Where Investment Planning Meets Mortality
March 31, 2017
When projecting how long a nest-egg will last in retirement financial advisers often have different approaches. Some simply ignore the ugly question of when you will die, and opt for a 'safe withdrawal rate' which preserves capital. Others will put in an expected age of death (sometimes dimly using life expectancy at birth, the better ones at least looking up the correct age-adjusted mortality, and still others adjusting for factors specific to you). But the approach illustrated here neatly shows probability, while keeping it all simple: two dots are added to the chart, "1 in 2 people will die by this point" and "1 in 8 people will die by this point". Are you thinking about mortality in your investment planning and how to you show your clients the variability they need to plan for?