The order of gains/losses matters when you’re taking withdrawals. Early losses can deplete balances faster even if the long-run average return is the same.

“Original” uses the returns in the listed order. “Reversed” flips that order (last becomes first) to illustrate pure sequence effects.

Taken at the start of each year as a fixed % of the initial balance. The dollar amount then increases annually by the “Withdrawal Inflation” rate.

Random returns are drawn from a normal distribution with chosen Mean and Stdev (Box–Muller). A Floor/Cap clamps each year’s return.

Same inputs + same seed → identical path; change the seed to see a different (but statistically similar) path.

Paste 31 comma-separated % values for ages 65→95 to override randomness. Invalid input falls back to random generation.

First age where balance hits ≤ $0. If never depleted by 95, this shows “—”.

End-of-year balances (after return) are rounded to whole dollars. The chart plots Original and Reversed end balances across ages.

“Worst→Best” sorts annual returns ascending; “Best→Worst” sorts descending; “Reverse” flips current order.