Chart the Future of Your Retirement By David Edwards About this article: There is little doubt that the past two years have been tough on retirement savings. Indeed, the market downturn has taken some diversified stock and mutual fund portfolios down 30%. In 1999, many people were considering retiring early. But in 2002, many of those same people are wondering whether they can retire at all. In my May 2001 article "Portfolio Survivability: Will Your Assets Outlast You?," I discussed how retirees could draw down annually a conservative 5% to an aggressive 8% of their assets and never run out of money, if their portfolios were invested 75% in stocks and 25% in fixed income. I provided tables from an academic study showing survival rates for different asset mixes and time frames. Recently, I started using a software program that models retirement savings outcomes more precisely by incorporating different investment allocations and drawdown rates, and by including income from Social... Or, call us at 1-866-321-TSCM (8726) Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET. Outside the U.S. and in Canada, call 1-212-321-5200.

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