Poll: Push or pull?

[W2R]

Normally I use the "push" method, like Audreyh1. I withdraw the full year's spending money on the first week in January, rebalance, and then withdraw nothing further for the rest of the year. The money I withdrew goes to my bricks'n'mortar bank, and I use it as necessary throughout the year.

If it turns out that I didn't need all that I withdrew during that year, I essentially send it back at the end of the year. (Well, actually I withdraw less than planned the next year but that is the same as sending it back and then withdrawing it; you get the idea.)

One exception to not withdrawing during the year, was when I bought my Dream Home in cash. I withdrew some money for that purchase in May, 2015. Since such events occur so rarely, it most definitely got my attention and I made sure that it was less than the total unspent money that had accumulated during the previous few years.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Pull. Multiple times throughout the year as needed. Keep an eye on total annual withdrawal amount, but no controlling budget is driving it.

 

[Souschef]

Mine is definitely "pull". I have scheduled RMD withdrawals throughout the year. for my quarterly estimated taxes. Also June through September for our 4 sons' gifts on their birthdays.
Our living expenses are covered by SS and our pensions.

 

[Another Reader]

Bacon is pretty tasty... so I voted for that.

I had the inherited IRA set up to push a monthly amount similar to a paycheck. It is one of several paychecks, pensions and SS are also stable monthly deposits. However, I had some difficulty with Fido's state tax calculation and after the big drop last winter, I wanted to be flexible in what I pulled out. So now I pull at the end of the month and manipulate the process to get the correct withholding amount for the state taken out.

 

[DrRoy]

So far (3 years) push.

 

[marko]

Dividends all go into one MM bucket. We pull large chunks twice or three times a year as our 'outside' (local bank/checking) gets low.

FWIW, in physics there's no such thing as pull, just push.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

I'm very close to FIRE (On paper, I'm FI but still working due to liquidity/taxes after buying my home and some complications with my work making the timing not ideal). I will do the push method. I already started it several months ago; I currently have my paycheck deposited to my investment MMF and have monthly withdrawals deposited to my checking account to cover my living expenses. It is a test, if I can live off of the push, I know I am FI and will quit my soul sucking job with confidence. Once I retire, the only difference will be liquidating assets/using dividend income to maintain my MMF balance instead of my paycheck.

 

[donheff]

I used to do a pull method about like what you describe but I switched to a hybrid push approach a few years ago. I now transfer money from my retirement accounts at the beginning of the year and as needed during the year to maintain a reasonable sized liquid stash at my bank. I keep that in a MMF that is identified as part of my retirement portfolio in my spreadsheets. I have a pre-scheduled push set up at the bank to transfer a fixed amount into checking on the 1st of each money. As that money is transferred and to checking I tote it up as "spent" and part of that year's withdrawal rate.

 

[steelyman]

If I understand the descriptions of the methods correctly, I do the push method. The withdrawal rate is predetermined by projecting forward from the IRS tables for RMDs. The withdrawal is done annually in late December.

During the year, rebalancing by selling holdings to cash (but keeping the cash in the tax-advantaged retirement accounts) builds up the cash that will be withdrawn to my bank account at year-end.

 

[Jerry1]

More of a puller. We have a liquid account at Fidelity made up of CD’s (short term) where we hold about two years of “cash”. We pull money into that account on a sporadic basis as we spend. My investments (IRA, 401K, and after tax holdings) are at another brokerage firm but I kept this account at Fidelity because it’s tied to our credit card and because Fidelity makes it so easy to buy CDs.

 

[Pellice]

Push. I have a budget with categories for larger expenses such as home improvement and travel. I "save" from my monthly budget for these expenses and "spend" when I have the amount I need.

 

[jebmke]

Neither. I draw money monthly (pull) to pay the bills for the next month which are already committed.

 

[ncbill]

Bacon!

Automate regular monthly bills as much as possible...I guess that's "push"

Pull as needed for other stuff.

 

[H2ODude]

Push fan. We cannot find things or even experiences that are worth what they cost for us to spend on. We live very well but just to blow it for the sake of consumption isn't our thing. So I "push" it out of what I call the "big money" at Fido into the checking account every month. There's always a bunch left over (should be ~$6k this month) and that goes into the travel/new cars we don't need account. Last month we went to Peru; even with trips like that it keeps growing. Travel is nice but 3-4 big trips is almost beyond my tolerance for travel a year. Yes, it's a nice problem to have, and am going to ratchet up the push amount this month. Meanwhile, we keep the WR about 3% and won't kick the SS benefit to my history for another two years (currently on hers). So yeah, use push to sort of force spending beyond normal inclinations.

