WCI readers constantly tell us they want to read more retirement content, and in October 2025, we published the first in a new series of posts that details how those in this community think about retirement.

Here is part 1 of our reader retirement withdrawal series, where readers who are in their post-career phase discuss everything from withdrawal strategies to how they live their lives without work. So far, nearly 100 readers have responded to our survey, filling us in on their most intimate financial details, strategies, and worries so they could pay it forward to the next generation of retirees. If you're retired and interested in contributing your own gameplan to those of us who are still working, you can find the questionnaire here (and don't worry, we'll keep you anonymous).

For even more retirement content, WCI founder Dr. Jim Dahle wrote an extensive series on retirement withdrawals . . .

. . . and we have two columnists (Anthony Ellis and Erik Hofmeister) who mostly write about retirement.

We received good feedback from the first edition of this series (and we got nearly 20 new people in the day or two after it was posted to fill out the form and bestow their wisdom upon us), and a couple of readers made a good suggestion. We originally asked how old the survey-taker was when they retired, but we didn’t ask how old they were when they filled out our survey. From here on out, we’ll do our best to add both data points to these posts.

Today, we're unveiling part 2 of our reader retirement withdrawal series. Here's how four white coat investors are managing their retirement.

#1 The Middle Manager in Accounting Who Retired at 65 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 70% US stocks, 10% international stocks, 15% bonds, 5% cash.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? 50% US stocks, 10% international stocks, 30% bonds, 10% cash.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? Slight and gradual move to less equity and more fixed income. I took out a $300,000 HELOC, which serves as a big emergency fund. This allows me to be less in cash.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 65 when retired and 67 now.
  • At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? I'll start at age 70, which is three years away. I used Mike Piper's Social Security maximizer, plus other resources, to determine this.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? It was $75,000-$100,000. Now, I spend $150,000-$200,000. I am starting to spend $50,000-$100,000 on gifts and charity.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? It was $3.3 million at peak, excluding my home at the age of 65. It's currently about the same.
  • What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? At first, I was enthusiastic to do Roth conversions to reduce the size of my future RMDs, but then I decided I didn't like paying additional taxes and additional IRMAA now. Who knows what might happen in five years—tax laws might change, etc.—so I ended up converting only $30,000.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? I did a small one last year—$30,000. No plans to do any more.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? My lifestyle is primarily funded by income sources, and I have not done much withdrawing from my IRAs yet. I am starting to give more to my kids, nieces/nephews, and charities, as I know I have way more than I will ever use. I am one of those optimizers, and I have found this decumulation phase difficult. I am consciously working on it.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? I am working hard at spending and finding it more difficult than I imagined. My highest salary in my life was $165,000, yet I hit my retirement net worth goal of over $3 million. I was a good saver and investor, but I still was able to send two children to private colleges and medical schools. We went on several nice international vacations.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? Arise 60-90 minutes later in the morning. Leisurely read blog posts and WSJ during breakfast/coffee. Go to an exercise/yoga class mid-morning. Often have lunch with friends or family. Walk 4-5 miles in the afternoon, listening to podcasts (WCI, Retirement, Freakonomics) or music. Work in the garden. Watch a movie or read after dinner. Plan vacations. Go to bed by 9:30-10:00. No work stress, no work anxiety. It's very nice.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? I was a pretty thorough planner, so I haven't had any surprises. The biggest disappointment was/is my body has aged, which kind of caught me by surprise. It seems like the aches and pains, memory lapses, etc., are here sooner than I had expected.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? No alarm clock and no anxiety about what might happen at work the next day. The worst thing about retirement is that it came at age 65, and I notice the deterioration of my mind and body. It would have been nice to have had this freedom at 55.

My observation: See, you don't need to make $400,000 a year to fund a fully enjoyable retirement. And even still, this survey-taker says they're going to have way more than they ever need. It's also good to think about what WCI columnist Anthony Ellis has written about when it comes to functional longevity in retirement. If you can't move or think in retirement, what's the point?

