Beginning in October 2025, we published the first in a new series of posts that detail how those in the WCI community think about retirement.

You can find every retirement withdrawal post in this series here (including six posts from Dr. Jim Dahle), where readers who are in their post-career phase discuss everything from withdrawal strategies to how they live their lives without work. So far, about 125 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 game plan 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 two editions of this series, 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 3 of our reader retirement withdrawal series. Here's how four white coat investors are managing their retirement.

#1 The Sales Engineer Who Retired in Their Early 50s

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 60% stocks, 20% bonds, 10% real estate, 10% commodities. (20% of stocks and bonds were international). International stocks were not currency hedged. International bonds were currency hedged. I have always treated cash separately. I don't think of cash in percentage terms; I think in terms of a minimal acceptable amount to have on hand.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? No change from before retirement.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? It did not.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 52 when retired and 66 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 plan to take SS at age 70, unless a life-threatening health event occurs.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? This varied dramatically, as income varied and higher education decisions were made (ours and our offspring), etc. As a rule of thumb, we made sure all mandatory spending could be cash-flowed from the lower of our two incomes.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? I prefer not to say.
  • 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 doing Roth conversions for a number of years. We do QCDs.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Since 2017. The amounts vary, depending on income, as too much drives marginal tax rates to the point where it is no longer beneficial.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Technically, we're not currently drawing down via spending. Roth conversions drive extra taxes, but they will benefit our non-charity heirs, who are/will be in a higher marginal tax bracket. We occasionally have splurge years, major home projects, etc., that take us beyond our annual income. The monthly paycheck is from pensions, taxable investment account income, and a portion of RMDs. Tax-deferred account income exceeds current RMD requirements.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? Our plan was created long ago, first as a family mission statement, which morphed into a retirement plan. It defines our personal goals, the financial plan to support those goals, and the methodology used to manage the financial plan. It fits on one page.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? When I worked, my business travel took me from home 80-100 nights a year, and the rest of the time was meetings, application engineering, proposals, etc. I ate 400+ meals in hotels and restaurants per year. We now travel occasionally for fun (a negotiated amount and we hardly ever stay in hotels). I cook most of our meals. I manage the home front, visit with family and friends, bike, walk, hike, strength-train, read, watch classic films, participate in financial learning groups, support my spouse's charitable efforts, have a hobby business, etc.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? Doing it even sooner, considering that the unexpected impacted some of our hoped-for activities (health and pandemic).
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Best: Having the time to do things the way I want them, not doing them within the limited time available (e.g., I can make a fancy meal on a weeknight or clean the basement thoroughly). Worst: Seeing family and friends' health fail, then pass away. It's a regular reminder that the future is promised to none.

My observation: Though we don't know what this person's net worth is, it's big enough that they don't have to draw down their investments to create their monthly paycheck. If your nest egg is huge enough (or you have a big enough pension) that you don't have to stress about the decumulation phase, you've done something right.

#2 The Family Physician Who Retired at 62 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 70% stocks/30% bonds. US/international, whatever was in the Vanguard target date fund.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? 40% US stocks, 20% international stocks, 38% bonds, 2% cash.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? We moved from 70/30 to 60/40.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 62 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? 68
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? $70,000 for both.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? The highest was $2.3 million. Now, it's $2.2 million after we bought a van camper.
  • 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? Not worried. Did some Roth conversions. We shifted some bonds to traditional.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Yes. We did enough to stay below the next IRMAA tier, usually the second or third.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? We use a variable percent withdrawal from [user] longinvest on Bogleheads.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? No, it's the same.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? I walk three miles every morning with my husband and dog. Then, it's gardening or reading or cross-country skiing.
  • 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? Best: no schedule; it's very relaxing. Worst: I miss the social interaction with colleagues and patients, but I do not miss the stress of questioning whether I am making the best decisions.

My observation: So far in this series, it's been almost unheard of for somebody to be taking the survey while NOT having the highest net worth of their life. That's likely thanks to the bull market of the last several years. It's refreshing that this retiree is spending down their money where their net worth is actually a little bit less than the all-time high.

#3 The Anonymous Person Who Retired at 73 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? Cash 13%, US stocks 55%, international stocks <5%, bonds 7%, real estate 20% (house), alternative assets 0%.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? Cash <3%, US stocks 38%, international stocks <3%, bonds 36%, real estate 20% (house), alternative assets 0%.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? The change really occurred after I retired when interest rates spiked—we converted cash to Treasuries, sold stocks in our IRAs, and bought TIPS. And our I Bonds doubled to $2 million.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 73 when retired and 81 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? Age 65, I got poor advice from an accountant, who said there would be no guarantee it would be there later and that I should take it now. That's a big regret.
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? Hard to know. We didn't have a budget. Now, we have a spreadsheet. We spend roughly $350,000, including taxes. My wife has spreadsheets showing anticipated “cash flow” for the next three years.
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? The highest is now—about $28 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 didn't prepare for RMDs prior to taking them. Currently, we have become obsessive and have matched withdrawals for the next 10 years—Treasuries (0-4 years) and TIPS (5-10 years). Shifting a significant percentage from stocks to bonds in IRAs probably will reduce future RMDs.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? No. Again, it was poor advice from an accountant. Currently, it doesn't pencil out.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? My wife has made spreadsheets with anticipated “cash flow” for the next couple of years. The sources are RMDs, Social Security, dividends, Treasury interest, and a disability insurance payout. Currently, it matches up pretty well with our expenses, so there's no need to draw down principal other than RMDs.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? The big change was going from a 60-40 to a 40-60 stock-bond allocation. Also, the opportunistic switch from cash to Treasuries and selling stocks in our IRAs to buy TIPS. So . . . back to bonds. Also, our annual purchase of I Bonds since 2000 finally paid off.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? Infinitely less stressful.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? From a financial viewpoint, we were “savers” focused on accumulation, but we got a lot of bad advice along the way. I wish we had The White Coat Investor earlier.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Minimal stress. Getting older physically.

My observation: It's unfortunate that advice from somebody you trust, like your accountant, can lead to so much regret in retirement, even when you have a $28 million nest egg.

#4 The Cardiologist Who Semi-Retired at 69 Years Old

  • What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? It's too complicated to explain.
  • What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? Same answer as above.
  • How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? More cash, less risk.
  • How old were you when you retired, and how old are you now? 69 when retired and 69 now, though I'm still working three days a week with no call.
  • 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? 70
  • How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? $240,000 (not including the eight years of private college and [training]).
  • At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? Including the house? I live in California with a house, and my net worth is a bit over $1 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? I haven’t thought much about this.
  • Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? No. I may move to Washington, take the entire tax-deferred amount, and convert it in one year. I'd minimize Medicare costs this way.
  • How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Spending cash, then accelerated pension payments, and then start 401(k)/IRA wind-down.
  • How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? I realized how fortunate I have been, and I don’t stress too much. I'm more interested in spending wisely.
  • What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? We hike more, and we eat more.
  • What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? I wish I had taken better care of myself.
  • What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? The best: no call. The worst: wondering who will be on call when I have my MI.

My observation: I always appreciate gallows humor.

Do you want even more examples of how WCIers live, worry, and withdraw money in retirement? You can find every post in our retirement withdrawal series here.

[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, 125 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.