As some would have it, retirement planning is pretty straightforward. Get a million dollars, preferably more. The more the better. Invest in a balanced portfolio that doesn’t scare you too much. Google a point-and-click Monte Carlo retirement calculator on the web and spend the 4.25% or similar amount each year as indicated. $42,500 per million per year plus Social Security and pensions. That’s pretty much it. The basic robo-retirement plan.
This is the essence of systematic withdrawal from a total return portfolio, which is a unitary method for extracting retirement income from an investment portfolio. Unitary because it uses one mechanism, withdrawals from a total return portfolio, to manage all the financial risk a retiree faces.
