http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/ en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:12:40 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/images/early_r/misc/rss.jpg http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/ http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/firecalc-question-47220-new-post.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:39:13 GMT I'm not sure I'm interpretting the Firecalc outputs correctly so I need some assistance in understanding the results.

Let's say you input expenses of $80K per year (including taxes) and a starting portfolio amount over a 30 year term and FireCalc calculates there is a 90% probability of success given those inputs. You then add SS into the model and it recalculates a 100% success rate.

My question is does that mean I can initially withdraw $80K from my retirement portfolio in ADDITION to the annual SS amount? Or does it mean I need to subtract the annual SS amount from my total expenses to determine how much I can safely withdraw from my retirement portfolio yearly and achieve a 100% success rate?

If it's the second interpretation that's correct, then I guess I can use the "Investigate" option to determine my spending level including SS that initially provides a 100% success rate for a given portfolio amount. Right? ]]> FIRECalc support freddyw http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/firecalc-question-47220.html http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/outperformance-47216-new-post.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:53:47 GMT Hypothetcal Questions:

Using Firecalc for a 30 year time period, if the 55% equity portion of the portfolio outperforms the Total Market (S&P 500) by double or triple, by how much would that increase the 95% "safe" withdrawal rate?

For example, if the equities outperform by double the S&P performance, would the 90% "safe" withdrawal rate become roughly 95% "safe?"

Or if the equities outperform by triple the S&P performance, would the 85% "safe" withdrawal rate correspondingly become roughly 95% "safe?"

Is the above a reasonable sliding scale that can be used as a rough guideline? If not, what would be a good rule of thumb in these terms?

Of course, all the usual caveats about not taking Firecalc too literally apply here too, as well as the potential for out-sized risk that may accompany such outperformance. I'm just looking to see how much the equity outperformance I have experienced for the past 6 years may have increased the initial 95% "safe" withdrawal rate (to be annually inflation-adjusted),

(a) if it continues to outperform at double or triple the S&P from this point to the end of the 30-year retirement period OR,

(b) if it just matches the performance of S&P from this point to the end of the 30-year retirement period. (in other words, the first 6 years outperform only)

Any ideas on how to quantify any of this by using Firecalc or otherwise? Thanks for your input. ]]> FIRECalc support halo http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/outperformance-47216.html http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/a-portfolio-with-consistent-annual-market-growth-of-47116-new-post.html Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:11:08 GMT I was comparing FireCalc to another calculator, and to get apples and apples on the 'Your Portfolio' tab selected 'A portfolio with consistent annual market growth of n%, fixed income returns of m%, and an inflation rate of x%' because that is all the other calculator supports. While I realize this is probably not the way FireCalc was intended to be used, it's the only way I can make a valid comparison.

How does FireCalc know how much I have in the market vs. fixed income when 'A portfolio with consistent annual market growth of ...' is selected? ]]> FIRECalc support Rustward http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/a-portfolio-with-consistent-annual-market-growth-of-47116.html http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/firecalc-question-47095-new-post.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:03:15 GMT I have a question about using the Firecalc calculator.

If I'm receiving, say, 10K of income from a source wholly outside of my portfolio (not a pension) for the first, say, 10 years of my retirement and then this income stops entirely after the first 10 years, how do i enter this into the Firecalc calculator?

I should be able to increase my SWR spending somewhat from this, but I can't figure out how to use the calculator to find out how much of an increase it would amount to (it's not much, I know).

Thanks for your help with this. ]]> FIRECalc support halo http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/firecalc-question-47095.html http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/investment-fees-in-firecalc-46970-new-post.html Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:54:24 GMT Hi I use Firecalc to determine an initial spending amount (to be inflation-adjusted going forward) that will result in a 95% success rate for 30... Hi

I use Firecalc to determine an initial spending amount (to be inflation-adjusted going forward) that will result in a 95% success rate for 30 years.

My question is:

Does this initial 95%-successful spending amount already have the investing fees (or expense ratio) factored in? In other words, I don't have to reduce this 95%-successful spending amount any further to account for my investment fees, correct? Because I have already entered my investment fees into the "My Portfolio" page of the calculator, the calculator has already taken my investment fees into account and reduced the 95%-successful spending amount it gives me on the Results page accordingly, correct?

Bottom line: If I want, I can spend the entire 95%-successful amount (less taxes, of course) without needing to spend less to account for the investment fees I already entered into the calculator, right? The calculator has already made the adjustment for me and gives me a 95% safe NET spending amount AFTER the investment fees, correct?

Sorry for asking this question more than once, but I just wanted to be 100% clear and sure about this point. It's an important one.

Thanks. ]]> FIRECalc support halo http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f36/investment-fees-in-firecalc-46970.html