I understand that the program tells you how much to withdraw each year in retirement from regular and retirement accounts, but if you have a mix of stocks and bonds in a regular account, it does not tell you the relative portions of bonds vs. stocks to liquidate each year. How would you make that decision?

Has anyone figured an efficient way to model retirement withdrawals from ROTH and traditional accounts? I figure it's some combination of ROTH and traditional each year and it can be tested on the special withdrawals screen, but it looks like it would take a lot of trial and error to figure it out. When I do withdrawals all from the traditional first, I end up paying no taxes at the end, which must mean I'd be paying too much tax early on, when it would make sense to seek a lower bracket.

The User Manual indicates that, at least for retirement accounts, that withdrawals will occur in the order specified on the Smooth Withdrawal screen, i.e. say IRA's before Roth IRA's. Yet when I look at the various assets reports all assets seem to be drawn down regularly from start date to end of life dates for myself and my spouse. What I want to model is that all of my Regular Assets (which are in taxable accounts) are withdrawn first until depleted, then Individual Deductible Accounts (IRA's) next until depleted, and finally the Roth accounts last after all other assets are gone.

Under Retirement Accounts/Smooth Withdrawals I'm given the option to reorder withdrawals from Individual Deductible Accounts, Employer Accounts and ROTHs. The program always spends from Regular Assets first. Is there an option to spend from retirement accounts first, then regular assets?

As retirement account withdrawals are shown in today's dollars, how will I know what to withdraw in the future?
For example, if ESPlanner shows $20k for annual retirement account withdrawals, do I actually withdraw $20k per year, or do I need to make larger withdrawals to account for inflation?

Just wanted to say that I really like ESP. I'm hoping some retirees can chime in with their success stories about how they've successfully used ESP. Who has followed the recommendations year after year and has it worked out as you expected? (I guess I'm looking for some stories on "projected" vs. "actual" results.)

Under the "Retirement Accounts -> Key Ages" tab in ESPlanner, I've configured smooth withdrawals from my retirement accounts to begin at age 60 and end when I turn 69. However, under a contingent plan I want to model if my spouse died before me, I'd want my smooth withdrawals to start at age 60 but continue until my death.

Is there a way to change (or override) the beginning and ending ages for smooth withdrawals when contingency planning?

If there is, I can't seem to find it. If there isn't, can it please be added in a future release?

Thank you!

What's the best way to model a NQP? The NQP has a defined withdrawal period and is 'invested' in accounts that mirror mutual funds, so remaining balance will change over time. e.g. total balance withdrawn over a 10 year period starting 1 year after retirement. First year payment is starting balance at beginning of year / 10, second year payment is starting balance at beginning of year / 9, etc. Thanks.

Your reports are clear about the annuity/ social security and retirement fund withdrawals, but I don't see where the annual withdrawals from regular assets is stated. In my report the (savings) from the Regular Assets report is not equal to this number. I have to calculate it manually (total expenses + taxes - non-asset income - retirement withdrawal). I have already entered retirement. Am I missing something?? Thanks, C-

1. On the Assets & Saving > Current Saving tab, in the Net contribtuions to saving field do I enter a negative number if I'm withdrawing funds for living expenses or leave it at 0?