how do you know how much to take out of your 401k each month if you start withdrawing at 69 years old?

Answer 1

That's a complicated question - it depends on how long you expect to live (typically 80 to 100), and what the value of your other assets are. A general rule is you should withdraw about 4% or less of your assets per year over a 30 year period. I would talk to a retirement planning advisor or read retirement investing books if you're looking for exact figures.

Answer 2

Depends on your life expectancy, really. You should get a physical to determine that. It take things like your living stlye and general health into consideration. Once you know that, divide the numebr of expected years by your 401k amount. Of course, it's really a guessing agme when it comes to how long an individul wil actually live, but health and lifestyle play a big part in it.

Answer 3

The most conservative way to approach this is to assume that you will live forever and be retired forever.

That means that you take out only the amount by which the likely long run return exceeds inflation.


Of course, if you are the lucky winner of a very long life, somewhen out there the IRS will require you to take out and pay tax on more than this amount because their annuity tables assume you'll die relatively soon.


C'est la vie.

:-)