You're assuming that you're only taxed on what you "take out" and that's wrong. You're taxed on taxable income, whether or not you "take it". Yes, income insi

You're assuming that you're only taxed on what you "take out" and that's wrong. You're taxed on taxable income, whether or not you "take it". Yes, income inside tax deferred accounts is not considered income until distributed, but other accounts don't work that way. If there are sales, dividends, or interest, you've got taxable events even if you leave the money in the account. Let's look at that $100k in earnings. $10-20k goes to taxes. (The marginal rate for $100k is higher, but you don't pay it on the whole amount.) $30-50k goes to inflation, leaving you $30-70k to "safely" take out. However, it's hard to get 10% these days - even 5% may be too high. Fortunately inflation is currently low too, but $5k for taxes and $20k for inflation leaves you with just $25k to safely take out.