A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More

by William P. Bengen

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Know exactly how much you can safely spend each year after you retire without outliving your nest egg

In A Richer Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More, entrepreneur, researcher, and financial planner, William P. Bengen, delivers a straightforward, soup-to-nuts guide for maximizing your withdrawals from your investment accounts during your retirement. The author explains how you can draw heavily on your retirement accounts without spending yourself into premature poverty.

This book is a comprehensive roadmap to constructing your personal retirement withdrawal plan. You'll learn how to compute a low-risk maximum withdrawal rate so that you can enjoy your retirement savings to the utmost. You'll also discover guidance on why and how to adjust your withdrawals during retirement to help make sure that your accounts last your entire life.

You'll also

The eight elements of a comprehensive personal retirement withdrawal plan Techniques for selecting your withdrawal rate based on the eight elements, inflation, and stock market valuation A template for your withdrawal plan that will help you recognize if you're overspending (or underspending!) and exactly how to address that issue Perfect for well-informed laypeople entering, nearing, or in retirement, A Richer Retirement is a can't-miss retirement playbook for everyone who wants to make the most of their retirement savings without outliving their nest egg. It's also an essential read for financial professionals who serve clients in or close to retirement.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction, Economics, Business, Personal Finance, Money

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 30, 2025

Reviews

[Steve Pate · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for everyone, not just up coming retirees

Most people have heard of the 4% rule which Bill Bengen is now stating after more research, should be the 4.7% rule. But how many people really know that this 4.7% withdrawal rate is actually a minimum? Depending on the year you retire, and specifically the valuation of the stock market at the time, this number could be much higher.

We live in unprecedented times (mid 2025) where stock market valuations are once again through the ceiling. But by reading and understanding this book, there’s no great need for despair. There are additional approaches that can provide comfort in the early years of retirement including a bucket strategy that gives you enough cash on hand to last through a bear market early on during your retirement.

He also references tactical asset allocation which he refers to as “risk management”. There are several tools such as Allocate Smartly or newsletters such as InvesTech which he uses which can help reduce exposure to bear markets. It’s a great complement to a buy and hold strategy.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a financial advisor and I found this book incredibly hard to understand, even though it's supposed to be for the general public. I still do not know what my SAFEMAX is, despite plowing through innumerable charts and graphs. Needs a huge re-write and some chapter summaries of whatever advice was intended.

[Sheeraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chockfull of data and insights into figuring out one's spending power in retirement. Let's get the shortcomings out of the way: the analysis isn't very sophisticated (spreadsheet wrangling of about 388 individuals), depends on the assumption of historical performance trends being loosely predictive of the future, and several of the elements are common sense (higher inflation right after retirement is bad).

Having said all that, there's still a lot of food for thought here. Qualitatively, the book can serve as a reference for figuring out individual safe withdrawal rate depending on current inflation and Schiller CAPE values, how common choices might affect that and how to course correct when tail events materialize. From an emotional perspective, it can help one feel a little more assured about their spending decisions and ameliorate the fear of outliving their savings. Again, several assumptions are made for this analysis, and to establish the global SWR of 4.7% so one must still practice caution when unusual circumstances arise, but this is a good educational tool for anyone thinking about how to spend during retirement when there is no more regular employment income.

[Bill Main · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm at chapter 4. Getting thru his history of the rule and understanding what's new and how he has added the data is intriguing. The 4% rule has been discussed to the effect of it is now common knowledge. Or is it? 4% is one individual in the worst case scenario since the wild west still speculated. Its not the norm. Neither should Ramsey's 100% equity, 8% rule be. Most interesting fact so far was the median numbers 60/35/5, 30 years at 7.1% withdraw rate having a 50/50 shot of lasting that long. Lol, no way I'll last that long. But that's one of the built in protections of the median. Looking forward to the breaking down of the steps of new plan with 5% being the new worst of the worst. I also enjoy the humor because it is a tense subject.

[James Barnett · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read

Great read I think we’re all just holding our breath though that the current case Schiller index at about 39 doesn’t mean all soon to retire individuals are in for a tough time.