 

[REWahoo]

Both push and pull.

I have a set amount (1/12th my annual RMD) automatically transferred each month from my Vanguard IRA MMkt account to my bank checking account. DW's annual RMD is pulled from her IRA account each January.

 

[karen1972]

I push a set amount each month which is about 75% of my WR, I can then pull for lumpy expenses like replacing the car.

 

[jldavid47]

At the moment (because my wife is still working) I use the pull method. When she retires in 3 years, we'll likely switch to the push method. And we both like bacon.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

The really good economic times since ER 3 1/2 + yrs ago made me vote bacon
Also just recently attended a college donor dinner where there was a most excellent hor derv of honey coated bacon, so its on my mind a lot now

i just don't plan this all that much. various and sundry bits of taxable income come from wherever (divs cap gains, interest, CC kick backs, pension) to checking. Bills get paid and every once in a great while (only once so far) i sell something to replenish any lumpy expenses. Still waiting to start SS and any tax deferred withdrawals. Have Spreadsheet that tracks total spending vs a number representing a safe, in my opinion WR, padded with factors of course (ever the engineer)

 

[imoldernu]

Unsure about the bacon part... does this qualify?

We have the same amount in our checking/bank account that we had 15 years ago, at age 68, which was the last time we went into our capital. SS, annuity, interest from bonds and a few dividends is more than what we spend, so capital remains the same or a little bit better.

We're in better shape than our original plan to retire early at 53, and die dead broke at 85.

 

[njgolfer67]

We use a push approach with additional pull as needed. I originally thought it would be more prudent to push a lower amount than needed and pull more often, but it had an unintended consequence. Instead of making us feel more frugal and in control, it made my DW feel like we were spending more and always short on cash. It's best if the numbers and the feelings are in synch, so we are shifting to a push strategy that will be plenty and we'll worry about excess in checking if needed.

 

[scrabbler1]

One advantage of a Pull to pay bills is if the amount varies from month to month the Pulling entity can vary the amount automatically. Yes, many typically variable-amount bills are on fixed monthly budget plans. I just want my monthly bills to be on as much of an auto-pilot as possible.


I remember once a few years ago my monthly maintenance bill for my co-op unexpectedly went up by a few dollars in the middle of the year and I had to scramble into my bank's bill-pay to change the amount and reprogram it to pay the higher amount every month for the rest of the year, a minor PITA.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

I like the push mentality especially in the last stages of labor ... : )

Expect people living mostly on pensions, social security, and annuities are all mostly push.
Expect people drawing from the above and indexes/stock have a mix or a habbit that prefers one way or another.

 

[sengsational]

Solid pull when it comes to the defined movement of money to spending accounts.


Now, the annual shuffle in December, after the pro-forma tax return has been completed, moves money around between tax buckets and between asset classes, but all of that happens the same way no matter what the spending has been. I'm basically yanking as much out of tIRA class accounts as possible without blowing the tax credits. Later, as needed, I might hit up Roth class accounts if I need more room to spend.

 

[ABQ2015]

Guess I'm a pusher. My federal retiree 401k (TSP) is not that flexible. One has to determine desired monthly withdrawals during the annual open season and this can not be changed until the next open season. I could roll the TSP over to an IRA but I like their stable value fund (G fund) and the low expense ratios. Also about 20% of my TSP withdrawals will not be taxed by the state of Oregon which is where I plan to retire. I rolled over 20% of my TSP to Vanguard to have access to emergency funds and Roth conversions and to better control my AGI to stay under the Medicare Part B IRMAA limits. So I pull those funds.

 

[jollystomper]

Perhaps I an a variable puller. All the money I need for cash for the next several years is in checking/savings/CDs. When My pension comes into checking the beginning of the month, I pay may bills. If there is enough left in checking to cover the bills and expected expenses for the rest of the month, I do nothing. If more is needed I pull from the savings account with the lowest interest rate. At the end of the year or when the CD matures, based on past spending and known future spending for the next year, I reallocate the cash among checking/savings/CDs. If a surplus I might reinvest it. I am trying to avoid be forced to draw from bound/equity accounts during downturns, but if they are doing well I may choose to take some cash from them for something fun or towards future gifts for kids/grandkids/others