Re: how to compare living standards


William F Hummel wrote:
On Tue, 18 Apr 2006 12:58:45 -0500, "Jim Blair" <jeb@xxxxxxxx> wrote:


I would like to live long enough to spend it all ;-).

That's no problem. The trick is to spend the last dollar on the day
you die.

That's easily done by buying an annuity. For instance, a 70 year old
mable can purchase a lifetime annuity of $747/mo for $100,000.

I suspect you mean the balance in the IRA (rather than the annual
distribution) won't decline until then. The percentage you have to
distribute grows each year. By age 95 it is over 50%. That's far
more than the IRA balance will earn in a year.

My IRA has been growing too since I am withdrawing the minimum
required each year. It is 100% in equities, so I have no way of
figuring when the balance will decline. It all depends on how the
stock market fares down the line.

It might be appropriate to convert the regular IRA to a Roth where
there's no required minimum distribution. The only problem is paying
the taxes for the conversion.

--
Ron

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