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AUTHOR: R Quinn on 3/06/2026

New research presented by Kiplinger shows significant variations in typical withdrawal rates. As you may suspect, some of that is based on age, marital status, the existence of a steady income stream and when the RMD kicks in. 

Among the interesting observations: “The “Lifetime income” effect: Retirees are willing to spend roughly 80% of their “lifetime income,” which includes Social Security, pensions, and annuities. But they are only willing to spend about half of what they could safely afford to from their investment assets, which include: managed portfolios, IRAs and brokerage accounts. Retirees spend only about 40% to 50% of what would be considered a “safe” withdrawal from these pools of resources.

In any case, the typical single withdrawal rate is reported as age 65 – 1.9%, age 75 – 4.4% and age 80 – 4.6%.

For married folks age 65 – 2.2%, age 75 – 3.2% and age 80- 3.8% 

Not sure what this means other than there is no such thing as a single desirable withdrawal rate and there is significant value in a steady income stream in retirement-neither of which are a revelation.