Subject: Re: Jim's 'annuitization'
Why withdraw monthly as opposed to the 'bucket approach' (selling enough to cover 2-5 years living expenses...logic being you aren't forced to sell a tranche in softer markets)?

1) Basically because the 'bucket approach' is an illusion. When you look at the entire situation over time and do a money flow diagram you'll see this. Guess what your portfolio looks like after the 2-5 year period is over. Right, identical to not having done that "cash bucket" at all. People wrongly focus on the 1st 2-5 years and ignore the remaining 30+ years.
Every day is the first day of the lifetime of your portfolio.

2) If you take a fixed periodic withdrawal then you _will_ get the average.