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  • Chapter 1

    Introduction

  • Chapter 2

    How Long Will You Need Your Portfolio to Provide for You?

  • Chapter 3

    How Can Cash Distributions and Inflation Impact Your Portfolio?

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  • Chapter 4

    How Do You Establish a Primary Investment Objective?

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  • Chapter 5

    When Should You Elect to Take Social Security Benefits?

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  • Chapter 6

    Will You Continue to Work in Retirement?

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  • Chapter 7

    What Are Important Trade-Offs You May Need to Make?

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  • Chapter 8

    How Do You Stay Disciplined in Your Retirement?

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The 15-Minute Retirement Plan

Redefine Retirement
Concise Summary 

  • Plan for a long retirement, accounting for lifespan, inflation and cash flow needs to avoid running out of money.

  • Decide when to start taking social security benefits and when to start generating income from your portfolio.

  • Understand how to stay disciplined with your withdrawals to weather periods of market volatility.

 

Chapter 1

Introduction

One of the biggest risks an investor faces is running out of money in retirement. This can be a personal tragedy. People may work their whole lives to accumulate enough wealth for a comfortable retirement only to find they’ve come up short. To help minimize this risk, Fisher Investments recommends keeping the following key questions in mind when planning your retirement. 

Chapter 2

How Long Will You Need Your Portfolio to Provide for You?

Your lifespan may be significantly longer than you expect. Exhibit 1 shows the Social Security Administration’s life expectancies for Americans currently age 65. We believe these projections likely underestimate how long people will actually live given ongoing medical advancements. Life expectancies vary among spouses and genders, and it is beneficial to plan for the longer of your two life expectancies: your joint life expectancy. No one wants to be impoverished later in life because they didn’t think they would still be alive. If you have a partner, you should both prepare to live a long time and make sure you have enough money to maintain your lifestyle. The bottom line? Your time horizon may be much longer than you realize.

Exhibit 1: If You’re 65 Today, the Probability of Living to a Specific Age

A side-by-side bar chart illustrating the likelihood individuals and couples aged 65 will reach specific ages. The horizontal axis lists ages of 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100. The vertical axis lists percentages in increments of 25, 50, 75 and 100. The chart compares life expectancy for Men, Women and Couple—clarifying that at least one partner will reach the specific age. The bar chart represents: ● Likelihood of reaching age 75: 76% Men, 84% Women, 96% Couple ● Likelihood of reaching age 80: 59% Men, 70% Women, 88% Couple ● Likelihood of reaching age 85: 39% Men, 52% Women, 71% Couple ● Likelihood of reaching age 90: 19% Men, 31% Women, 44% Couple ● Likelihood of reaching age 95: 6% Men, 12% Women, 17% Couple ● Likelihood of reaching age 100: 1% Men, 3% Women, 4% Couple

Source: Social Security Administration, as of 5/7/2024. Period Life Table 2021. 

15-minute retirement plan

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