I've Spent 20 Years Evaluating Withdrawal Strategies. THIS is the best one

00:10:04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g68C8b7hVcM

Summary

TLDRThe video explores the critical decision of how much to spend in retirement, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach to financial withdrawals. It explains various common strategies, including the smile strategy, 4% rule, fixed amounts, bucket strategy, endowment strategy, and introduces risk-based guard rails as a newer method gaining popularity. The speaker points out the risks of both underspending due to unnecessary frugality and the dangers of overspending, encouraging a well-informed strategy to ensure both financial security and enjoyment in retirement.

Takeaways

  • 💰 Determine how much to spend based on personal goals and needs.
  • 📉 Avoid the common pitfall of underspending during retirement.
  • 🛡️ Overspending can jeopardize your financial future.
  • 📈 The smile strategy allows for initial spending that tapers off.
  • 📊 The 4% rule provides a conservative withdrawal benchmark.
  • 🗂️ Bucket strategies help manage funds for different time horizons.
  • 🏢 Endowment strategies are complex and not ideal for most retirees.
  • 😟 The frown strategy risks diminishing enjoyment in retirement.
  • 🔄 Risk-based guard rails allow for yearly spending adjustments based on market conditions.
  • 👨‍🏫 Consider hiring a financial advisor for personalized guidance.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:10:04

    In this segment, the video addresses the critical decision of how much one should spend during retirement, emphasizing its significance regardless of how far one is from retirement. The speaker highlights the risks of both underspending, which many clients do, and overspending, which could jeopardize financial security. The importance of managing tax liabilities is also mentioned, as these strategies can help minimize unnecessary tax payments. The introduction sets the stage for discussing various withdrawal strategies for retirement spending.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What is the importance of spending in retirement?

    It's crucial to avoid underspending and maximize enjoyment from savings while also managing the risk of overspending.

  • What are common withdrawal strategies in retirement?

    Common strategies include the smile strategy, 4% rule, fixed amount withdrawals, bucket strategy, and the endowment strategy.

  • What is the smile strategy?

    The smile strategy suggests starting with higher spending which decreases over time, reflecting initial excitement and later health care costs.

  • What is the 4% rule?

    The 4% rule proposes withdrawing 4% of your retirement savings annually to avoid running out of money.

  • What are bucket strategies?

    Bucket strategies involve allocating money into different 'buckets' for immediate, short-term, and long-term expenses.

  • Why is the endowment strategy not ideal for retirees?

    Retirees lack new money inflows like those in endowments and often don't have access to high-quality investment tools.

  • What is the frown strategy?

    The frown strategy refers to being overly frugal in spending during retirement, which can detract from enjoyment.

  • What are risk-based guard rails?

    This newer strategy allows for adjustments in spending based on investment performance and market conditions.

  • When should I consider hiring a financial advisor?

    If you're unsure about how to balance your retirement spending or feel overwhelmed by options, a financial advisor can provide valuable guidance.

