The 4% Rule May Not Work. There is no hard and fast way to create reliable income in retirement, and opinions vary greatly. The 4% rule basically says that after you have a certain amount of money put away, you can safely withdraw 4% of it every year to live on.
Some advisors now say 5% works, or 2%, and some have a completely different methodology for calculating withdrawals. Other advisors have developed alternative strategies which may hedge against stock market risk.