[Derek Ludwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.7% is the new UNIVERSAL SAFEMAX withdrawal rate which is for the high inflation/high market valuation worst case scenario.

Inflation is the greatest enemy of retirees. Make early and decisive adjustments to your withdrawal plan if sustained high inflation becomes a serious threat.

CPI Expectations:
Low Inflation - CPI between 0.0% and 2.49%
Moderate Inflation - CPI between 2.50% and 5.00%
High Inflation - CPI between 5.00% and above

Shiller CAPE (how expensive equities currently are)

Will allow for a range of SAFEMAX between
High of 15.37% under a Low Inflation and CAPE between 6.00 and 6.49
Low of 4.76% under a High Inflation and CAPE between 21.50 and 21.99

[David A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Remember the old saying "Don't tell me how to build the clock; just tell me what time it is!"? Bengen may be a master clock builder, but in my humble opinion he wrote a book that is not for the general public as he claims and left me wondering when is he going to tell me what time it is. Uses lots of abbreviations for his “technical” terms and then expects you to remember them all several chapters later. Why just not spell them out again? If you think this book is going to help you determine what your “Safemax” is I wish you good luck.

[Ronda Canary]

Skimmed

[J M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An absolute slog to get through. TLDR the 4% rule is now 4.7% rule with additional diversification.

[Beth Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm 5 years away from retirement, have a Masters degree in financial planning, and I love this stuff. Bengen spends a LOT of time discussing SAFEMAX in this book, and that's his term for the withdrawal rate you can sustain for your entire retirement. Bengen is the father of the 4% rule, and in this book he revises the 4% rule to 4.7% and then discusses different elements that can make it even higher.

I was surprised that his studies include 250-400 people (depending on the timeframe he's looking at for the specific graph he's talking about). He adds four people who are retiring in a particular year to his database. For some reason, I thought he was looking at thousands or tens of thousands of people. To know that it's that few was a bit disheartening.

This book is dry. The author tries to toss in a few jokes, but...well...he tries?

His aesthetic chart quality is not great either. "Is this 1995 Excel?" was my thought.

One thing that feels very much missing is Social Security. When that kicks in for retirees, your need for income (aka your withdrawal rate) will go down. None of his graphs point that out. Only one sentence points that out, but I think it's a big deal. At the very least, it supports his FL (front loading of withdrawals in retirement) theory of expenses.

All of that aside, it's good information if you are closely approaching retirement (me) or early enough in retirement that you can switch gears, if needed.

[Cosmo DeStefano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Bengen, the originator of the famous “4% rule,” delivers again in A Richer Retirement. This book takes a concept that’s often oversimplified and breathes nuance back into it. Written in plain English, it’s accessible, easy to read, and grounded in solid, evidence-based research.

One caveat: This book is best digested by someone who already has a strong foundational understanding of the 4% rule. If you're starting from scratch, this book may not be the right fit for you at this stage of your journey.

What I especially appreciate is Bengen’s focus on the underlying assumptions that shape his SafeMax withdrawal rate. Based on updated historical data, he now pegs that number at 4.7% rather than 4%. One critical assumption: his calculations aim for a zero portfolio balance at the end of a 30-year retirement horizon. That’s fine if you plan to fully spend down your nest egg, but if you want to leave a legacy or simply build in a margin of safety, 4.7% may still be aggressive.

The key takeaway for me? Whatever the SafeMax number — 4%, 4.7%, or something else — treating it as a golden rule can be hazardous to your financial well-being. Let the “4.7% rule” inform your plan, not be your plan.

If you want an approachable, thoughtful, and thoroughly researched technical guide to making your retirement dollars last, this belongs on your shelf.

[Alex Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A worthwhile read for someone who wants to understand where the 4% rule (he's adamant that it's really the 4.7% rule) comes from and what circumstances might affect your personal retirement withdrawal plan. A bit more detailed than I think most readers will want or enjoy, but you can't say he's not showing his work. Bengen also acknowledges that financial planning isn't an exact science (though he insists it's still a science) and his underlying assumptions could fall flat. I take that as a pretty big caveat, but I learned some principles so I'm not sad I listened to it. Oh, on that - read, don't listen to this. 80% of the text references graphs and it's easy to miss the point without the visual references.

