Tag Archives: retirement

How to Safely Spend Savings in Retirement

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It can be complicated to determine what is a safe level of spending in retirement. There are many thoughts on this problem which can be useful but also make it complicated to figure out what is sensible.

Partially determining the safe amount to spend is a complicated problem so when we try to find simple solutions there are problems. For those in the USA the past results provide fairly reassuring starting points. Historical investment returns in the USA have been substantially better than elsewhere; this results in historically safe spending plans in the USA not necessarily safe elsewhere. It also does point out the risk that if the USA doesn’t maintain historically excellent investing returns that may make seemingly safe plans turn out to be less safe. Those are some of the complications that make retirement planning annoying.

recliners and palm trees on the beach

Photo by John Hunter in Langkawi, Malaysia. Prepare so you can retire to a relaxing life on the beach.

There are easy rules, like spending 4% of savings. That has worked pretty well but has potential issues with risk so people worry about using it. Also it is so simple that it isn’t surprising it has issues.

There are no super simple answers in my opinion. But ideas like 4% (or 3.5% or …) do get you at least in the right ballpark for what has worked historically in the USA with specific portfolios… The idea of adjusting spending based on results seems like a very sensible idea to me though many don’t like the complexity this ads to the plan. To me a plan to adjust spending just is a sensible way to deal with the complications that a long retirement (whether that is 20, 30, 40 or more years) brings.

No one blog post is going to provide an answer to the question of How to Safely Spend Savings in Retirement. There are some very good posts, articles and studies on the topic, here are a few:

USA Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) do not always offer this return but today you can purchase a 30 years portfolio of TIPS that allow for a 4.6% inflation adjusted “withdrawal rate” (so above the 4% idea) – this link (from the Tips Ladder website) provides what the rater would be when you are reading this. You are limited to 30 years so if you need a longer plan this can’t be your entire portfolio but it certainly provides a good potential investment for some of your portfolio. I have been buying TIPS for the last year, as they have been providing such a favorable safe investing option.

Retirement spending calculators

Related: Using Annuities as Part of a Retirement Plan – Save Some of Each Raise

IRA Distributions Impact on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)

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Roth IRA distributions (after 59 1/2 for Roth IRAs in existence for 5 years) are tax free.

Before 59 1/2 Roth distributions of your contributions are income tax free, but if you have taken out all your contributions then you have to count them as income for tax purposes.

With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) your Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) is very important. And while Roth IRA distributions may be tax free, does that necessarily mean they are not counted toward your MAGI? It does. And so are withdrawals of your contributions.

For ACA if IRA distributions are taxable they increase your MAGI if they are not taxable they do not. This is very important for those retiring before they reach medicare age as the costs of ACA in one’s early 60s are high if you do not qualify for a subsidy. The subsidy goes away if your MAGI is over 4 times the poverty rate.

From the healthcare.gov website (Oct 2019)

“Include both taxable and non-taxable Social Security income.”

“Don’t include qualified distributions from a designated Roth account as income.”

Related: ACA Healthcare Subsidy – Why Earning $100 More Could Cost You $5,000 or More – Using Annuities as Part of a Retirement Plan – Health Insurance Considerations for Digital Nomads

USA Retirement Savings Contributions Tax Credit

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The USA offers a retirement savings contributions credit for those earning $63,000 or less in 2018 (in 2017 the maximum earning were $62,000). The retirement savings tax credit is not as widely know as it should be.

The income level is based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). So some deductions from your gross income are allowed; earnings would reduced for contributions to a Healthcare Savings Account or traditional IRA to calculate the AGI). It is also reduced by the deductible for the self employment (social security tax) and for investment losses (up to a maximum of $3,000). The AGI is the value on the bottom of the first page of the 1040.

The Credit can be taken for contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA; your 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, SARSEP, 403(b), 501(c)(18) or governmental 457(b) plan; and your voluntary after-tax employee contributions to your qualified retirement and 403(b) plans.

The amount of the credit is 50%, 20% or 10% of your retirement contributions up to $2,000 ($4,000 if married filing jointly). Learn more on the IRS website.

Chart of Retirement Savings Contributions Credit (2018)

From the IRS website.

