Here is the concluding blog excerpting USA Today’s personal finance editor Rodney Brooks’ excellent March 12 piece on “Five Tax Tips for Future Retirees”:

“5. Don’t put retirement planning on autopilot. Be aware of changes to the tax laws and how they may affect you. It would be a mistake to not revisit your tax and financial-planning assumptions to make sure they are still accurate, planners

say.

For example, the old rules of thumb on how much you should withdraw from your retirement savings each year may no longer apply, says Thomas Langdon, professor at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. The old thinking was 4% a year, but after the financial crisis, he says, new research predicts that is too much and you may run out of money. Three percent may be a better goal.