Permanent Portfolio: 20-year retirement

Last Update: 30 November 2023

Do you have in mind a 20 years retirement, investing in the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio?

Worst case scenario so far, over a 20-year time horizon, you could have withdrawn 4.392% of your initial capital each year, kept withdrawing all the time (adjusting for inflation), and you wouldn't have run out of money before 20 years.

With a 4% withdrawal strategy, you would have lived on your investiment for 20 years in the 100% of cases. In the 36.28% of cases, you would have preserved your initial inflation adjusted capital.

According to the historical returns and stats of the portfolio, which has been a sustainable withdrawal rate to live off your investiment?

The last 20 years of the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio

Over the last 20 years (last update: November 2023), the portfolio has returned 6.29% annualized, with a maximum drawdown of -16.38%.

A safe withdrawal rate would have been 7.771%.

The Withdrawal Rates calculated here are annualized and refer to the initial capital (not the current!). The first month withdrawal is 1/12 of that annualized withdrawal and it's adjusted for inflation for each subsequent month.

A Perpetual Withdrawal Rate (PWR) protected the original inflation adjusted capital.

A Safe Withdrawal Rate (SWR) didn't protect the original capital, but the portfolio didn't run out of money during retirement. The portfolio went to zero exaclty at the end of the retirement period.

Learn more about Withdrawal Rate simulation
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Timeframes ending at Nov 2023
Withdrawal Rate (%)
Investment Performances
Timeframe Period from Period to Perpetual Safe Ann.Return(%)
[ Infl.Adj. ]		 Max
Drawdown(%)
20 Years 1 Dec 2003
 30 Nov 2023 3.942 7.771 6.29
[ 3.60 ] 		-16.38
Jan 2022 - Sep 2022
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio | Preserved capital and withdrawals are considered adjusted for inflation | Withdrawals happen monthly | Performances are calculated in USD dollars, considering reinvestment of dividends when applicable | Portfolio is rebalanced each month | Inflation is updated at October 2023

For a complete view of the portfolio and all the possible strategies, please refer to Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio page.

Withdrawal Rates Simulation (updated at Nov 2023)

How much would it be an acceptable withdrawal rate, for the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio?

Analyzing the available data source, all the 20-years timeframes have been considered to calculate the withdrawal rates and their success percentage.

Legend:
SWR 100% Success
PWR 100% Capital Protection
Period: Jan 1871 - Nov 2023
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WR (%) - Withdrawal Rate, on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
100%
Preserved		 75%
Preserved		 50%
Preserved		 25%
Preserved		 0%
Preserved
Success 100%
Worst Period (From) 		0.000
Feb 1898 		0.014
Jul 1900 		1.728
Jul 1901 		3.301
Jul 1901 		4.392
Jun 1911
95%
 0.242
 1.429
 2.555
 3.716
 4.774
90%
 0.505
 1.641
 2.811
 3.913
 4.958
80%
 1.434
 2.411
 3.357
 4.339
 5.385
50%
Median WR 		3.276
 4.143
 5.032
 5.981
 6.872
Only 1 case
Best Period (From) 		8.277
Jul 1920 		8.942
Jul 1920 		9.608
Jul 1920 		10.274
Jul 1920 		10.956
Jun 1920
Period: Dec 1923 - Nov 2023
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WR (%) - Withdrawal Rate, on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
100%
Preserved		 75%
Preserved		 50%
Preserved		 25%
Preserved		 0%
Preserved
Success 100%
Worst Period (From) 		0.042
Jul 1933 		1.239
Mar 1937 		2.367
Mar 1937 		3.495
Mar 1937 		4.590
Jan 1940
95%
 0.496
 1.608
 2.713
 3.765
 4.832
90%
 0.906
 1.990
 3.064
 4.142
 5.255
80%
 1.881
 2.904
 3.921
 4.985
 5.959
50%
Median WR 		3.339
 4.168
 5.039
 5.971
 6.785
Only 1 case
Best Period (From) 		5.993
Jul 1982 		6.864
Jul 1982 		7.735
Jul 1982 		8.606
Jul 1982 		9.478
Jul 1982
Period: Dec 1973 - Nov 2023
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WR (%) - Withdrawal Rate, on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
100%
Preserved		 75%
Preserved		 50%
Preserved		 25%
Preserved		 0%
Preserved
Success 100%
Worst Period (From) 		3.028
Apr 1974 		3.817
Apr 1974 		4.605
Apr 1974 		5.389
Mar 1974 		6.168
Mar 1974
95%
 3.493
 4.287
 5.088
 5.879
 6.666
90%
 3.649
 4.448
 5.249
 6.043
 6.837
80%
 3.793
 4.596
 5.415
 6.206
 7.014
50%
Median WR 		4.333
 5.110
 5.877
 6.639
 7.394
Only 1 case
Best Period (From) 		5.993
Jul 1982 		6.864
Jul 1982 		7.735
Jul 1982 		8.606
Jul 1982 		9.478
Jul 1982
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio | Preserved capital and withdrawals are considered adjusted for inflation | Withdrawals happen monthly | Performances are calculated in USD dollars, considering reinvestment of dividends when applicable | Portfolio is rebalanced each month | Inflation is updated at October 2023

Withdrawals and Success Rate

If you had implemented a specific Withdrawal Strategy with the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio, over 20 years, which would have been the success rate so far?

