The SYSTEM $3M+ Retirees Use to Pay Themselves Forever

Work with us: emorywealth.com/contact/ Visit our website: emorywealth.com -------- In this video, I break down the personal endowment model, the same system universities and foundations have used for centuries to spend meaningfully every year without the pool ever running out, adapted for a $3 million+ household. I cover the four pieces that make up the system: the written spending rule that replaces every improvised withdrawal decision, and the smoothing formula that calculates payouts against a multi-year average so income doesn't lurch with the market's daily noise. I also walk through the perpetual portfolio structure, a growth engine paired with a stable buffer so near-term payouts never force a sale at the bottom, and the annual governance rhythm that catches spending creep and allocation drift before they compound, the same discipline that's let real endowments survive every market disaster in modern history. I close with how all four pieces run together as one loop and the build order for constructing your own version. If you've been managing your retirement money like savings you're afraid to touch, this video shows you the system institutions use to run money designed to last forever.