To enable investors to spend down the assets in their defined contribution
accounts more easily, the authors propose a decumulation benchmark comprising a
laddered portfolio of TIPS for the first 20 years (consuming 88 percent of
available capital) and a deferred life annuity purchased with the remaining 12
percent. This portfolio can be used directly by the investor (akin to indexing)
or as a benchmark for evaluating the performance of a more aggressive
strategy.