Forget the 4% rule. Instead, consider this new magic number for retirement withdrawals.

The 4% rule originally comes from a 1994 study by financial planner William Bengen that appeared in the Journal of Financial Planning. However, that rule should be adjusted when markets perform better or worse, Benz said.

“The best practice is to have flexible spending strategies. Spending can increase when the market outlook is good and decrease when the market outlook is lower,” Benz said. “It would help prevent retirees from overspending during periods of weakness, while giving them a raise in stronger markets.”

In addition to a flexible withdrawal strategy, retirees should also try to maximize their Social Security benefits by delaying the age at which they claim benefits so they can receive the maximum monthly benefit, Benz said.

Retirees can start claiming Social Security benefits starting at age 62, but benefits increase each year they wait, with 67 being the full retirement age for people born in 1960 or later, and the maximum benefit at age 70 for those who waiting to submit an application.

Read: If you wait until age 70 to claim Social Security, you’ll get a lot more money. This is why so few people do it.

Benz also added that retirees don’t spend the same amount every year, so withdrawal rates shouldn’t be rigid.

“People don’t spend money that way. When you look at actual expenses, expenses tend to decline over the retirement life cycle. It may start strong, but steadily decline over time,” Benz said.

In this year’s survey, Morningstar assumed a steady decline in inflation-adjusted household spending of 2% per year throughout retirement.

However, the projections for expenses and having enough assets to last thirty years do not include long-term care costs. The cost of healthcare can throw a huge shockwave through any retirement plan.

“The costs of long-term care in later life are unknown: the elephant in the room,” says Benz. “The difficult thing with long-term care is that half [of people] will need it and half of it won’t.”

To be on the safe side, Benz recommends setting aside a long-term care fund and keeping it separate from disposable assets.

“That gives you peace of mind. If you don’t use it, it can go to the heirs,” Benz said.

A 65-year-old retiring this year could spend an average of $165,000 on health care and medical costs during retirement, up nearly 5% from a year ago, according to Fidelity Investments.

For some retirees, spending money after a lifetime of saving can feel uncomfortable. But worrying about spending numbers is a happy problem, since not all retirees have savings to lean on, Benz said.

The average baby boomer’s 401(k) balance is $250,900, while the median balance is $67,000, according to Fidelity Investments.

Among Social Security beneficiaries age 65 and older, 12% of men and 15% of women rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income, according to the Social Security Administration.

Social Security has an annual cost-of-living adjustment to keep benefits at pace with inflation, but for many retirees this isn’t enough, according to the Senior Citizens League, an advocacy group.

The group expects the Social Security COLA to reach 2.5% in 2026, the same as in 2025. But older adults are still struggling to keep up with high prices, according to the Senior Citizens League.

“While it’s great to see inflation cooling, it doesn’t mean the economic challenges for seniors are over. Years of inadequate COLAs have left older Americans behind,” said Shannon Benton, executive director of the Senior Citizens League.

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In a recent survey of 3,249 older Americans by the Senior Citizens League, 69% of respondents said they worry that persistently high prices will drive up their spending and cause them to deplete their retirement savings and other assets.

“We have two extremes in the country. There is a segment that is significantly underfunded when it comes to pensions. And there is a segment that is thinking about how to spend its money,” Benz said.