Warren Buffett Portfolio: 30-year retirement

Last Update: 28 February 2023

Do you have in mind a 30 years retirement, investing in the Warren Buffett Portfolio?

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

Key Points

Worst case scenario so far, over a 30-year time horizon, you could have withdrawn 3.237% of your initial capital each year, kept withdrawing all the time (adjusting for inflation), and you wouldn't have run out of money before 30 years.

With a 4% withdrawal strategy, you would have lived on your investiment for 30 years in the 97.27% of cases. In the 78.53% of cases, you would have preserved your initial inflation adjusted capital.

The last 30 years of the Warren Buffett Portfolio

Over the last 30 years (last update: February 2023), the portfolio has returned 9.02% annualized, with a maximum drawdown of -46.52%.

A safe withdrawal rate would have been 7.985%.

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
Swipe left to see all data
Timeframes ending at Feb 2023
Withdrawal Rate (%)
Investment Performances
Timeframe Period from Period to Perpetual Safe Ann.Return(%)
[ Infl.Adj. ]		 Max
Drawdown(%)
30 Years 1 Mar 1993
 28 Feb 2023 6.734 7.985 9.02
[ 6.37 ] 		-46.52
Nov 2007 - Feb 2009
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Warren Buffett 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 January 2023

For a complete view of the portfolio and all the possible strategies, please refer to Warren Buffett Portfolio page.

Withdrawal Rates Simulation (updated at Feb 2023)

How much would it be an acceptable withdrawal rate, for the Warren Buffett Portfolio?

Analyzing the available data source, all the 30-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 - Feb 2023
Swipe left to see all data
PWR (%) - Perpetual Withdrawal Rate
SWR (%) - Safe Withdrawal Rate
Preserved Capital 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Success Rate 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 95% 90% 80% 50%
Minimum
Worst Period (from) 		1.785
Jun 1902 		2.526
Jun 1902 		2.906
Sep 1929 		3.071
Sep 1929 		3.237
Sep 1929 		4.242
95% Succ. 		4.618
90% Succ. 		5.110
80% Succ. 		7.086
50% Succ.
Median 5.887
 6.125
 6.367
 6.674
 7.086
Average 6.065
 6.376
 6.687
 6.999
 7.310
Maximum
Best Period (from) 		13.706
Jul 1932 		13.901
Jul 1932 		14.095
Jul 1932 		14.290
Jul 1932 		14.485
Jul 1932
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Key
Withdrawal
Rates (%) 		Success Rate
100% 95% 90% 80% 50%
Preserved Capital 100% 1.785
 3.160
 3.423
 3.941
 5.887
75% 2.526
 3.450
 3.725
 4.262
 6.125
50% 2.906
 3.728
 4.001
 4.539
 6.367
25% 3.071
 3.992
 4.306
 4.834
 6.674
0% 3.237
 4.242
 4.618
 5.110
 7.086
Period: Mar 1923 - Feb 2023
Swipe left to see all data
PWR (%) - Perpetual Withdrawal Rate
SWR (%) - Safe Withdrawal Rate
Preserved Capital 100% 75% 50% 25% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%
Success Rate 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 95% 90% 80% 50%
Minimum
Worst Period (from) 		2.575
Sep 1929 		2.741
Sep 1929 		2.906
Sep 1929 		3.071
Sep 1929 		3.237
Sep 1929 		4.019
95% Succ. 		4.354
90% Succ. 		4.962
80% Succ. 		7.620
50% Succ.
Median 6.650
 6.872
 7.123
 7.375
 7.620
Average 6.342
 6.627
 6.913
 7.199
 7.484
Maximum
Best Period (from) 		13.706
Jul 1932 		13.901
Jul 1932 		14.095
Jul 1932 		14.290
Jul 1932 		14.485
Jul 1932
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Key
Withdrawal
Rates (%) 		Success Rate
100% 95% 90% 80% 50%
Preserved Capital 100% 2.575
 3.166
 3.409
 3.979
 6.650
75% 2.741
 3.348
 3.684
 4.273
 6.872
50% 2.906
 3.592
 3.903
 4.496
 7.123
25% 3.071
 3.786
 4.128
 4.722
 7.375
0% 3.237
 4.019
 4.354
 4.962
 7.620
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Warren Buffett 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 January 2023

Withdrawals and Success Rate

If you had implemented a specific Withdrawal Strategy with the Warren Buffett Portfolio, over 30 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 30-year timeframes available in the data source. To focus on a specific withdrawal rate, click on the links in the table.

