Hi "The Free Nebula", I was concerned about this a few years ago and decided that the system works so well that we should be in the market even after retiring. I target a minimum of 1% per month and normally do much better annually. It appears most members on the site have a great process for monitoring the market and show a positive outcome. I would hate to side step that because of the retirement trap. I retire in three years, for the second time (air force), and decided three years ago that I would define/build a pad needed to front load my first year of retirement and live off of that for the first year to allow me to continue with investing at a normal pace. This will allow my monthly retirement funds to pool in a money market account and draw some interest to front load the following year, and on, and on. So I do not plan to take an annuity for a few years. It's like having a triple back up plan. Just my two cents worth.