Related: IRAs and 401(k)s are a Great Way to Save for Retirement – Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) and Location Independent Working – Save What You Can, Increase Savings as You Can Do So – Using Annuities as Part of a Retirement Plan – 401(k) Options, Seek Low Expenses

Using Annuities as Part of a Retirement Plan

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Annuities have a bad reputation, with a history that makes that bad reputation sensible. The main problem is the high costs (and often hidden costs) of many annuity products. Combine with large sales incentives this has led to annuities being abused by sales people and financial companies while providing poor returns to investors.

However the attributes of annuities fit a specific part of a retirement plan very well. Overall I am a big fan of IRA, 401(k), HSA – all of which provide the investor with control over their own financial assets. And I still believe they should be a large part of a financial plan.

In order to save for retirement, we need to start young and save substantial amounts of money to live off of in retirement. Retiring early requires that investments provide income to live off of for an even longer time.

Pensions provided an annuity (a regular payment over time). Social security (in the USA, and other government retirement payments internationally) provide an annuity payment.

A rough rule of thumb of being able to spend approximately 4% of the initial retirement investment assets (given a portfolio invested in USA stocks and bonds) gives a starting point to plan for retirement. That 4% rule however is not guaranteed to work (especially if you live outside the USA or retire early). In fact relying on it today seems questionable in my opinion (not only even if you retire at 67 in the USA (given the current seemingly high values in the stock market).

The best roll for an annuity in retirement planning in my opinion is to serve as a protection against longevity. The longer you live the more risk you have of outliving your investment savings. Life annuities have the benefit of continuing for as long as you live.

One of the disadvantages of a life annuity is that the principle is not yours to leave to heirs. That is a fine trade-off for protection that you have enough to live off of in most cases. And I wouldn’t suggest having all of your money put into an annuity so if leaving assets to heirs is important you can just factor that into the balance of how much you put into the annuity down payment.

John Hunter with lake and mountains in the background

John Hunter, Bear Hump trail, Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park

It is possible to have the annuity pay for as long as either spouse lives (so if that is a concern, as it would likely be for most married couples, that is a good option to use). The payment will obviously be less but not by a huge amount (though if one spouse is many decades younger, then the amount can be substantial).

An annuity payment is calculated based on projected investment returns and your life expectancy. The older you are the larger a percentage of the initial deposit you can expect as an annuity payment. Something like 5.5% if you are 65 today may be reasonable (this will change as investment projections, especially interest rates, change). So one thing you will notice right away is that is much greater than 4%. And that shows one advantage of using annuities.

Why is the annuity able to provide payments greater than 4%? A big reason is that the insurance company can balance the payment based on a large number of people. And many of those people will die in 10 or 15 years. That allows them to retain the assets they were investing for those individuals and still continue payments for those people that live for 25, 30+ years.

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A Tiny Housing Take on Multi-Generational Housing

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Housing is a critical aspect of any financial plan. Many alternatives have become more popular in the last 10 years: nomad (digital nomads etc.), tiny houses, mobile living (RVs, vans…), etc.. I think such housing alternatives are important and should be given more consideration by more people.

As these options become more popular they begin to be used in specialized ways. As I have written previously I think multi-generation housing is an interesting concept that deserves more attention. It is not a new idea but in many countries (such as the USA) it has gone out of favor but it may well come back into favor, I believe.

One recent trend combines multi-generational living and tiny housing into tiny houses in a backyard for grandparents.

The 12×24-foot prefabricated house starts at $85,000 — less than the cost of traditional long-term elder care — and includes innovative safety features like webcams and cushioned floors that allow the family member privacy and the caregiver freedom.

‘Granny Pods’ Help Keep Portland Affordable

Seattle, Austin, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco also recently made it easier to add a second unit or granny flat.

These Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) require zoning flexibility in most places (in the USA at least, I am not sure about zoning issues globally). Hopefully more localities will create options to allow more flexibility.

ADU for Medical Caregiving

MEDCottages will be fully assembled at a manufacturing facility and trucked to a site to be plugged in, like a recreational vehicle, to the electrical and mechanical systems of an existing home by a local contractor.

Related: Tiny Homes are a Great Alternative – Housing Savings by Living as a Nomad – Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) and Location Independent Working