly come around to a three fund portfolio. I find the VT and chill approach appealing. Currently holding VTI/VXUS/BND. Not interested in debating which funds to hold where or which bond fund to hold. I do like the control of balancing my US and international right now. As I ponder the future and possible cognitive decline many years from now along with one day, my wife, who couldn’t be less interested in investing, being here without me, it may be easier to do VT/BND. Possibly even a life strategy fund. I won’t pretend to know if US or international will do better in the future. But, I do have a FOMO not holding more US. Curious as to how many retirees or near retirees are planning on just VT and a bond fund in retirement. Looking forward to your reply.
Started investing late. Life got in the way. But retirement is about five years away. We will be just fine with our modest portfolio and Social Security. 62 years old. Still working. All of our investments are currently in a 403B and Roth. I’ll admit I’ve been a performance chaser, but for the last several years I’ve slowly come around to a three fund portfolio. I find the VT and chill approach appealing. Currently holding VTI/VXUS/BND. Not interested in debating which funds to hold where or which bond fund to hold. I do like the control of balancing my US and international right now. As I ponder the future and possible cognitive decline many years from now along with one day, my wife, who couldn’t be less interested in investing, being here without me, it may be easier to do VT/BND. Possibly even a life strategy fund. I won’t pretend to know if US or international will do better in the future. But, I do have a FOMO not holding more US. Curious as to how many retirees or near retirees are planning on just VT and a bond fund in retirement. Looking forward to your reply.
Started investing late. Life got in the way. But retirement is about five years away. We will be just fine with our modest portfolio and Social Security. 62 years old. Still working. All of our investments are currently in a 403B and Roth. I’ll admit I’ve been a performance chaser, but for the last several years I’ve slowly come around to a three fund portfolio. I find the VT and chill approach appealing. Currently holding VTI/VXUS/BND. Not interested in debating which funds to hold where or which bond fund to hold. I do like the control of balancing my US and international right now. As I ponder the future and possible cognitive decline many years from now along with one day, my wife, who couldn’t be less interested in investing, being here without me, it may be easier to do VT/BND. Possibly even a life strategy fund. I won’t pretend to know if US or international will do better in the future. But, I do have a FOMO not holding more US. Curious as to how many retirees or near retirees are planning on just VT and a bond fund in retirement. Looking forward to your reply.
I know this topic has been beaten to death. Struggling with VT vs VTI/VXUS. Currently doing 55% VTI 25% VXUS and 20% BND.
Considering switching to 100% VT for stock allocation. I do not have a taxable account. All in Traditional IRA. 5 years from retirement. I get the whole “Owning the market” thing. I own it with either approach. I also get the option to rebalance manually by owning both funds. I guess my real concern is returns over the long haul. I’m finding out it’s probably negligible. Although there could be some arguments for an annual rebalance gaining a few percentage points over the years. I also admit I have no idea if US or international will outperform over the next 30 years. So who am I to say I should allocate 25% to the international as opposed to just going with VT. I know I am splitting hairs. Really just thinking out loud and hoping for some friendly feedback.
Attempting to develop a withdraw strategy with a higher initial withdrawal rate. I’ll admit I solicited help from AI. Please poke as many holes in it as you wish.
ONE‑PAGE RETIREMENT WITHDRAWAL RULE
(Fixed‑Real Baseline + Tiered Cuts + Recovery + Catch‑Up)
\\---
• Start retirement with a fixed real withdrawal (example: 5% of portfolio).
• Increase only by inflation (2–3%) in normal years.
• Withdrawals never rise faster than inflation.
• No increases due to market gains.
\\---
• Market down \\\~10% → HOLD (freeze withdrawal, skip inflation)
• Market down \\\~20% → CUT \\\~10%
• Market down \\\~30%+ → CUT 15–20%
Cuts scale with market severity.
\\---
If markets are flat for 3 years (0% ± 3%):
→ Freeze inflation for one year.
\\---
Recovery Tier 1: Within \\\~10% of prior high
→ Restore BASE withdrawal (the pre‑crash amount)
→ No inflation yet
Recovery Tier 2: At / New High
→ Begin inflation catch‑up
\\---
Question: Am I below my inflation‑adjusted target (IAT)?
IAT = the withdrawal amount you would be taking today if you had received every inflation increase normally.
