I don't know to what extent there are established precedents for when a topic is worthy of a mega-thread, but this decision seems like a big deal to me with a lot to discuss, so I'm putting this thread here as a place for discussion. If nobody agrees then I guess they just won't comment.
What is this place?
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
If in doubt, please post it!
Rules
- Courtesy
- Content
- Engagement
- When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
- Proactively provide evidence in proportion to how partisan and inflammatory your claim might be.
- Accept temporary bans as a time-out, and don't attempt to rejoin the conversation until it's lifted.
- Don't attempt to build consensus or enforce ideological conformity.
- Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
- The Wildcard Rule
- The Metarule
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Is it annually or over your life?
I’d personally say over the last 10 years. Being able to do so in most cases simply means a modicum of personal responsibility and good decision making. It also would tend to give a person stake in the continued success of the country. If you’re on the dole, getting more money or less required hoops to getting on the dole is your main concern. If you have a job and pay into the system, you are more inclined to want the productive parts of society to continue and even improve so that you can get more done.
I’m just thinking let’s say you are a relatively upper middle class person. Have a 401k of around 900k-1m invested conservatively. You are at retirement. You on net paid taxes for 35+ years. But now, your investment income of 50-70k pa is going to have a pretty small effective tax rate. And you draw SS. All of a sudden, net-net you are taking in more than you pay despite being a productive taxpayer for decades.
I like the ten year window idea. It largely (though not entirely) solves the above. Of course making it a non-annual test increases complexity.
largely off topic, but are you suggesting withdrawing 5-7% per year from the 401k? (50-70k/1M). 4% is generally the "safe rate of withdrawl" I see quoted.
Looking at the IRS IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) table, at age 80 you are required to withdraw 5% from your 401k, and the percentage goes up each year after that. At age 75 your withdrawal already exceeds 4%. You don't have to spend it, but you do have to take it as income and pay taxes on it.
More options
Context Copy link
I’m assuming a return of roughly 4-8% return so maybe some small principal drawdowns but mostly income.
More options
Context Copy link
Thats close to correct. I’ve seen 4% before but that is largely for permenent endowments like say Harvard etc. A financial advisor in his numbers might kill you off at some point.
5 maybe 6% though can fit with 2% inflation and last forever. Easier to get to when 30 year rates were 5% and then 8-9% on equities. With 30 year rates at 5% throw on some credit risks (mortgages were 8% then though that includes prepayment risks). You can make the math work for a 7% withdrawal rate for an individual. A 4% withdrawal would significantly lower risks.
A withdrawal rate of 4 %/a is recommended by r/financialindependence and by Vanguard for ordinary people who want to retire early, not for permanent endowments.
It depends on assumptions. And I do want to emphasize that you are seem to be using the number for people retiring early. So longer time frame. Based on historical returns 4% withdrawal rate would have your assets growing in real terms. The vanguard data you cite has a 10.3% historical equity returns, 5.3% bonds and 2.8% inflation roughly. Even 50-50 equity bonds would deliver 5% yearly real returns. Those returns are likely high going forward but Can shift some into equities.
If someone retires at 70 and you kill them off at 100 and is receiving social security checks you can model a higher withdrawal rate and they won’t run out of money.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
No voting on filing a loss seems fair.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link