I'm in the minority as far as NOT believing the 4% SWR. I think that is way too conservative. At 4%, I will most likely die with an asset 10 times larger than the one I starts with. I love my kids dearly, but definitely not that much
For me 5% initial withdraw rate is the minimum. I'm not trying to convince anyone to do the same at all. I fully understand how the 4% swr is arrived at (please don't try to explain to me again 8) )
I do recommend this: If you feel that 4% is too conservative, how about trying 5-6% of the previous year balance. Forget inflation, forget cost of living adjustment. Just simple 5-6% of the balance, each year and every year. The disadvantage of this approach is that the annual income varies quite a bit, but so is life, in my opinion.