Does Your Planning Model Distinguish Between Essential and Discretionary Spending in Retirement?

In her recently released book The Forever Paycheck, Jean Chatzky—CEO and founder of HerMoney—encourages retirees to fund essential retirement spending with Social Security and non‑risky investments, and to fund discretionary spending with riskier assets. This aligns with what we have been recommending for many years. We refer to this investment philosophy as the Safety‑First approach.

How Much Can 70-Year-Olds Afford to Spend from Accumulated Savings of $4 Million?

It is always interesting to review spending levels recommended by advisors and financial commentators for hypothetical retired households and compare them with amounts generated using the Actuarial Financial Planner (AFP) workbooks.

New Spreadsheet: RMD Tax Present Value Estimator

We are pleased to announce the availability of our new RMD Tax Present Value Estimator workbook.

To determine the present value of future household spending liabilities, the Actuarial Financial Planner (AFP) workbooks require users to estimate annual recurring essential expenses and the expected rates at which those expenses will increase. These expenses include recurring federal and state income taxes. In our post of August 23, 2026, we discussed estimating the present value of future taxes by separately considering recurring annual taxes and non-recurring taxes, such as those associated with future Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs).