But I stray. The problem with using a 70-year track record is that most people with money to invest just don't have that kind of time horizon. At that point, the growth of his portfolio would not support the increasing withdrawal requirement. In this scenario, he runs out of assets in about 15 years. Naturally, I picked one of the worst 15 year periods to make my point.
History is replete with examples of what real people do.
Besides, we have ample proof that invest ors do not get invest ment returns. Meanwhile, according to Dalther surveys, the average holding period for invest ors in no-load mutual funds is 17 months, and in load funds 48 months. The funds did very well, but the investors did badly. Additionally, my own experience has demonstrated to me over and over again that real people can't stand to lose money. I get a kick out of the theory that some people are risk-averse.