#2 The Ophthalmologist Who Retired at 61 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? Cash 22%, US stock 68%, international stock 10%.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? Cash 11%, US stock 64%, bond ETFs 25%.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? Less cash, more bond funds.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 61 when retired and 67 now.
  • At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? Plan on 69 or 70.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? It was $100,000, now it's $140,000.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? My highest net worth is now at $12 million.
  • What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? Very worried about RMDs—not taxes but increasing Medicare costs. I have started Roth conversions.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Currently at 67 years old. I wish I had started earlier; $150,000 in 2025.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Spending my cash, money markets.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? I didn’t plan much, but I figured I would live off my cash until I had to sell stock.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? Now, I have to find things to do for about 25% of the day. Otherwise, I ride my bike for 12-15 miles, go to the gym for an hour, nap for a half-hour, do yard work, or motorcycle ride, depending on the weather. I intermittently answer fire department and EMS calls, as I took the EMT course and volunteer locally. I read fiction. I try to learn guitar. I'm contemplating becoming a paramedic because many paramedics are not that bright. I feel patients deserve better.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? I wish I would have done Roth conversions. If I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of my body. Everything hurts now.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Time/time.

My observation: It seems like this person is panicking a bit into Roth conversions to make sure they don't have an RMD problem. And they probably have a point. But it’s also very cool that this person is using some of their medical knowledge for volunteer work.

#3 The Family Practitioner Who Retired at 58

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? It was 100% stock mutual funds (long ago DRPs, LOL); 30% of those were foreign, outside of emergency funds (six-plus months of likely expenses) and all projected or possible outlays (next car, wedding, college) for the next five years, with 529s in that model, consisting of “cash-equivalent” CDs and money market funds. My spouse retired 13 years ago, and we moved toward 75% stocks (still 30% of that foreign) and 25% cash equivalent. But we didn't truly achieve that until last year, two years after I retired. We followed 20% to savings, plus we banked on the possibility (happened nine years before he retired) of one of us (me) not working or working part-time.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? We just achieved 75% stocks (still 30% of that foreign) and a 25% cash equivalent, including emergency funds and projected outlays. But a recent inheritance has us up to 35% or so cash equivalent. We will decrease that, as we pay off taxes and pass on chunks of the inheritance to our kids. With a reliable military pension, our emergency fund number dropped as that started, as did our number for being able to retire, since “income” needed from retirement savings was much lower once the pension began. A few years ago, I began maxing out I Bonds just as I learned enough from WCI about them. It was enough to overcome my “why bother?” mindset. You might yet get me into TIPs.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? Not much. We're finally getting serious about actually selling out of stocks after a longer phase of halting the reinvestment of dividends and cap gains on stock mutual funds, but that came only recently. I recognized we'll probably die richer than we are now if we don't beef up spending/giving, and we fully funded to 25% (and rising per our investment plan) our cash equivalent goal.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? Me at 58 and him at 46 (with me still working). He later took a “beer money” job at Best Buy for a year plus. Now, I'm 62, and he's 60.
  • At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? We plan on 70 for both of us—it's the cheapest, best annuity in case we live past 110.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? Probably $100,000 in today's dollars. Now, about $120,000—plus interval big ticket items, like a new car, moving houses (we downsized but it cost more!). That doesn't count taxes.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? $6.3 million is the highest and what it is now. Months ago [before filling out the survey], it was $5.3 million and seemed like it might drop under $5 million. But the stock market . . .
  • What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? We have been Roth converting now at about 80% Roth/20% pretax retirement accounts. We probably will do no more, so QCDs are an option, and the math implies traditional is a better inheritance for kids.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Anytime our tax bracket was <22%, yes. Now, we're <24% but RMDs on an inherited IRA will fill that next year. Once I realized my spouse's tax-free combat TSP savings were producing taxable growth and could only Roth convert the tax-free portion if we rolled it all over, we did so. My TSP has only rolled over 10% so far. No Roth TSP option—we old.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Pensions cover the basics. We have a money market plus a CD ladder (5% Vanguard money market in lieu of a good portion of the CD ladder until the rate there starts dwindling). That provides ready cash for pricier months (travel and sometimes Christmas spending and now warm-hands gifts to kids) and those one-off purchases that occur 1-3 times per year. We plan to be stricter about selling stock funds.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? No real changes yet; we keep telling each other, “We can afford it, spend the money!” Inheritance seems to make me believe that. This week, we got two delivery meals on the same day—binge watching Sex and the City may have made me more home delivery-tolerant, though we're still very skeptical about the supposed sex lives of single women from that era—but I'm still pushing my spouse to sell the old boat and the old car before buying a new one. We're trying to arrange a three-generation family vacation around a teacher's schedule, the in-laws' holiday plans, and the needs of the other two careers. Plus, injuries are limiting the feasibility of some destinations. (It's my sister-in-law's ankle, not us old people.)
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? It's similar—in the garden from first light until it's too hot, but then instead of going to work, I go inside for other hobbies (baking, cooking, reading, sewing, walking) and plan my day around a possible lunch out, possible time with grandkids, and doing other chores (heat- and season-dependent). We're still adjusting and trying to ramp up travel.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? IRMAA (although probably most WCI folks, including maybe even us, will just pay the max)—not for us but for my mother-in-law who bought into a retirement village with long-term care coverage; the implications of Roth converting or selling out of stocks when you have a $200,000 deduction for advanced payment on that long-term care plan component. So, we'll take advantage of that if we are in that situation 5-20 years from now, probably by taking more capital gains that year. You have the likelihood of ending life with way more than you start retirement with. And how much more physically able and ready you are to travel or do physical stuff in your 20s, 30s, and 40s (in comparison) to each succeeding decade.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Best and worst are a clear, empty schedule. However, I still stand by the advice an uncle gave me when I first retired and which I didn't follow and which we only fixed by moving: don't get on any boards of directors. I didn't listen the first time, and in two out of three organizations, it was a mistake.

