Withdrawal Strategy The 4% rule You’ll withdraw 4% of your account balance in your first year and adjust that amount upward for inflation annually. Fixed-dollar withdrawals Fixed-percentage withdrawals Systematic withdrawals Buckets You’ll hold some of your retirement assets in a savings account, some in fixed-income securities, and some in equities. You’ll draw from your savings account, refilling it from your other “buckets” when stocks or bonds perform well. The right strategy will depend how much money you have saved, how concerned you are about running short of money in retirement, whether you’re considering extreme early retirement using the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) strategy, and how much income your investments need to produce.