Simulations follow the same rules mentioned before. Withdrawals are expressed as yearly rates and refer to the initial capital. After that, withdrawal amount is monthly adjusted for inflation.

Success rates are calculated over all 20-year timeframes available in the data source. To focus on a specific withdrawal rate, click on the links in the table.

Period: Jan 1871 - Nov 2023
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Withdrawal
Rate
% Success over 20 Years
% Fail
% Success over 20 Years - on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
At least 0%
Capital Preserved		 Percentile No Capital
Preserved		 25%
Preserved 		50%
Preserved 		75%
Preserved 		100%
Preserved
2.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
99.19
86.03
73.31
2.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
96.05
78.57
63.78
3.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
86.47
73.62
53.70
3.50 %
100.00
0.00
99.50
78.38
61.53
46.05
4.00 %
100.00
100% Succ.
4.392% 		0.00
87.84
71.99
53.20
36.28
4.50 %
99.75
95% Succ.
4.774% 		0.25
76.69
60.59
42.42
25.88
5.00 %
88.97
80% Succ.
5.385% 		11.03
71.87
50.75
32.46
15.29
5.50 %
78.57
21.43
58.77
39.35
20.61
10.15
6.00 %
71.80
28.20
49.44
27.51
13.53
7.14
6.50 %
55.26
50% Succ.
6.872% 		44.74
35.84
16.98
8.52
5.64
7.00 %
46.99
53.01
22.99
12.28
6.39
3.70
7.50 %
30.89
69.11
15.10
7.27
4.76
0.88
8.00 %
19.67
80.33
10.15
5.08
1.50
0.31
Legend: Min% of Protected Capital
Min 0%
Min 25%
Min 50%
Min 75%
Min 100%
Period: Dec 1923 - Nov 2023
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Withdrawal
Rate
% Success over 20 Years
% Fail
% Success over 20 Years - on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
At least 0%
Capital Preserved		 Percentile No Capital
Preserved		 25%
Preserved 		50%
Preserved 		75%
Preserved 		100%
Preserved
2.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
89.91
77.94
2.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
98.96
83.25
65.04
3.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
90.84
78.36
54.84
3.50 %
100.00
0.00
99.90
83.66
64.83
46.20
4.00 %
100.00
0.00
92.30
78.88
54.63
33.82
4.50 %
100.00
100% Succ.
4.590% 		0.00
84.18
63.79
41.31
18.21
5.00 %
92.61
90% Succ.
5.255% 		7.39
79.19
50.78
28.20
5.41
5.50 %
85.74
80% Succ.
5.959% 		14.26
61.08
37.15
10.61
1.46
6.00 %
78.88
21.12
49.01
20.81
4.27
0.00
6.50 %
55.67
50% Succ.
6.785% 		44.33
32.26
7.39
0.62
0.00
7.00 %
45.27
54.73
14.26
3.85
0.00
0.00
7.50 %
25.18
74.82
6.04
0.21
0.00
0.00
8.00 %
10.82
89.18
3.12
0.00
0.00
0.00
Legend: Min% of Protected Capital
Min 0%
Min 25%
Min 50%
Min 75%
Min 100%
Period: Dec 1973 - Nov 2023
Swipe left to see all data
Withdrawal
Rate
% Success over 20 Years
% Fail
% Success over 20 Years - on % Preserved Capital (Infl.Adj)
At least 0%
Capital Preserved		 Percentile No Capital
Preserved		 25%
Preserved 		50%
Preserved 		75%
Preserved 		100%
Preserved
2.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
2.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
3.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
3.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
94.74
4.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
98.89
70.08
4.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
86.15
35.73
5.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
96.12
56.51
5.26
5.50 %
100.00
0.00
99.45
74.79
16.90
1.39
6.00 %
100.00
100% Succ.
6.168% 		0.00
91.97
39.06
2.49
0.00
6.50 %
97.23
95% Succ.
6.666% 		2.77
60.11
8.59
1.11
0.00
7.00 %
81.16
80% Succ.
7.014% 		18.84
22.99
1.66
0.00
0.00
7.50 %
41.00
59.00
5.26
0.55
0.00
0.00
8.00 %
13.30
86.70
1.39
0.00
0.00
0.00
Legend: Min% of Protected Capital
Min 0%
Min 25%
Min 50%
Min 75%
Min 100%
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio | Preserved capital and withdrawals are considered adjusted for inflation | Withdrawals happen monthly | Performances are calculated in USD dollars, considering reinvestment of dividends when applicable | Portfolio is rebalanced each month | Inflation is updated at October 2023

Related Pages

Portfolio Main Page:
Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio

For the Harry Browne Permanent Portfolio, we have prepared a report for each available timeframe:
20-Year    30-Year    40-Year    50-Year    60-Year    70-Year   

if you want to learn more about the statistics of a specific withdrawal rate, we suggest these in particular:
2%    2.5%    3%    3.5%    4%    4.5%    5%   

Website Homepage:
BestRetirementPortfolio.com