[quote=sdrealtor] When you are retired you dont earn an income anymore so you either generate income from your assets or you spend down your assets. Nothing is scarier to a retire than spending down their assets.[/quote]

It’s mostly just semantic, but I’m going to take exception to this. I understand the concept, but you can’t spend income. You can only spend assets. And unless assets are primarily invested in non-liquid investments like gold, raw land, or real estate, actual cash flow in the form of dividends or interest is incidental. Marketable securities can easily be converted to cash. So growth is as important as cash flow, since either can provide cash for withdrawal. Either way, a retiree is always spending down their assets. That’s the only thing they can spend.