Many people spend a great deal of time figuring out how much they can afford to take out of their retirement savings each year, and with good reason. If you get this wrong you may find that your retirement plans are ruined as you run out of money too quickly. The twilight years that you had looked forward to are spent skimping rather than enjoying as you had hoped, or worse still you may be thrown on to the mercies of the Social Security system because of your lack of cash.

However, what many do not consider is that you have a choice in how you select the particular investments that you will use on any particular year of your retirement, and this can have an effect on how long your savings can last. Even if you stick to the widely disseminated Rule of Thumb, that you can withdraw 4% of your investments each year without running out of money, how you take this 4% can affect significantly how much you have left in later years.

The questions that you should be asking are concerned with the tax situation, as well as the equity  recovery after the current economic slump. For instance, regardless of the tax position, you may find that some funds or investments have lost significant value but are expected to return in a year or two, and you would be wise to hold on to them. On the other hand, you may need to take your tax status into consideration, withdrawing the taxable funds first to avoid disturbing the tax free growth of other holdings. If you have a part time job, you must consider how long you think you will hold it to determine the best way to cash out your investments for additional income.

This is a complicated topic, and you would be well advised to get a professional investment advisor such as Ken Himmler (www.kenhimmler.com) to keep a regular check on your portfolio and explain the pros and cons of each equity holding; companies such as Integrated Asset Management (www.iamllc.biz) will be able to advise how to optimize your investment strategies to ensure that you keep every penny to which you are entitled.

Authored by Kenneth Himmler, Sr.