Period: Jan 1871 - Feb 2023
Swipe left to see all data
Withdrawal
Rate
30 Years
% Fail
% Success over 30 Years - on % Preserved Capital
% Success Percentile No Capital
Preserved		 0%
Preserved 		25%
Preserved 		50%
Preserved 		75%
Preserved 		100%
Preserved
2.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
99.86
2.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
99.73
3.00 %
100.00
100% Succ.
3.237% 		0.00
100.00
100.00
99.93
99.66
97.27
3.50 %
99.86
0.14
99.86
99.73
98.02
94.00
88.62
4.00 %
97.27
95% Succ.
4.242% 		2.73
97.27
94.89
90.18
85.14
78.53
4.50 %
91.68
90% Succ.
4.618% 		8.32
91.68
85.69
80.78
75.19
69.12
5.00 %
81.80
80% Succ.
5.110% 		18.20
81.80
77.64
72.53
66.73
60.60
5.50 %
73.89
26.11
73.89
69.73
64.21
58.15
53.51
6.00 %
67.48
32.52
67.48
62.30
56.10
51.60
48.67
6.50 %
60.67
39.33
60.67
53.78
48.94
46.49
43.42
7.00 %
51.60
50% Succ.
7.086% 		48.40
51.60
47.10
44.04
40.83
35.79
7.50 %
44.58
55.42
44.58
41.72
37.49
32.79
27.61
8.00 %
38.79
61.21
38.79
33.74
29.93
25.56
22.22
Legend: Min% of Protected Capital
Min 0%
Min 25%
Min 50%
Min 75%
Min 100%
Period: Mar 1923 - Feb 2023
Swipe left to see all data
Withdrawal
Rate
30 Years
% Fail
% Success over 30 Years - on % Preserved Capital
% Success Percentile No Capital
Preserved		 0%
Preserved 		25%
Preserved 		50%
Preserved 		75%
Preserved 		100%
Preserved
2.00 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
2.50 %
100.00
0.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
100.00
3.00 %
100.00
100% Succ.
3.237% 		0.00
100.00
100.00
99.88
99.76
97.03
3.50 %
99.76
0.24
99.76
99.52
96.79
92.98
88.47
4.00 %
95.24
95% Succ.
4.019% 		4.76
95.24
91.44
88.94
84.54
79.55
4.50 %
87.87
80% Succ.
4.962% 		12.13
87.87
83.59
79.67
75.86
72.18
5.00 %
79.67
20.33
79.67
77.41
73.13
69.20
66.71
5.50 %
73.72
26.28
73.72
69.92
66.94
65.28
63.38
6.00 %
68.13
31.87
68.13
65.64
63.97
61.36
57.31
6.50 %
63.50
36.50
63.50
60.76
56.96
54.58
51.72
7.00 %
57.19
42.81
57.19
54.46
51.61
48.51
43.04
7.50 %
51.25
50% Succ.
7.620% 		48.75
51.25
48.51
44.23
38.88
31.87
8.00 %
45.18
54.82
45.18
39.00
34.60
28.78
24.14
Legend: Min% of Protected Capital
Min 0%
Min 25%
Min 50%
Min 75%
Min 100%
Simulations are calculated with actual returns of Warren Buffett 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 January 2023

Related Pages

Portfolio Main Page:
Warren Buffett Portfolio

For the Warren Buffett 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

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