Variable percentage withdrawal

 (VPW) is a withdrawal method that adapts to the retiree's retirement horizon, asset allocation, and portfolio returns during retirement. It combines the best ideas of the constant-dollar, constant-percentage, and 1/N withdrawal methods to allow the retiree to spend most of his portfolio using return-adjusted withdrawals. By adapting withdrawals to market returns, VPW will never prematurely deplete the portfolio.

The VPW method uses a variable (increasing) percentage to determine withdrawals from a portfolio during retirement. Each year, the withdrawal is determined by multiplying that year's percentage by the current portfolio balance at the time of withdrawal.

The VPW method and spreadsheet were collaboratively developed and improved by a group of Bogleheads&reg;.

The spreadsheet allows backtesting on two data sets: U.S. (1871-2014) and Canada (1970-2014).

Download location
Download the latest VPW spreadsheet:

Dropbox

 * Click on: VPW Spreadsheet (version: January 28, 2015).

Google Drive

 * Click on: VPW Spreadsheet (version: January 28, 2015).
 * Hover your mouse near the top of the page and click on the Arrow-Download-4-icon.png icon to download the file.
 * Ignore the "Whoops! There was a problem loading more pages." message.

Spreadsheet compatibility
The spreadsheet is developed using the open-source LibreOffice Calc software, available here. As a result, some compatibility issues may arise when using other spreadsheet products.

Microsoft Excel

 * Microsoft Excel may raise an Office File Validation security error. This is because the spreadsheet was not built using Microsoft software; it was built using OpenOffice Calc and saved as Microsoft Excel format. Consequently, Excel raises a warning to the user. This error can be safely ignored.
 * There is a difference in the way Excel and LibreOffice Calc displays charts. Excel does a nicer job.

Google Drive

 * Google Drive is unable to display the spreadsheet correctly. Instead, download the file and use with LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel.

How to use variable-percentage withdrawals during retirement
VPW is best used in conjunction with guaranteed base income from Social Security, pensions, and, if necessary, inflation-indexed Single Premium Immediate Annuity (SPIA).

Base income for years between retirement and the start of Social Security payments can be provided by using a simple CD ladder. For the purposes of VPW calculations, the money set aside in the CD ladder should not be considered as part of the portfolio.

It has been suggested to delay Social Security payments to increase base income in.

With the spreadsheet

 * 1) Open the spreadsheet with Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc.
 * 2) Click on the Instructions tab and read its content.
 * 3) Click on the VPW tab and:
 * 4) Enter the Start Year and Start Age of your retirement.
 * 5) Each year:
 * 6) Check that the asset allocation corresponds to the planned allocation of your portfolio for the upcoming year (Domestic Stocks, International Stocks, and Domestic Bonds). If necessary, adjust the values. (This happens, for example, when a retirement portfolio is on a glide path).
 * 7) At the beginning of the year, enter the Balance of your portfolio to compute the Suggested Withdrawal amount.
 * 8) Make the withdrawal and rebalance your portfolio (at the beginning of the year!).
 * 9) As soon as your withdrawal is made, record it in the Actual Withdrawal column.
 * 10) Every few years, you should review your overall retirement plan. (If you are over 80 years old and your health is better than anticipated, for example, you might want to increase the Last Withdrawal Age beyond its initial 99 value).

Without the spreadsheet
If you do not wish to utilize the spreadsheet, withdrawal rate calculations for several retirement age and asset allocations are presented in the table below.


 * 1) The following procedure should be repeated each year of retirement:
 * 2) Lookup the withdrawal percentage for your age and the planned asset allocation of your portfolio for the upcoming year in the table below. (For example, a 65-years old retiree with a 30% Stocks / 70% Bonds portfolio would find 4.4% on line 65 under the appropriate column).
 * 3) *Note that the withdrawal percentage changes every year. It must be looked up, as your age has increased by one since the previous year.
 * 4) Multiply the current balance of your portfolio by the looked up percentage to calculate the withdrawal amount. (For example, if the portfolio Balance is $1,200,000 and the percentage is 4.4%, the withdrawal amount is $52,800).
 * 5) * Note that the withdrawal amount changes every year. It must be recalculated because both the portfolio balance and the withdrawal percentage have changed since the previous year.
 * 6) Withdraw the withdrawal amount and rebalance your portfolio.
 * 7) Every few years, you should review your overall retirement plan. (If you are over 80 years old and your health is better than anticipated, for example, you might want to lookup withdrawal percentages using (age - 5 years) or (age - 10 years)).

Support
On-going discussion and support is in.