William Bengen

William P. Bengen is a retired financial adviser who first articulated the 4% withdrawal rate ("Four percent rule") as a rule of thumb for withdrawal rates from retirement savings;[1] it is eponymously known as the "Bengen rule".[2] The rule was later further popularized by the Trinity study (1998), based on the same data and similar analysis. Bengen later called this rate the SAFEMAX rate, for "the maximum 'safe' historical withdrawal rate",[3] and later revised it to 4.5% if tax-free and 4.1% for taxable.[4] In low-inflation economic environments the rate may even be higher.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Bengen, William P. (October 1994). "Determining Withdrawal Rates Using Historical Data" (PDF). Journal of Financial Planning: 14–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-17.
  2. ^ Barrett, William P. (2011-05-04). "The Retirement Spending Solution". Forbes.
  3. ^ Bengen, Bill (2012-05-01). "How Much Is Enough?". FA Magazine. Charter Financial Publishing Network.
  4. ^ Bengen, William P. (2006). Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement Paperback. ISBN 978-0-97534483-5.
  5. ^ Bengen, William (2020-12-17). "Bill Bengen Revisits The 4% Rule Using Shiller's CAPE Ratio, Michael Kitces's Research". FA Magazine.
  6. ^ Bengen, William (2020-10-01). "Choosing The Highest Safe Withdrawal Rate At Retirement". FA Magazine.
  7. ^ Kitces, Michael (2020-10-13). "Financial Advisor Success Podcast Ep 198: How The Creator Of The 4 Percent Rule Applied It For His Clients And His Own Retirement, With Bill Bengen".