The 4 percent rule, first described by Bengen (1994), is a convenient shorthand both for those who are figuring how much to withdraw from their investments during retirement, and for those who are not yet retired and trying to figure out how much they need to retire. What this rule tells us is that a starting Safe Withdrawal Rate of 4% of the value of the investments, thereafter adjusting annually for inflation, is sufficient to ensure that the retiree will not run out of money over a retirement of 30 years. In fact, in the majority of the cases, the retiree will finish retirement with more money than at the start! But has that changed with the current era of low interest rates and high stock valuations? After all, the “rule” is almost 30 years old! What is the safe Safe Withdrawal Rate for retirement now?

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