151 putting away money for retirement is so difficult for many people that they fail to focus on how fast theyll spend it after they stop working if you have a financial planner youre probably familiar with the term withdrawal rate this refers to the percentage of total assets you plan to liquidate each year during retirement the right withdrawal rate coupled with the discipline to stick to it enables retirees to make sure they dont outlive their money in most financial plans the withdrawal rate is a set percentage that applies each year yet this constant annual rate typically 4 or 5 percent per year denies the realities of retired life and aging people are a lot a healthier and active in their 60s and 70s than in their 80s and 90s so many end up spending a lot more early in retirement than later most will spend far more on travel recreation and leisure activities early on but many times their fixed withdrawal rate doesnt account for this this alltoocommon oversight stems from following conventional financial planning wisdom it can lead to overspending early on increasing the chances of running short of money late in retirement also failing to anticipate a higher rate of spending early on means failing to save and invest accordingly a more realistic approach is to defy this conventional wisdom by planning a higher withdrawal rate for the first 10 or 15 yearsdepending on your resources perhaps 7 or 75 percent annuallyand then back the rate downsay to 3 or 35 percent later in retirement the idea is to bake these percentages into your holistic retirement plan in setting these variable rates you should consider your income streamsother than returns from investments such as social security and private or government pensions your desired retirement lifestyle as people are living longer and are healthier and more active in their senior years than previous generations the notion of what to do with your time is changing markedly increasingly people are regarding retirement as a time to indulge their passion such as teaching or volunteer work or to help pay expenses and make their nest eggs last longer many work part time with flexible hours the retirement clich of sitting in rocking chair all day has become obsolete except for the infirm disabled and extreme elderly having parttime work or a consuming endeavor is a good way to play financial defense your travel and recreation plans try to decide based on your preferences and resources about how often youd like to travel where youd like to go and in what style youre able to travel then cost out these trips and try to put an annual figure on them adding for inflation do the same thing for recreation while at home if youre in a country club now will you be playing golf on a private course during retirement paying high fees every year or will you be playing on a