Scenario Surfer Instructions

When you first view the Scenario Surfer, it shows a few years of canned inputs. This allows you to become familiar with it. Clear All Entries to start a brand new sequence of your own.

All investors can use the Scenario Surfer. The initial amount can be large, as for a new retiree, or small, as for an accumulator starting out, or in between, as for an individual who nears retirement. Just remember that the entries are withdrawals and that deposits are negative withdrawals.

The Scenario Surfer lets you know P/E10 at the beginning of each year. Use that to vary allocations in accordance with valuations. P/E10=20 is high. P/E10=13 or 14 is typical. P/E10=8 is a bargain level.

Allocations are stock allocations. A 30% allocation means that 30% of the current balance is invested in the S&P500 index. The remaining dollars are invested in a TIPS ladder with a constant (real) interest rate.

Simply put in your stock allocation and withdrawal amount each year. Then press enter.

If you maintain the same allocation and/or withdrawal amount, you do not have to change it. It will be entered automatically.

All amounts are in terms of constant buying power. They are all in terms of today’s dollars. The withdrawal amount is adjusted automatically to match inflation.

For more details, visit Rob Bennett’s PassionSaving.com web site and read his description of the Scenario Surfer.

Rob Bennett's Web Site

Most of all: have fun.

John Walter Russell
October 10, 2007