Withdrawal Strategy Basics
The order you tap accounts changes how long your money lasts.
The order you tap accounts changes how long your money lasts.
The three buckets
Taxable (brokerage), tax-deferred (401k/IRA), and tax-free (Roth). The old rule of thumb — taxable first, then tax-deferred, then Roth — is a starting point, not gospel.
Why order matters
Every dollar out of a traditional IRA is taxed as ordinary income. Every dollar out of a Roth is not. Sequencing matters more when your tax bracket varies year to year — early retirement, before Social Security, before RMDs at 73.
The gap years opportunity
The window between retirement and age 73 (or filing Social Security) is often the lowest-tax stretch of a retiree's life. That's the sweet spot for Roth conversions and strategic taxable-account harvesting.
Guardrails, not percentages
The '4% rule' is a headline, not a plan. Guardrail strategies raise withdrawals in good years, trim them in bad ones. That flexibility is worth more than any fixed percentage.
Withdrawal order is a tax decision as much as an investment one. Plan it before age 73 or the IRS plans it for you.
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