My observation: Binge-watching old HBO shows and eating all kinds of delivery would be great . . . for a couple of days at least. In this case, though, there's still plenty of financial matters to think about and plan in retirement. And I agree about getting onto a board. My only experience with being on one was, um, unpleasant.

#4 The Person in Finance Who Retired at 67 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? Cash 10%, US stocks 75%, bonds 15%.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? Same as above.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? No changes.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 67 when retired and 72 now.
  • At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? I was 70; my spouse was 62.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? It was $100,000; now it's $200,000 (a $100,000 gift to the kids).
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? It's now at $8 million.
  • What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? We're converting to Roth (32% Roth, 20% taxable, 48% IRA). I'm not worried.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Yes, over the years we have, and we're still doing it. It's been approximately $1 million.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Social Security, dividends, interest, I Bonds, cash, etc.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? Same as always. Roth for two daughters as they are in the 32%-35% brackets.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? Walk 3-5 miles a day, spend 2-3 hours on the computer (reading various articles), watch TV 2-3 hours a day, spend time with my three grandchildren, travel overseas 3-4 times a year.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? Nothing.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? The best is time with family and travel. The worst is nothing.

My observation: This person obviously knows a bunch about finance, and they seem perfectly comfortable with their setup. There must be real comfort in making a plan and sticking with it all the way through.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Here at The White Coat Investor, we know our readers love having real-life examples of portfolios and how people accumulate their money and then eventually spend it. That's why we want to hear from those who have already retired and who are living their lives in a post-work world, so those of us who are still working can be inspired and learn how to get where you are right now. Please fill out this form and inspire us with your wisdom. Don't worry, we'll keep your identity a secret. Already, nearly 100 people have sent in their answers, and with them, we're planning to create even more content for those who want to learn about how to spend in retirement. Help us help others!]

What do you think about these retirement stories? Do you think their withdrawal strategies are the right ones? Feel free to ask questions, and our anonymous participants might answer.