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  • 00:00:00
    whether you're 20 years from retirement
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    20 months or even just 20 days from
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    retirement one of the most important
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    decisions all of us have to make is how
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    much do we want to spend in retirement
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    if you're about to enter retirement
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    obviously this is critically important
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    but even if you're 20 years away it's
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    going to impact your goals and how much
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    that you're trying to save along the
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    path so in today's video I'm going to
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    share how should we think about how much
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    we want to spend in retirement because
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    candidly there's as many withdrawal
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    strategies strategies that talk about
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    how much we can spend in retirement
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    there's as many of those strategies as I
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    have cousins and I grew out up outside
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    of Cleveland Ohio in an ethnic community
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    and I have a lot a lot of cousins so so
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    let's jump in and and why is it
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    important first we don't want to
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    underspend when we're in retirement and
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    frankly I think this is a bigger risk
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    than what many people think in my
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    experience as a financial adviser for
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    over 20 years probably 80% of my clients
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    left to their own would have underspent
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    they would have worked hard and saved
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    and sacrificed and not gotten to enjoy
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    that so I don't want you to underspend
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    and sacrifice
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    unnecessarily I also don't want you to
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    overspend
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    and put your financial future at risk so
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    so finding that happy ground is really
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    important and then finally the third one
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    is as big as our national debt is I
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    don't want you to have to pay more in
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    taxes than you need to and that's why
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    these strategies are important so let's
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    jump in let's talk about some of the
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    more common withdrawal strategies and
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    then talk about I'm going to share with
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    you some of my favorite and why they're
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    favorites and when they might make sense
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    and when they might not make sense so so
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    let's jump in some of the common
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    strategies are what I call a smile
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    strategy which talks about it's called a
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    smile because you start off spending
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    more then in you know as when we first
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    retire we're excited about retirement we
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    have all these things we want to do we
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    spend more money then we've kind of been
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    there done that and it kind of goes down
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    and then at end of life none of us know
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    what kind of health care costs that
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    we're going to have to have
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    unfortunately so that's why it's called
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    the smile the next one is super famous
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    the next withdrawal strategy it's called
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    the 4% row and it was made famous by
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    William bengan who was really looking
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    for what's the most that you can take
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    out of your account without ever having
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    to worry about running out of money
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    because of a a stock market collapse so
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    he looked at historical data and found
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    that if people took 4 perent out even if
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    the worst situation happened they'd
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    probably be okay the challenge with that
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    is you probably I don't want to plan for
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    the absolute worst situation so many
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    times that's overly conservative and
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    again people end up un not spending they
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    end up sacrificing in hindsight
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    unnecessarily they could have spent more
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    money okay the next one which frankly is
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    probably the most common withdrawal is
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    just withdrawing a fixed amount you look
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    at you look at your account you look at
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    your life and you say okay I have this
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    amount of money I think I can spend this
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    amount of money each year and not run
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    out of money and often times that's just
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    kind of a guesstimate I don't want you
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    to guess I want you to have
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    knowledge um but the challenge with this
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    is you know you can look at those
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    numbers initially and say okay let me
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    just toss out a number we're going to
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    spend $60,000 a year $5,000
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    a month and and often times people will
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    not revisit that and that could put you
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    in a higher
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    withdrawal area a higher percentage of
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    withdrawal than what would make sense
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    for you it could put you at risk
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    unfortunately of maybe running out of
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    money later in life when when you're
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    least when you're the most vulnerable
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    and you're least able to accept a risk
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    like that so fixed income amount can the
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    appeal is it's simple but the risk is
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    maybe it's too simple okay the next
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    strategy is a bucket strategy a bucket
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    strategy would say you've got some money
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    set aside that you're going to spend
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    maybe for the the next three years so
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    that money you don't take any Market
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    risk in it you've got other money that's
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    going to be three to let I'm just making
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    up things three to seven years of money
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    and there you can have a mix of stocks
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    and bonds and then you have that third
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    bucket which is is designed for
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    long-term growth because in theory you
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    won't need to touch that money for seven
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    years um that can be a good strategy
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    I've seen people with 8 nine 10 12
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    different buckets that can get really
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    complicated really quickly um I there
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    are some YouTubers uh that I have
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    respect for that personally use the
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    bucket strategy and are using it well
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    but it it tends to be on the more
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    simplistic side which is part of its
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    power but it can also have you spending
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    less than you otherwise could have okay
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    the next one is an endowment strategy
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    kind of like what the big universities
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    use the wealthy University Yale Harvard
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    Stanford universities like that they
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    have hundreds of millions of dollars in
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    their endowment and they take out a
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    certain percent every year to support
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    their operational goals you know and
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    that can be great but but two things
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    with with the endowment strategy one is
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    when we retire for most of us we no
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    longer have new money coming in the
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    endowments at universities constantly
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    have new alums going out there starting
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    companies some of them having big
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    successes and donating back so they
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    still have money coming in and frankly
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    as a as endowments with hundreds of
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    Millions of dollars they have access to
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    in quality investment tools that you and
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    I might not have access to and some of
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    those are tools that if you can get in
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    the top 10% of the providers of those
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    tools they might make sense but the
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    other 90% of the providers of those
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    tools they might not make sense right
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    things like private Equity or Venture
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    Capital where the top managers the top
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    10% of managers are the ones delivering
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    all the returns for for that asset class
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    for that category and then other people
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    launch uh look alike funds in the same
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    space but may or may not have those top
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    tier
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    results okay and and then my favorite I
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    say tongue and cheek remember the the
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    smile where we start off spending a lot
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    we we flatten out and then unfortunately
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    we may have to spend more later the
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    opposite of that is what I call the
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    frown strategy which is where you you're
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    as Frugal as possible each and every day
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    of your retirement and frankly I see way
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    too much of that right the frown
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    strategy for people not working with
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    advisors yeah I think I think half half
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    think of your friends that might be
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    retired think of um a relative that
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    might be retired and you know they're
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    they're always going out for the the
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    early bird special and there's nothing
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    wrong with that literally just last
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    night I did that um but if you're always
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    being as Frugal as possible you're
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    probably stealing Joy your from yourself
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    and your spouse if you're married you're
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    probably sacrificing
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    unnecessarily so I don't want you to be
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    too exuberant but I certainly don't want
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    you to have the frown and then I want to
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    share with you a newer strategy that has
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    come out really and has gained in
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    popularity in the advisory Community
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    which is now has a name I think a lot of
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    financial advisers including uh The Firm
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    I was at we did this which it now has a
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    name it's it's let me make sure I get it
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    it right risk based guard rails where
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    you look at how much you're spending but
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    you can adjust it every year you know if
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    the market does something you know Black
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    Swan event the start of Co was a black
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    span event the great financial crisis
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    top to bottom the uh standarded in pores
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    S&P 500 was down 60%
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    60% top to bottom that's a black a bad
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    Black Swan event likewise uh the last
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    two years as I record this has been a
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    positive kind of Black Swan event the
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    market is up
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    60% over the last two years as I record
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    this so we're at an all-time high so
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    these are the strategies those
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    risk-based guard rails are now a name to
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    what many financial advisers are have
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    been doing with their clients which is
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    using these rules but but also using the
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    wisdom that comes with working with
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    their clients for for decades helping
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    hundreds of people transition into
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    retirement it's about making good
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    decisions and not only is it a good
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    decision with how much money you spend
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    but when you retire and that's why I
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    made this video up here why waiting the
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    65 to retire might be a big mistake
Tags
  • retirement planning
  • withdrawal strategies
  • financial advisor
  • smile strategy
  • 4% rule
  • bucket strategy
  • endowment strategy
  • risk-based guard rails
  • spending
  • financial security