William Bengen

Area of Expertise: Sustainable withdrawal rates from a retirement portfolio

 

Books: “Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement,” “A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More”

 

Topics Presented in Speeches: Sustainable withdrawal rates

 

Email: bill@bengenfs.com

      

Biography:

 

William P. Bengen, CFP, M.S. is a retired financial planning practitioner living in La Quinta, California. In 1994, he pioneered safe withdrawal literature by studying a constant spending strategy. He introduced the popular 4% rule, later revised to 4.5% and now 4.7%.

 

Bengen received a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in aeronautics and astronautics. He never practiced in that field, accepting a position with his family-owned soft drink bottling franchise firm in the New York metropolitan area. After 17 years with the company, during which he served a tenure as president and chief operating officer, the business was sold. Bengen migrated with his wife and two daughters to the gentler climes of Southern California, where he began his financial planning practice, earning his CFP in 1990 and his master’s degree in financial planning in 1993.

 

Bengen is the author of a book entitled “Conserving Client Portfolios During Retirement,” (FPA Press, 2006). The book presents his research into sustainable withdrawals from an investment portfolio during retirement. He is also the author of “A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More” (Wiley, 2025), in which he provides updated insights into withdrawal rates. Bengen’s articles and quotations have appeared in numerous publications including Forbes magazine, the Journal of Financial Planning, Financial Planning magazine, The Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger’s. He has spoken at numerous financial planning conferences and meetings. 

 

As avocations, he enjoys tennis, golf, astronomy, bridge and collecting non-sports bubble gum cards from the 1950s.