Monthly Income From $170k in IRA

Q. If I have $170,000 to put in an IRA when I retire, could I get $1000 a month from that without too much trouble. I will have $1500 Social Security and I have the other in my Profit Sharing. I want to retire soon and just want to know without any fancy investing, could I get a monthly income of $1000.00

A. Thanks for asking. $12k a year on $170k is a little over 7% that you will need to earn each year. In today's environment, that can be difficult but it is possible. For instance, I have a client who came to me in 11/02 with $430k and was pulling out $36k a year (8%). He has pulled out almost $75k in the last 14-15 months and his account is worth about $485k.

If you are very conservative and don't want any fluctuation, then this will be just about impossible until rates get a couple percentage points higher.

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