Got one just before retirement while I still had regular income just as a back -up. In 8 years, I have used it once to help buy a car and paid it off within 2-3 months with irregular part-time consulting income.
The combination of delayed SS, 3 small pensions, 13 years of deferred comp conservatively invested, 3 QLACs due for turn on 77-83 and a rolling TIPs ladder supported by a retirement specialist financial planner provide my wife and I the proverbial "license to spend". We have been able to take some wonderful trips and are planning more without hesitation or regret. Last year we pulled the trigger and had a sunroom added to our house which has been a great addition and our rescue dog considers it her personal dog house. It helped considerably that during the last 8 years after I retired at 61, I have been consulting part-time.
We have a retirement financial planner who is admittedly conservative and my guess he would look at the rental property income as a risk to be considered and the asset allocation. He certainly does not take a blanket approach to Roth conversions (and I am aware of several other advisors who also do not..). We discuss them on a case-by-case basis and look at the considerations objectively-I was the one this year who argued for a higher Roth conversion than he suggested. But you are right Roth conversions are overblown and are unlikely to make or break a retirement plan. Good luck.
I dont pay a whole of attention to the 4% guideline (I hate the word rule..) but Bill Bengen the author of it, recently revised it to 4.7% over 30 years which probably is aligned with the Morningstar study. Your concerns are one of the several reasons we engage the services of a retirement financial planner. The value cannot be quantified beyond the obvious benefits of delegation, peace of mind, getting aligned, and continuity in cognitive decline, but Id venture to guess we have both saved and made more money after fees than if we did not have a planner. Not only we have the license to spend, which is wonderful and our plan definitely addresses inflation risk and increased costs in its projection out to 95. Regardless, you seem pretty conservative and my guess is you will be fine with that allocation and timeline and that your portfolio performance likely supports that.
It's definitely smart financial planning to plan for lumpy, unexpected expenses. On the other hand, it is also smart financial planning to provide a license to spend in retirement.
I see discussion here of ERISA. My wife and I rolled our 401ks over (I rolled over 2, my wife 1). If you choose to roll-over keep the documentation of the roll over. The perception is that as soon you roll over you lose the ERISA protection in your IRA but the court history is more nuanced if you can demonstrate your IRA funds came from a 401k. As point out some states also provide some protection. Of course trusts can also help and from an adivsory and fiduciary perspective so can financial advisors (which we have and with whom we fully discussed this concern). There are options in our brokerage that we utilize that are simply not available in 40ks like that individual TIPs which are foundational to our retirement plan. In both our cases our first beneficiary is each other and I am claiming SS at 70a and my pension has my wife as 100% beneficiary so I feel like we are taking care of each other's interest. We like the options, and simplicity of our IRAs and feel like the legal exposure is sufficiently managed.
We use a TIPs bond ladder for low-risk preservation of purchasing power in a liability matching portfolio against future expenses. Stocks are held for long term growth.
I thought I would lose my love of travel after traveling on business for 30+ years but I haven't. My wife still comes along on some of my part-time consulting trips and we tack on personal travel. We are still on our quest to visit all the National Parks in her retirement-we are up to 48. We still visit family a few times a year. I will allow that we do fly in the front of the plane when we take a plane trip-I justify this with the consulting income and how hard we have worked and saved-and this does make a difference in the experience. I do a lot of planning on trips and am very selective about the logistics, accommodations and activities so the planning is a part of the fun. If and when we encounter issues, sure sometimes its a hassle but I look at it as part of the adventure. I have a high level plan to slow down the type of travel as we age perhaps to more river cruising and train travel but we'll see.
Comments
Actually. this is widely misunderstood... They have 10% probability of adjustment. Not failure.
Post: Maximizing Lifetime Retirement Spending
Link to comment from February 7, 2026
Got one just before retirement while I still had regular income just as a back -up. In 8 years, I have used it once to help buy a car and paid it off within 2-3 months with irregular part-time consulting income.
Post: Advice I give to anyone who’ll listen!
