You've spent much of your career socking away part of each paycheck in your retirement accounts, carefully choosing your investments and faithfully sticking with your plan. Retirement is near -- or perhaps you've recently retired. Now comes the complicated part. How do you make sure your savings will see you through your retirement? And another big question looms: How do you protect your nest egg during a bear market -- which will inevitably come roaring back at some point?
To help answer those questions, we take a look at three key decisions for new retirees: how much you can safely withdraw from savings each year, how to protect against having to sell investments in a down market, and how to supplement Social Security to lock in guaranteed income for life.
Part 1: Set Your Strategy
How do you tap a nest egg without depleting it too soon? The math is tricky because you don't know how long you'll need the money or whether you'll be hit with big medical or long-term-care bills. And no one can be certain that the stock and bond markets will deliver predictable returns over the next three or four decades.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
Read on for more tips on how to navigate making withdrawals.
Part 2: Create a Bucket List
The 4% rule and its corollaries help ensure that your money will last through a 30-year retirement. The bucket system is extra insurance to help make sure you have enough until you kick the bucket.
Most people know that investing at regular intervals means you buy more shares when the market is low and fewer when the market is high. In retirement, you're making systematic withdrawals, which is the evil twin of dollar-cost averaging: You're selling more shares when the market is low and fewer when it's high. Each withdrawal exacerbates the decline when a fund falls in value and reduces the gains when the fund rises. In a severe bear market, pulling money from a tumbling fund can be catastrophic.
Read on to learn more about how to implement the bucket system.
Part 3: Guarantee Income
Those who don't have a traditional pension -- and that includes most of us -- are frequently envious of those who do. What could be better than a guaranteed paycheck that lasts as long as you live and is unaffected by the vicissitudes of the stock market?
There's another way: Create your own pension with an immediate annuity. Unlike the complex (and usually high-cost) indexed annuities that are sold at free lunches and dinners, immediate annuities (sometimes known as single premium immediate annuities, or SPIAs) are straightforward: You give an insurance company a lump sum and, in return, receive a monthly check, usually for life.
Read on to learn more about how to create an immediate annuity.
TAKE OUR QUIZ: Put Your Retirement IQ to the Test
-
Meet the World's Unluckiest — and Entitled — Porch PirateThis teen swiped a booby-trapped package that showered him with glitter, and then he hurt his wrist while fleeing. This is why no lawyer will represent him.
-
Smart Business: How Community Engagement Can Help Fuel GrowthAs a financial professional, you can strengthen your brand while making a difference in your community. See how these pros turned community spirit into growth.
-
In 2026, the Human Touch Will Be the Differentiator for AdvisersAdvisers who leverage innovative technology to streamline tasks and combat a talent shortage can then prioritize the irreplaceable human touch and empathy.
-
What Does Medicare Not Cover? Eight Things You Should KnowMedicare Part A and Part B leave gaps in your healthcare coverage. But Medicare Advantage has problems, too.
-
15 Reasons You'll Regret an RV in RetirementMaking Your Money Last Here's why you might regret an RV in retirement. RV-savvy retirees talk about the downsides of spending retirement in a motorhome, travel trailer, fifth wheel, or other recreational vehicle.
-
457 Plan Contribution Limits for 2026Retirement plans There are higher 457 plan contribution limits in 2026. That's good news for state and local government employees.
-
Estate Planning Checklist: 13 Smart Movesretirement Follow this estate planning checklist for you (and your heirs) to hold on to more of your hard-earned money.
-
Medicare Basics: 12 Things You Need to KnowMedicare There's Medicare Part A, Part B, Part D, Medigap plans, Medicare Advantage plans and so on. We sort out the confusion about signing up for Medicare — and much more.
-
The Seven Worst Assets to Leave Your Kids or Grandkidsinheritance Leaving these assets to your loved ones may be more trouble than it’s worth. Here's how to avoid adding to their grief after you're gone.
-
SEP IRA Contribution Limits for 2026SEP IRA A good option for small business owners, SEP IRAs allow individual annual contributions of as much as $70,000 in 2025, and up to $72,000 in 2026.
-
Roth IRA Contribution Limits for 2026Roth IRAs Roth IRAs allow you to save for retirement with after-tax dollars while you're working, and then withdraw those contributions and earnings tax-free when you retire. Here's a look at 2026 limits and income-based phaseouts.
