5/15/2013 – 4% Rule for Retirement Withdrawals Is Golden No More (NY Times)

ONE thing most retirees want to avoid is outliving their money. Since the mid-1990s many of them have relied on a staple of retirement planning known as the 4 percent rule to avoid that. Although the name says 4 percent, the rule is that if retirees withdraw 4.5 percent of their savings every year, adjusted for inflation, their nest egg should last 30 years, the length of time generally used for retirement planning.

That percentage was calculated at a time when portfolios were earning about 8 percent. Not so anymore.

Read the full article at The New York Times.