Link to comment from January 31, 2026
The combination of delayed SS, 3 small pensions, 13 years of deferred comp conservatively invested, 3 QLACs due for turn on 77-83 and a rolling TIPs ladder supported by a retirement specialist financial planner provide my wife and I the proverbial "license to spend". We have been able to take some wonderful trips and are planning more without hesitation or regret. Last year we pulled the trigger and had a sunroom added to our house which has been a great addition and our rescue dog considers it her personal dog house. It helped considerably that during the last 8 years after I retired at 61, I have been consulting part-time.
Post: Spending Without Guilt: An Overlooked Retirement Skill
Link to comment from January 24, 2026
We have a retirement financial planner who is admittedly conservative and my guess he would look at the rental property income as a risk to be considered and the asset allocation. He certainly does not take a blanket approach to Roth conversions (and I am aware of several other advisors who also do not..). We discuss them on a case-by-case basis and look at the considerations objectively-I was the one this year who argued for a higher Roth conversion than he suggested. But you are right Roth conversions are overblown and are unlikely to make or break a retirement plan. Good luck.
Post: Tell me my error in thinking
Link to comment from January 10, 2026
I dont pay a whole of attention to the 4% guideline (I hate the word rule..) but Bill Bengen the author of it, recently revised it to 4.7% over 30 years which probably is aligned with the Morningstar study. Your concerns are one of the several reasons we engage the services of a retirement financial planner. The value cannot be quantified beyond the obvious benefits of delegation, peace of mind, getting aligned, and continuity in cognitive decline, but Id venture to guess we have both saved and made more money after fees than if we did not have a planner. Not only we have the license to spend, which is wonderful and our plan definitely addresses inflation risk and increased costs in its projection out to 95. Regardless, you seem pretty conservative and my guess is you will be fine with that allocation and timeline and that your portfolio performance likely supports that.
Post: Customizing the Safe Withdrawal Rate
Link to comment from January 10, 2026
It's definitely smart financial planning to plan for lumpy, unexpected expenses. On the other hand, it is also smart financial planning to provide a license to spend in retirement.
Post: Four Weddings and a Wake-Up Call
Link to comment from January 10, 2026
I see discussion here of ERISA. My wife and I rolled our 401ks over (I rolled over 2, my wife 1). If you choose to roll-over keep the documentation of the roll over. The perception is that as soon you roll over you lose the ERISA protection in your IRA but the court history is more nuanced if you can demonstrate your IRA funds came from a 401k. As point out some states also provide some protection. Of course trusts can also help and from an adivsory and fiduciary perspective so can financial advisors (which we have and with whom we fully discussed this concern). There are options in our brokerage that we utilize that are simply not available in 40ks like that individual TIPs which are foundational to our retirement plan. In both our cases our first beneficiary is each other and I am claiming SS at 70a and my pension has my wife as 100% beneficiary so I feel like we are taking care of each other's interest. We like the options, and simplicity of our IRAs and feel like the legal exposure is sufficiently managed.
Post: Consolidating 401(k)s in retirement
Link to comment from January 10, 2026
Not sure the anonymity on votes is helpful.
Post: The “Mean Girls”/Junior High Bullies at HumbleDollar
Link to comment from January 10, 2026
We use a TIPs bond ladder for low-risk preservation of purchasing power in a liability matching portfolio against future expenses. Stocks are held for long term growth.
Post: Real vs. Imaginary Returns – Part I
Link to comment from January 3, 2026
I thought I would lose my love of travel after traveling on business for 30+ years but I haven't. My wife still comes along on some of my part-time consulting trips and we tack on personal travel. We are still on our quest to visit all the National Parks in her retirement-we are up to 48. We still visit family a few times a year. I will allow that we do fly in the front of the plane when we take a plane trip-I justify this with the consulting income and how hard we have worked and saved-and this does make a difference in the experience. I do a lot of planning on trips and am very selective about the logistics, accommodations and activities so the planning is a part of the fun. If and when we encounter issues, sure sometimes its a hassle but I look at it as part of the adventure. I have a high level plan to slow down the type of travel as we age perhaps to more river cruising and train travel but we'll see.
Post: At what age did travel start feeling like work—and what changed your plan?
Link to comment from January 3, 2026