Stray cat picked off of Libby.

[Wayne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads more like an academic study than a retirement guide, despite the author claiming that this is written for the general public. The two takeaways are the 4% rule is now the 4.7% rule (under the author's eight substantial assumptions), and the longevity of your retirement fund depends heavily on the market returns in the earliest years of your retirement. Also, nobody knows how long their retirement will actually last, so.... Let's not forget that there are very few people who become more and more physically active as they age towards death.

BTW, if you are looking for a practical way to view tax advantaged vs tax deferred acounts and how they affect your retirement plan, you will have a hard time finding one that is less practical or informative than what is in this book.

[JDK1962 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas for those that want to go beyond the standard 4% rule for IRA withdrawals. I hadn't really thought that much about how the bull/bear market and inflation regime when you retire makes a huge difference on your annual withdrawals for your entire retirement phase.

I think my biggest takeaway was learning about the Shiller CAPE, where the current value--near 40--makes me think I ought to move some equity investment off the table for a while, so something a bit less risky till the CAPE returns to sanity.

Note that the edition I read--library EPUB--appeared to have formatting issue, where certain information did not appear (in regular or dark mode).

[Stewart L. Fossceco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

With opposing views on what is a safe withdrawal rate in retirement in the literature this text provides a very pragmatic approach to creating and evaluating a plan. Additionally it provides some reasonable guidelines on creating and maintaining portfolios that are simple for the DIY investor that are well worth considering. The author also keeps it pithy with comic relief that makes it truly a hoot at times. If you fall in or near a Boglehead camp, appreciate various Swedroe, Ferri, Blanchard, and other reads you'll likely enjoy and find this informative as well. Enjoy.

[Tina Hsu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read, don't listen! There are a ton of charts and lots of evidence of how Bengen came up with his 4.7% (previously 4.0%) rule. This is a great resource for do-it-yourself folks who want to figure out how much they can safely withdraw. However... The data that the rule is based on is only a few hundred people, and I was expecting that an update to this rule would have been able to increase the sampling over that small number. Still, the 4% rule has held up for a long time despite the low sample size, so one could expect that the 4.7% rule would be the same.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not gonna lie, this book is dense AF. And it only gets more complex as it goes. Still, I enjoyed the ride because I love this topic and I love stories told with data, which is heavily this book. If you listen to the audiobook, you'll need to do so while sitting at a computer looking at the supplemental graphs to make any sense of the words, since the entire book is describing inline graphs and tables. I'm rounding down to 3, because by the end of the book, I was more confused than ever about what my actual SAFEMAX should be, with so many overlapping variables. But I'd read it again!

[Miguel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike 99% of other books about investment theory, this is the rare one that actually delivers sound data and advice. Bengen "does" the math (he did the math and popularized the 4% rule). There's nary a chapter or section devoted to how to manage a budget or (god help us) mentions on which crypto to invest in: there's no chicanery and gimmicks involved - it's just focused on what to consider in the all important draw-down phase of one's financial life.

[Zachary Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not close to retirement and consider this a must read. Backed by data and science, this is an important read to understand the history of those who have retired in America and to think about the future.

[Robert Sutherland · Rating 3 out of 5]

The originator of the study that led to the "4% rule" has revised his research and presents findings on a more likely 5% of more safe withdrawal rate for retirement. The work is thorough and well documented.

[Karen B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry reading and would recommend to those who love charts and data - chock full of that. I had to skip a lot of that - thankfully each chapter was summarized.

[Wilbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too complicated, and hard to adjust if circumstances change.

[John Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good book about the steps ro build a retirement income pla. however many places have tools that can help ypi set it up without all the extra work

[Sondra Smith]

Dnf

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this stuff but even still it's a very dry read and so much data that it's at times difficult to keep track of what you are looking at. I appreciate the research that was done but it reads more like a white paper than a book for the general masses. Being reminded of the small size of his data set reminds me to not rely on only his research when making life altering decisions