Is now a bad time to retire?

Retiring during a market downturn and soaring inflation can feel like sailing into the wind instead of the sunset. “The five years after retirement are a pivotal period for determining a sustainable lifestyle in retirement,” said Wade Pfau, a professor at the American College of Financial Services in King of Prussia, Pa., and author of “Retirement Planning Guidebook.” Consider a 62-year-old who retired on Jan. 1 with $1 million and is following the 4% rule to determine how much to spend in retirement. If markets slide and inflation remains high for the next couple of years, as some economists have predicted, Mr. Pfau said it could create “the perfect storm,” leaving investors with a choice between withdrawing more from a shrinking portfolio or cutting spending to try to protect their nest eggs even as prices rise. Here are steps retirees can take to improve their odds of making their money last: Cut spending when markets decline The 4% rule would have protected retirees from running out of money even in the worst 30 year period since 1926 in which to retire, which turned out to be from 1966 to 1995, according to Mr. Pfau. A 2014 study by researchers including Mr. Pfau finds that those who start retirement by reducing their stockholdings to 20% to 30% of their portfolio and then gradually push it back up to 50% to 70% in stocks have the highest probability of making their money last 30 years using the 4% spending rule.