Retirement Planning Guides
Plain-language explanations of the concepts behind the simulator: withdrawal rates, sequence-of-returns risk, Monte Carlo methods, and dynamic spending strategies — each grounded in 150+ years of market history and linked to a tool where you can test it.
Safe Withdrawal Rate: What 150 Years of Data Says
What a safe withdrawal rate is, where the 4% rule comes from, and how horizon, fees, and international data change the answer.
Guardrail Withdrawal Strategy Explained
How guardrail (dynamic spending) strategies work in retirement, how risk-based guardrails differ from Guyton-Klinger rules, and what spending cuts actually buy you.
Monte Carlo Retirement Planning: How It Works
How Monte Carlo retirement simulation works, why it beats simple historical backtesting, and why block bootstrap sampling matters for sequence risk.
Sequence of Returns Risk: Why Order Beats Average
Why two retirees with identical average returns can end up rich or broke depending on the order of returns — and what actually protects against it.
Your FIRE Number: How Much You Need to Retire
How to calculate your FIRE number, why 25x spending is only a starting point, and how horizon, flexibility, and data assumptions move the target.
Asset Allocation for Retirement: What History Says
How to split stocks and bonds in retirement: what 150 years of multi-country data says about 100/0 vs 60/40 vs 30/70, and why the withdrawal phase changes the answer.