Generally speaking, there are two “camps” (or schools of thought) for investing for and creating an income stream in retirement. The first could be called the “probability-based approach,” and the second the “safety-first approach.” These “camps” share some things in common but are often at odds with each other. The key difference is that the … Read more
Updated December 2025 to reflect the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) I’ve written previously about withdrawing from my Traditional IRA to help fund our retirement. I’ve also described how I began making Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) in early 2023 after turning 70½ In a recent article, I explained how I might optimize my income … Read more
There are many retirement financial milestones to pay attention to: your penalty-free early distribution age from an IRA (59/12), eligibility for Social Security (early filer at 62 and full retirement age at 66–67), Medicare eligibility (age 65, for most), and your RMD age (currently 73; 75 beginning in 2033). I’ve already hit all those milestones … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) series, which focuses on the critical levers that affect your retirement income and financial sustainability. When I was preparing to claim Social Security benefits, I thought I understood how the taxation worked. After all, I’d written about it before on this blog. But when … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship (BIFRS) series. In the previous article, I alluded to my “safe withdrawal rate” (SWR) portfolio strategy, which I described as “strategic growth and income.” I also discussed the impact of inflation on it and two different types of annuities—a nominal (non-inflation-adjusted) annuity and a … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship (BIFRS) series. Many financial planners, advisors, and especially retirees are wary of annuities. They cite cost, complexity, loss of liquidity, under-performance, and other factors as their primary concerns. In many cases, their concerns are warranted. Yet many retirement planning professionals, academics, actuaries, and economists—i.e., … Read more
A sustainable withdrawal rate is integral to a wise retiree’s financial stewardship plan. Your withdrawal rate determines how much money you’ll take from your retirement savings to add to other sources of income to meet your spending needs. I became aware of a video of one of Dave’s recent shows in which he discussed retiree … Read more
This article is part of the Biblically-Informed Framework for Retirement Stewardship (BIFRS) series. It was originally published on September 20, 2023, and updated in April 2026. When I wrote this article in 2023 and interesting thing was happening: interest rates were rising for the first time since the pandemic. They were already low, and had … Read more
This article is part of the Retirement Financial Life Equation (RFLE) Series. It was initially published on July 26, 2023, and updated in March 2026. In the last article, we examined the first of two main types of systematic withdrawal strategies for sustainable retirement income: fixed withdrawals. In this article, we look at variable strategies. … Read more
