How does a rising-equity glidepath help protect against a bad market early in retirement?

A rising-equity glidepath means you start early retirement with a lower stock allocation, perhaps 55-60%, and gradually increase it back toward a higher equity weight over the first decade or two. Research by Michael Kitces and Wade Pfau found this counterintuitive 'bond tent' shape reduces failure rates because it minimizes stock exposure precisely when sequence-of-returns risk is highest, in the first years of withdrawals. If markets fall early, you have more bonds to spend from and fewer stocks being sold low; if markets do fine, the growing equity share supports the later decades of a long retirement. It is essentially the opposite of the 'get more conservative as you age' rule of thumb, and it targets the specific window when an early retiree is most vulnerable. Plan your glidepath alongside the Retirement Planner at wealthserene.com/tools/retirement-planner.