Academics, practitioners, and investors at large typically have a preference for making decisions based on a single variable that is supposed to be maximized or minimized. This approach is usually appropriate but it may also be misleading. When selecting an optimal retirement strategy a retiree...

Warren Buffett has consistently advised investors to follow a simple approach, diversifying broadly and minimizing costs. In fact, he recommended the trustee that will manage his wife's bequest to stick to a simple 90-10 stock-bond portfolio. Is this a sensible strategy for retirees in general?...

All individuals need to decide how much to save during their working years, how much to spend during retirement, and the asset allocation of their portfolio in both periods. A portfolio's exposure to stocks and bonds affects key variables, such as the probability of portfolio failure, the degree...

Investors who are about to retire are first and foremost concerned with supporting their spending needs throughout retirement. But they also derive satisfaction from growing their wealth beyond what is needed to support consumption in order to leave a bequest to their heirs or chosen charities....

A bucket approach, which broadly consists of parking a few years of annual withdrawals safely in cash and investing the rest of the portfolio more aggressively, is a popular strategy often recommended by financial planners and typically embraced by retirees. Although this strategy is not devoid...

Retirement planning is an issue that must be tackled early and solved backward. It must be tackled early because with a few working years to go there is little that can be done if an individual is not on the right path; and it must be solved backward because it makes little sense to aim for a...

All individuals need to determine a withdrawal policy for their retirement. This decision needs to balance the goal of funding a desired lifestyle (and perhaps leaving a bequest) with the goal of not running out of money too early, which is best done by making a financial plan. When the returns...