If YES (below IAT):
→ Catch‑Up Mode
→ Increase up to 10%
→ Includes current inflation + past missed inflation
→ Cap increase at the amount needed to reach the IAT
→ Stop catch‑up when you reach the IAT
If NO (at or above IAT):
→ Normal inflation increase (2–3%)
\\---
• Apply baseline inflation unless a rule overrides it
• Market down? → HOLD / CUT 10% / CUT 15–20%
• Flat 3 years? → Freeze inflation
• Recovery within 10% of high? → Restore BASE
• New high? → Catch‑Up Mode
• In catch‑up? → Increase up to 10% (capped)
• At target? → Normal inflation
\\---
Example A — Crash and Recovery
• Start: $37,500
• Market −22% → CUT 10% → $33,750
• Next year +18% → within 10% of high → Restore BASE → $37,500
• New high → IAT = $40,170 → gap = 7.1% → Catch‑Up Increase = 7.1% → $40,170
Example B — Deep Crash
• Market −35% → CUT 20% → $30,000
• Recovery +25% → still >10% below high → HOLD
• Recovery +18% → within 10% → Restore BASE → $37,500
• New high → IAT = $42,202 → gap = 12.5% → Catch‑Up Increase capped at 10% → $41,250
• Next year → normal inflation → $42,202
Example C — Flat Market
• Market: 0%, 1%, −2%
→ Freeze inflation for one year.
\\---
• Supports a higher initial withdrawal (4.5–5.5%)
• Protects against early‑retirement crashes
• Prevents lifestyle creep
• Restores spending responsibly
• Keeps volatility low
• Simple enough to follow annually
Attempting to develop a withdraw strategy for retirement. I’ll admit I solicited help from AI. Hoping to start with a higher initial withdrawal rate. Sort of a hybrid between the 4% rule and guardrails. Please poke as many holes in it as you wish.
ONE‑PAGE RETIREMENT WITHDRAWAL RULE
(Fixed‑Real Baseline + Tiered Cuts + Recovery + Catch‑Up)
---
• Start retirement with a fixed real withdrawal (example: 5% of portfolio).
• Increase only by inflation (2–3%) in normal years.
• Withdrawals never rise faster than inflation.
• No increases due to market gains.
---
• Market down ~10% → HOLD (freeze withdrawal, skip inflation)
• Market down ~20% → CUT ~10%
• Market down ~30%+ → CUT 15–20%
Cuts scale with market severity.
---
If markets are flat for 3 years (0% ± 3%):
→ Freeze inflation for one year.
---
Recovery Tier 1: Within ~10% of prior high
→ Restore BASE withdrawal (the pre‑crash amount)
→ No inflation yet
Recovery Tier 2: At / New High
→ Begin inflation catch‑up
---
Question: Am I below my inflation‑adjusted target (IAT)?
IAT = the withdrawal amount you would be taking today if you had received every inflation increase normally.
If YES (below IAT):
→ Catch‑Up Mode
→ Increase up to 10%
→ Includes current inflation + past missed inflation
→ Cap increase at the amount needed to reach the IAT
→ Stop catch‑up when you reach the IAT
If NO (at or above IAT):
→ Normal inflation increase (2–3%)
---
• Apply baseline inflation unless a rule overrides it
• Market down? → HOLD / CUT 10% / CUT 15–20%
• Flat 3 years? → Freeze inflation
• Recovery within 10% of high? → Restore BASE
• New high? → Catch‑Up Mode
• In catch‑up? → Increase up to 10% (capped)
• At target? → Normal inflation
---
Example A — Crash and Recovery
• Start: $37,500
• Market −22% → CUT 10% → $33,750
• Next year +18% → within 10% of high → Restore BASE → $37,500
• New high → IAT = $40,170 → gap = 7.1% → Catch‑Up Increase = 7.1% → $40,170
Example B — Deep Crash
• Market −35% → CUT 20% → $30,000
• Recovery +25% → still >10% below high → HOLD
• Recovery +18% → within 10% → Restore BASE → $37,500
• New high → IAT = $42,202 → gap = 12.5% → Catch‑Up Increase capped at 10% → $41,250
• Next year → normal inflation → $42,202
Example C — Flat Market
• Market: 0%, 1%, −2%
→ Freeze inflation for one year.
---
• Supports a higher initial withdrawal (4.5–5.5%)
• Protects against early‑retirement crashes
• Prevents lifestyle creep
• Restores spending responsibly
• Keeps volatility low
• Simple enough to follow annually