"The cost of early spending is greater than the cost of forgone savings and the two combined are substantial.... Retiring at 70 allows the retiree to contribute $56,000 more to savings in this example. Five more years of 7% annual returns with no withdrawals provides over $530,000 more in portfolio savings.... Because the 70-year old has a 4-year shorter remaining life expectancy, he can spend 4.6% of this portfolio [each year] ... which is 15% more than the 4% he could spend at age 65. The increase in spending from 4% of $1.18M to 4.6% of 1.71M is more than $30,000 a year."  MORE >>